Monday Caps Clips: Hills and Valleys

Your savory breakfast links:

• Relive all the magic of the weekend's news here and here.
• Someday we'll be together... yes we will oh yes we will. Until then, here's the latest on the ongoing lockout:
  • Expect more cancellations today, likely through at least the end of December. Happy New Year! [@aportzline, Peerless]
  • Still feeling a little whiplash from the best day of negotiations turning into one of the worst? You're not alone. [Puck Daddy, Boston Globe, National Post, Globe and Mail]
  • The NHL wants shorter contracts and is willing to die on them there hills, while the NHLPA is committed to not making a long-term commitment to any CBA. Is either one worth losing a season over? [SportsBizzBuzz, mc79hockey]
  • And to add whiplash to whiplash, after a tense few days it looks like the two sides haven't unfriended each other on Facebook just yet... [CBC, Wash Times, CSNW]
  • ...which apparently shouldn't be surprising, because posturing in this manner is totally part of the process. Annoying, frustrating and headache-inducing, but a part nonetheless. [National Post, NY Post]
  • The system is broken, franchises are in trouble and the NHL brand itself could be dying... [NY Post, Sportsnet, CBC]
  • ...but don't worry, kids, because Ron Hainsey is on the case and he brought his Bad Cop hat. [CBC]
  • So what does it all mean? [National Post, Gazette]
• Locked-out players continue to do good things with all of this time they suddenly have on their hands. [SI.com]
• Jen Neale of our SBN pals over at Anaheim Calling flew cross-country to watch an AHL game... catch up on her weekend in the Nation's Capital as she watched Norfolk "playing host" to the Bears at Verizon Center. [Anaheim Calling]
• Speaking of Hershey, know what's cool to watch? 12,000 teddy bears flying onto a sheet of ice. Check out this great footage (about the 1:30 mark of the video in the post) and marvel at the strange awesomeness of hockey fans. [THW]
• And finally, speaking of awesome, if you happened to be watching SportsCenter this weekend and heard a familiar name, you weren't dreaming - that really was our own Stanislav Galiev getting some national love for a pretty sweet breakaway goal. [SHOE]