Your savory breakfast links:
- Be sure to check out our latest round of mailbag questions, where we tackle potential trade partners and the search for a left-handed defenseman. [Rink]
- News and notes from Day 1 of training camp out at Kettler:
- In general. [Dump ‘n Chase, Monumental video (McPhee, Oates, Ovechkin, Green, Backstrom, Laich, Holtby, Alzner, Brouwer), Caps OT (pics: Chimera, Erat, Ward and LeBlanc, Ovechkin, Brouwer and Oleksy; video: Ovechkin skating), NBC4, GM on a Couch]
- The big news of the first day broke very early, as Brooks Laich left the ice ten minutes into practice and is “day-to-day” with a hip flexor… we hope. Ugh. [NHL.com (and again), AP, NBC4, WaPo, CSNW (and again), WashTimes, PHT]
- Another player missing in action was Mikhail Grabovski, who is still dealing with visa issues. Bureaucratic red tape? Inconvenient delays? Welcome to DC, Grabo. [NHL.com, PHT, WaPo]
- Your third-line center after the first day of training camp is, as expected, Eric Fehr. Wait… what? [Dump ‘n Chase]
- Questions facing the Caps as training camp gets underway. [NHL.com, WaPo]
- There aren’t a whole lot of roster spots available (as we discussed a few days ago), but that’s not stopping Garrett Mitchell and Michael Latta from giving it a shot. [Patriot-News]
- One area where there could be a bit of room for competition is on the blue line, where the Caps are hoping to shore up their depth. [NHL.com]
- New Hershey Bears coach Mike Haviland may be a relatively new face to most of the attendees at training camp, but he and Troy Brouwer go back a long time. [Patriot-News]
- Today’s schedule:
- Group C kicks things off on the Caps Rink at 9:45 a.m.
- Group B hits the ice on the Arlington Rink at 10:45 a.m.
- Group A rounds out the trio back on the Caps Rink at 11:45 a.m.
- Fantastic story of Adam Oates flying halfway around the world for a 24-hour visit with Alex Ovechkin last month. Simply incredible on so many levels. [WaPo]
- Speaking of the coach and the captain, Oates got Ovechkin to take his game to another level last season… and believes he’s capable of even more. [CSNW]
- In the real world, familiarity is said to breed contempt; for the Caps, it’s anything but, as they look forward to a bit of stability for once. [WaPo]
- Using some stats – and the good ol’ A-B-Cs – to try and sort out the Caps’ lines. [RMNB]
- Marcus Johansson is freshly re-signed, and is ready to turn his bridge contract into something bigger. [NHL.com]
- We help some ‘Hawks fans get familiar with the 2013-14 Caps – good timing, since the two teams meet about eleventy billion times between now and October 1. Or three. Whatever. [Second City Hockey]
- The countdown to opening night continues… [Peerless]
- Previewing the 2013-14 season for the Caps from a fantasy hockey perspective. [THN]
- You know what everyone wants to talk about before a single preseason game is even played? Which players will win awards next summer. Place your bets. #OleksyforNorris [Puck Daddy]
- Watch a sharp-dressed Mike Green accept his award at Sneaker Ball X from earlier this week (and some of his nattily-attired teammates turn out to support him). [Monumental video, What’s Up Ya Sieve?]
- A Sabres fan adds Braden Holtby to his wish list, and proves that even fans of the Sabres can exhibit signs of good taste. (We kid, we kid.) [Sabrenoise]
- Get a few more glimpses of the magnificent drooling eagle on Braden Holtby’s new mask. [Caps OT]
- Usually a guy making Alex Ovechkin cheddar wouldn’t need to take a summer job… but alas, this one was for love, not money. [DC Sports Bog]
- If you were curious about what a hockey player’s favorite superhero says about him – and why wouldn’t you be? – now you can find out. (For what it’s worth, Tom Wilson‘s? Superman.) [Extra Mustard (SI.com)]
- The paper tickets may have gone by the wayside, but some lucky season ticketholders still get a pretty snazzy box full of… well, season ticketholder stuff. [DC Sports Bog]
- Finally, happy 37th birthday to Jose Theodore.