Forgive the Dallas Stars for treating Wednesday night's season-opener against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks a little more seriously than the first of 82 games on the 2003-04 schedule.
"I think the game probably has more meaning for us, quite honestly, than it does for Anaheim," Stars GM Doug Armstrong said Tuesday from Dallas. "Only because Anaheim ended our year sooner than we had hoped last spring and we'd like to have a really strong showing tomorrow night."
The Ducks-Stars game in Dallas is the main event on both TSN in Canada and ESPN south of the border as the NHL kicks off its 87th season with three 8 p.m. EDT games. The Boston Bruins also host the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild are in Chicago to face the Blackhawks.
The suits in the NHL head office must be banging their heads on their desks, what with the Boston-New York American League Championship Series kicking off on the same night as well as Game 2 of the Chicago-Florida NLCS. So much for hockey ratings south of the border on Day 1.
The NHL really gets going on Thursday night with nine games, including Montreal at Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver and San Jose at Edmonton.
The Ducks-Stars game provides an interesting glimpse at the tougher-than-ever Western Conference. There are some who believe Anaheim's surprise trip to the Cup final last season signalled that the West is no longer run by Detroit, Colorado and Dallas alone.
"The conference seems to be very deep," said Armstrong. "You have the three teams (Dallas, Colorado and Detroit) that have consistently been at the top the past eight or nine years. But Anaheim, Vancouver and St. Louis will be there. The Blues have been there for a number of years.
"And then I think you have some young, hungrier teams. Edmonton has re-tooled and I think they're going to have a team with a lot of energy and quickness. Calgary seems to be getting better and Columbus made a lot of changes. So I think the West could have any number of teams push for the playoffs and we saw last year that if you make the playoffs anything can happen."
The Stars went 46-18-15-3 (111 points) last season to finish first in the Western Conference only to be upset by Anaheim in the second round. Then came the off-season house cleaning. Gone was long-time captain Derian Hatcher, who bolted to Detroit via free agency, as well as Darryl Sydor, Lyle Odelein, Kirk Muller and Ulf Dahlen.
With Hatcher leaving a huge hole on the blue-line, Armstrong reacted by acquiring veteran star Teppo Numminen from Phoenix in a three-way deal that also sent Sydor to Columbus. He then signed free-agent veteran Don Sweeney to take Sydor's roster spot.
"We had to make some decisions, and some of those decisions were thrust upon us," Armstrong said of his revamped blue-line, which once again includes offensive star Sergei Zubov.
"It's a different group but I think it can be as good if not better than last year's and the group that we've had here for a number of years."
The player to watch is Finnish forward Antti Miettinen.
"He was the Finnish player of the year last season in the elite league there," Armstrong said. "He still came over unheralded but he's stepped in and played very well in pre-season.
"He seems to have the quickness and the instinct in the offensive end to be a good player for us."
In Chicago, the Wild face a Blackhawks team with six rookies on their opening-night roster: goaltender Michael Leighton, 22; defenceman Lasse Kukkonen, 22; and forwards Tuomo Ruutu, 20; Igor Radulov, 21; Pavel Vorobiev, 21; and Travis Moen, 22.
"These six rookies deserve to be here right now," GM Mike Smith told reporters in Chicago. "Rather than get a 32-year-old guy who couldn't make it with another team, we've decided to start with these six. But it'd be optimistic to think we'll play all year with six rookies."
The Wild, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that defenceman Brad Brown would be their captain for the month of October. The team will once again rotate their captain on a monthly basis.
Minnesota begins the season without its two top scorers from last season - Marion Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis. Both restricted free agents - represented by agent Allan Walsh - remain unsigned.
In Boston, the Devils begin their quest to repeat as Cup champs, something they couldn't do the first two times they won in 1994-95 and 1999-2000.
"I learned that in order to repeat you have to be twice as good as you were the first time," centre John Madden told the Newark Star-Ledger. "You have to be twice as focused and a little more thick-skinned because if you're not doing well, there will be stuff said and written about it. Most important, you have to remember that last year is done."
The Bruins kick off their 80th NHL campaign with rookie head coach Mike Sullivan - at 35 the youngest in the league - making his debut.
"I think the game probably has more meaning for us, quite honestly, than it does for Anaheim," Stars GM Doug Armstrong said Tuesday from Dallas. "Only because Anaheim ended our year sooner than we had hoped last spring and we'd like to have a really strong showing tomorrow night."
The Ducks-Stars game in Dallas is the main event on both TSN in Canada and ESPN south of the border as the NHL kicks off its 87th season with three 8 p.m. EDT games. The Boston Bruins also host the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild are in Chicago to face the Blackhawks.
The suits in the NHL head office must be banging their heads on their desks, what with the Boston-New York American League Championship Series kicking off on the same night as well as Game 2 of the Chicago-Florida NLCS. So much for hockey ratings south of the border on Day 1.
The NHL really gets going on Thursday night with nine games, including Montreal at Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver and San Jose at Edmonton.
The Ducks-Stars game provides an interesting glimpse at the tougher-than-ever Western Conference. There are some who believe Anaheim's surprise trip to the Cup final last season signalled that the West is no longer run by Detroit, Colorado and Dallas alone.
"The conference seems to be very deep," said Armstrong. "You have the three teams (Dallas, Colorado and Detroit) that have consistently been at the top the past eight or nine years. But Anaheim, Vancouver and St. Louis will be there. The Blues have been there for a number of years.
"And then I think you have some young, hungrier teams. Edmonton has re-tooled and I think they're going to have a team with a lot of energy and quickness. Calgary seems to be getting better and Columbus made a lot of changes. So I think the West could have any number of teams push for the playoffs and we saw last year that if you make the playoffs anything can happen."
The Stars went 46-18-15-3 (111 points) last season to finish first in the Western Conference only to be upset by Anaheim in the second round. Then came the off-season house cleaning. Gone was long-time captain Derian Hatcher, who bolted to Detroit via free agency, as well as Darryl Sydor, Lyle Odelein, Kirk Muller and Ulf Dahlen.
With Hatcher leaving a huge hole on the blue-line, Armstrong reacted by acquiring veteran star Teppo Numminen from Phoenix in a three-way deal that also sent Sydor to Columbus. He then signed free-agent veteran Don Sweeney to take Sydor's roster spot.
"We had to make some decisions, and some of those decisions were thrust upon us," Armstrong said of his revamped blue-line, which once again includes offensive star Sergei Zubov.
"It's a different group but I think it can be as good if not better than last year's and the group that we've had here for a number of years."
The player to watch is Finnish forward Antti Miettinen.
"He was the Finnish player of the year last season in the elite league there," Armstrong said. "He still came over unheralded but he's stepped in and played very well in pre-season.
"He seems to have the quickness and the instinct in the offensive end to be a good player for us."
In Chicago, the Wild face a Blackhawks team with six rookies on their opening-night roster: goaltender Michael Leighton, 22; defenceman Lasse Kukkonen, 22; and forwards Tuomo Ruutu, 20; Igor Radulov, 21; Pavel Vorobiev, 21; and Travis Moen, 22.
"These six rookies deserve to be here right now," GM Mike Smith told reporters in Chicago. "Rather than get a 32-year-old guy who couldn't make it with another team, we've decided to start with these six. But it'd be optimistic to think we'll play all year with six rookies."
The Wild, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that defenceman Brad Brown would be their captain for the month of October. The team will once again rotate their captain on a monthly basis.
Minnesota begins the season without its two top scorers from last season - Marion Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis. Both restricted free agents - represented by agent Allan Walsh - remain unsigned.
In Boston, the Devils begin their quest to repeat as Cup champs, something they couldn't do the first two times they won in 1994-95 and 1999-2000.
"I learned that in order to repeat you have to be twice as good as you were the first time," centre John Madden told the Newark Star-Ledger. "You have to be twice as focused and a little more thick-skinned because if you're not doing well, there will be stuff said and written about it. Most important, you have to remember that last year is done."
The Bruins kick off their 80th NHL campaign with rookie head coach Mike Sullivan - at 35 the youngest in the league - making his debut.
