Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings of last night’s season-opening loss from us, Monumental video (Oates, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Grabovski, Holtby, Laich), Vogs, NHL.com (with highlights), AP, SportsXchange, WaPo, WashTimes, CSNW, Puck Daddy, Peerless, F Street Faithful, Frankovic, Capitals Hill, RMNB, DSP (quick takes, recap, postgame show), Capitals Hill and Extra Skater (advanced stats), and from the Windy City, Chicago Tribune, CSN Chicago and Hockeenight.
- Mikhail Grabovski would eventually be credited with a hat trick in his first game as a Cap, rounding out a four-point night… [RMNB]
- … setting franchise records for goals and points in a player’s debut with the club and in a season-opener… [Elias Says]
- …but the first Caps’ goal of the 2013-14 season was fittingly scored by the captain himself. [Capitals OT, Caps Basketball]
- A trio of Caps’ youngsters got their first taste of (regular season) NHL action, with Connor Carrick, Tom Wilson and Michael Latta all making their debut. [NHL.com, WaPo, CSNW, CBSSports]
- But is all that youth a bad thing? Hard to say if you compare this team to much crappier teams who used young players out of necessity, not talent… [WaPo]
- As visitors to the home of the reigning Cup champs, the Caps had a pretty good seat for the banner ceremony. They wisely chose to forego that seat for one in the locker room. [WaPo]
- Former Blackhawk Troy Brouwer was hoping that the Caps – and the emotions from the pregame ceremony – would spoil the party for his old team. Alas… [ESPN Chicago, CSN Chicago]
- Could this finally be the year for the Caps? Hopefully, if only so we can stop wondering that every darn year. [CSNW]
- Alex Ovechkin is probably sick of wondering that, too – but he’s handling that, and additional pressure to win Olympic gold, with maturity these days. [ESPN (Burnside)]
- Check in with the voice of the Caps, John Walton, on today’s Capitals Minute. [Capitals Voice]
- Last-minute previews of a season now officially underway:
- Breaking down the season ahead for the team as a whole and by position. [WaPo (forwards, defense/goalies, top storylines), Peerless, NBCW, THW (defense, goaltending), Pensburgh]
- Five questions facing the Caps… [Yahoo!]
- …and five storylines to follow. [Baltimore Sports Report]
- Redskins fan looking to break into the exciting world of Capitals’ fandom? Here’s a handy guide just for you! [Caps Basketball]
- Brush up on the new rules for 2013-14. [ESPN]
- Previewing the League… [Grantland (DGB)]
- …the Eastern Conference… [Puck Daddy, Columbus Dispatch]
- …and the Metropolitan Division. [Columbus Dispatch]
- What you need to know for the upcoming season… [ESPN (and again), BHS]
- …what to bet money on… [ESPN]
- …and what you’ll soon be sick of, if you’re not already. [Sporting News]
- Get out the crystal ball – time for some predictions:
- The Puck Daddy crew weighs in with some predictions, with one bold contributor declaring the Caps will be the most overhyped team. Because it’s 2009? [Puck Daddy]
- Okay, so who wins the Cup this year? [PHT]
- Interestingly enough, Elliotte Friedman is waiting to answer that question until after the trade deadline… or more specifically, after the Caps are done at the deadline. [CBC (30 Thoughts)]
- While we’re looking ahead at the real stuff, might as well check in on fantasylan-, er, fantasy hockey:
- Power rankings both team-centric and League-wide. [NY Post, DSP]
- Adam Oates is seriously into the details, right down to the curvature of a hockey stick. Make that every single hockey stick for every single one of his players. Keep the crazy comin’, coach. [WaPo]
- The persistent media continues to ask Ovechkin about his native country’s anti-gay laws, and he continues to tiptoe around them. Pigeons learn faster, journalists. [Bog]
- Checking in with Chocolatetown:
- Final cuts made by the Caps meant that coach Mike Haviland finally got his full roster of players in camp. [Patriot-News]
- Among those players headed back to Hershey? Dmitry Orlov, who is being praised for his attitude after getting demoted yet again. [Patriot-News]
- Shootout wizard Joel Rechlicz chats about a memorable stint at Caps’ training camp. [Patriot-News]
- Australian and Hershey Bear Nathan Walker continues to move closer to his NHL dream. [THW]
- Once a group of fresh-faced, carefree youngsters, the crew formerly known as “Young Guns” is growing up. Sunrise, sunset… [CSNW (video)]