Wednesday Caps Clips: Let the Games Begin

Your savory breakfast links:

• Hear what the players, coaches and GM had to say as they sat down to share a meal with the local media. [Monumental - press conferences (Trotz, MacLellan, Holtby, Williams, Johansson, Oshie, Ovechkin) and with Mike Vogel and John Walton (MacLellan, Trotz, Korn, Ovechkin)]
  • What's it like to have lunch with a slightly bruised T.J. Oshie? Live vicariously through this account of just such an event. [PuckBuddys]
  • Chatting with Braden Holtby about the season ahead. [ESPN980]
  • Seriously, guys. Stop calling him Mr. Game 7. [CBS DC]
• Inconclusive conclusions about the Caps' penalty kill. [Rink]
• Previews and predictions of the 2015-16 season... which officially gets underway tonight:
  • In general. [WaPo (video), Chicago Sun Times, SI.com (and again), The Score, ESPN, The Globe and Mail, Hockeyviz]
  • Caps-specific. [Peerless, DSP, Fansided]
  • Someone could unseat the old guard that has dominated the Stanley Cup Final in recent years. That someone might just be the Caps. [FOX Sports, WaPo (video), The National]
  • Those high expectations don't bother the Caps' head coach one bit, because this is a different team than your slightly older sibling's Caps. Bring it on. [CSNMA, CBS DC]
  • Most of the League will kick off their season in the next 48 hours. The Caps? Not so much. [WaPo]
  • There are loads of familiar faces pulling on new jerseys this year. [NHL.com, TSS]
  • Previewing the goaltending situation in the Metropolitan Division... [InGoalMag]
  • ...and for your fantasy teams. [Sportsnet]
  • John Carlson should definitely be on a list of the top 20 defensemen for the upcoming season. And probably should be a bit higher. [Sporting News]
  • Step right up, place yer bets and guess just who will be taking home some shiny individual hardware next summer. [Grantland (DGB), CSNMA, CBS Sports]
  • Ranking the power. [Stars and Sticks, NY Post, Sportsnet]
• Just what does it mean when we say that an NHLer or an NHL team "plays the right way"? [National Post]
• Sounds like the timetable for Nicklas Backstrom is closer to being set - and the news, so far, is good. [WaPo, CSNMA, WashTimes, AP]
• Delving into the final roster cuts made by the Caps, including the somewhat surprising release of Derek Roy. [WaPo, CSNMA]
• A decade has passed since Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby made their respective NHL debuts. Feeling old yet? [WaPo, NHL.com]
• Bad contracts, hooray! [My NHL Trade Rumors]
• 'twas a summer of betrothals for a couple of Caps. [Fox5 DC]
• With the Caps' final cuts made, a handful of players have joined training camp in Hershey. [Patriot-News]
• Breaking down some of the key free-agent departures and arrivals for the Bears. [Patriot-News]
• Finally, happy 66th birthday to Jim Hrycuik, happy 27th to Cameron Schilling...
• ...and happy 2015-16 season to us all!