Fresh Links: DeCapitated Edition

In Bruins news you can use:

• Yeah, let's just keep Zdeno Chara at net front on the power play: Simon Gagne hit the nail on the head as to why that assignment works. Adam McQuaid led the Bruins in hits and blocked shots last night. [TauntonGazette]
• The game was about player evaluation. Ryan Spooner and Gagne played back-to-back nights, and Claude Julien expressed satisfaction with what he saw from his goaltenders. [ESPN]
• It may be a fine distinction, but the Bruins are about defense FIRST, this does not mean they don't care about offense. [TheBruinsBlog]
• Seth Griffith fit in well on the Patrice Bergeron line. Gagne is progressing past the rustiness in his game, but will it be enough to displace a younger up-and-comer? [BostonHerald]
• Jeremy Smith 's third-period glove save was a "game changer." Spooner took Julien's call for defensive commitment to heart. Young Bruins spoke about their excitement in playing in Montreal. [ProvidenceJournal]
• Here are your three takeaways from last night's win. Brad Marchand knows that his teammates have his back. [Boston.com]
• Matt Fraser knows that his success in the AHL does not guarantee success in the NHL, and his best shot with the Bruins appears to be on Carl Soderberg 's line, in Chris Kelly 's spot. [WEEI]
• Fraser had some interesting techniques to improve his shot. He acknowledges being overly critical of himself last season. [TheBostonGlobe]
• The Bruins appear to be focusing less on "big and bad" tipping the scale more toward skill and speed, in keeping with league trends. [CausewayCrowd]
• Without using the "H" word, there are two Bruins on this list of 7 Restricted Free Agents absent from their teams' training camps. [Sportsnet.ca]

Elsewhere around the rink:

• Ralph Strangis, the voice of the Dallas Stars, looks back at Rich Peverley 's collapse, and winning the battle between the urge to "press send" and waiting for official lines of communication in a life or death crisis. [ScoreboardTX]
• Here are five holdouts of historical importance in the NHL. [Grantland]
• #FreeSimmons. Meanwhile, over at Grantland, Bill Simmons has been suspended by ESPN for a podcast tirade calling out NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as a liar regarding the Ray Rice scandal. [Deadspin]
• Of NHL players likeliest to be traded, one Bruin is named on this list and it is NOTJohnny Boychuk ! [SportsIllustrated]
• Ignore the crack about Canadians having a nasally accent. This British primer on appreciating the NHL is a hoot. [MrPorter]
• Potpourri: A meditation on cretins booing a male ice crew, the Capitals' Winter Classic jerseys, Phil Kessel 's physique, and NHL players on tryout contracts. [PuckDaddy]
• C'mon, Vancouver Sun, really? Malcolm Subban 's brother scores his first NHL goal for the Canucks and this happens? [SportsIllustrated] Hats off to Jordan Subban , whose gracious response lets the dolts off the hook. [TheProvince] It would do us all good to examine WHY rather than HOW this blunder occurred. [TheSportingNews]
• Revisit Normand Leveille's final appearance at the Boston Garden, along with video of the old Boston Garden and the final skate. [GreatestHockeyLegends]
• Fancystats be damned, here's everything you need to know about assessing a player in a handful of simple graphs. [TheSportingNews]
• Good coach/bad coach... there might even be a metric for THAT! And yes, the Bruins have a winner. [Hockey-Graphs]
• Keanu Reeves was once a promising goaltender who had a tryout with the Windsor Spitfires. He chose acting. HAHAHAHA- FOOL! [TheHockeyNews]
• Well wishes to NHL linesman Tim Nowak, who was seriously injured druing a Predators vs. Lightning preseason game. [TheScore]