Your savory breakfast links:

● As CBA negotiations go off the rails, public and media opinion seems firmly behind the players... which unfortunately won't do a whole lot of good, but it makes for some nice pixels. [THW, Gazette, Denver Post]

● It won't stop the fans from joining together to let their voice be heard, either. Add yours! [Caps Basketball]

● Fans might not be able to intimidate the NHL and NHLPA to play nice... but maybe Alex Ovechkin's new look will. I know I'm a little scared... [@ovi8]

● Mike Ribeiro: center, father, backup goaltender. Nice of Ribeiro's old pal Jose Theodore to loan him his DC-themed lid. [RMNB, h/t to RMNB reader Matt for noticing the mask]

● Weighing in on the Hershey Bears' new look (and trimmed-down mascot) as they head into their 75th season. [SHOE]

● Who is this Braden Holtby character everyone's chattering about lately? [Peerless, SportRantz, Pipeline Show]

● More on Holtby, along with a bevy of other future hopefuls working to return the once overflowing prospect pool to its former glory. [Last Word on Sports]

● An assortment of Caps who could be viewed as 'untouchable'. Spoiler: Brooks Laich is, Ovechkin is not. Discuss. [RantSports]

● Marcus Johansson has high expectations for himself and his team coming into this season. [HockeyRamblings]

● For some reason, Ovechkin's been spending an awfully big chunk of his summer watching tennis matches. Weird, right? [Alex Ovetjkin]

● Former Cap (*sigh*) Jeff Halpern stopped in and made some memories for the members (and parents) of the Cool Cats, a hockey team for special needs kids. [CSNW]

● 2012-13 projections for the Caps and some of their key players heading into the season. [ESPN ($)]

● Players continue to optimistically trickle back to the District for pre-training camp workouts, the latest of which is new Cap Wojtek Wolski. [@WojtekWolski86]