CAROLINA HURRICANES (0-0-0-0) AT FLORIDA PANTHERS (0-0-0-0), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - Two Southeast Division clubs who hope to trek up in the standings clash tonight when the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Florida Panthers at the Office Depot Center.
After a shocking run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, the Hurricanes finished with the worst record in the NHL at 61 points a season ago. Injuries took their toll early and often, the goaltending that carried it through three playoff rounds was horribly inconsistent.
After licking its wounds, Carolina began the ensuing offseason in promising fashion by cashing in on the high draft pick that came with a last-place finish. The Canes selected Eric Staal with the second-overall choice, and also pulled off a draft-day trade for Phoenix defenseman Danny Markov.
Staal was terrific during the preseason and led all NHL players with seven goals in exhibition play. The teenager, whose style has been compared to that of Canes captain Ron Francis, will center a line with Francis and sniper Jeff O'Neill.
Francis is back for his yet another season and hopes to bounce back from an injury-hampered effort that limited him to 22 goals and 35 assists in 82 games. The warrior he is, Francis did not miss a match last season despite tearing a muscle in his back last fall. O'Neill, meanwhile, is coming off his third consecutive 30+ goal showing.
Rod Brind'Amour, after a tremendous playoff run in '02, missed 34 games with a hand injury but was still able to post 14 goals and 23 assists in 48 contests. His absence was immeasurable, though, because he provides so much in every aspect of a game, from timely scoring to penalty killing.
After the drafting of Staal and acquiring of Markov, the summer continued with an "upgrade the defense" theme, including the re-acquisition of Glen Wesley, as well as the addition of the rock-steady Bob Boughner.
Goalie Kevin Weekes will enter the season as a clear-cut No. 1 netminder in Raleigh, and the hope is that consistent playing time will equal consistent performance. Weekes posted a 2.55 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 51 appearances last year, but he had his season irritated by two separate stretches of injury.
Florida, meanwhile, has not made the playoffs in three years but is heading in the right direction with a solid crew of prospects. One of those youngsters is center Nathan Horton, who was selected right after Staal in the June Draft. The pair played on rival clubs in the Ontario Hockey League last season and share the same agent. Horton, more of a power forward, scored three goals in four preseason games.
Horton will be part of a legitimate offensive nucleus that began to develop last year, as new captain Olli Jokinen, Viktor Kozlov and Kristian Huselius all broke out with career seasons. The team's previous high draft pick, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, gained invaluable experience as a teenager in 02-03.
Last season we got to see Bouwmeester play anchor minutes, as he logged an average of 19:46 per match. His ice time especially rose after All-Star Sandis Ozolinsh was traded to Anaheim at the break. Bouwmeester stepped to the challenge and, although he made some typical rookie errors, looked like a veteran at times. The 6-4, 210-pounder played well enough to make the NHL All- Rookie Team and has folks salivating over his potential.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo posted a career high with 20 wins last season, and also set personal records and Panthers' marks for shots against (2,011), saves (1,847), minutes (3,627), games played (65) and shutouts (6). In addition, he became the Panthers' all-time shutout leader (15), passing by John Vanbiesbrouck's 13.
Florida went 4-1 against Carolina last season and has won three straight home meetings.
LOS ANGELES KINGS (0-0-0-0) AT DETROIT RED WINGS (0-0-0-0), 7:30 p.m. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Detroit Red Wings start the post-Sergei Fedorov era this evening, as they kick off the 2003-04 campaign against the Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit captured its third straight Central Divison title last season after picking up 110 points (48-20-10-4) on its way to its 13th straight postseason appearance.
However, things did not go as planned in the playoffs, as the Red Wings were upended in four games by the eventual Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Following their stunning loss at the hands of the Ducks, it was clear that the steadily aging Wings needed some freshening up as they tried to squeeze one more championship out of a lemon that had already produced three.
Fedorov sgined a free agent deal in Anaheim, while the team brought in stud defenseman Derian Hatcher. Also back in Motown is six-time Vezina Trophy and two-time Hart Trophy winner goaltender Dominik Hasek, who returns after a brief one-year retirement.
In Hatcher, GM Ken Holland added a Norris Trophy finalist who is the standard for bruising, stay-at-home defenseman in the National Hockey League. The former Dallas Stars captain joins a corps already anchored by Nick Lidstrom and Chris Chelios, both Norris finalists in 2002. Lidstrom, of course, has won the award the past three seasons.
Of course, the one lingering question surrounding the Wings is their advanced age, even with the departure of Fedorov, 33. Steve Yzerman is back at 38, while Chelios is still plugging away 41. Lidstrom seems like a kid at 33.
At the same time, though, sophomore coach Dave Lewis has a fine stable of youngsters who should get their chance at ice time. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, runner-up in the '03 Calder voting, are two of the most promising forwards in the league, while defenseman Jiri Fischer was on his way to becoming a top-two rearguard before a knee injury wasted most of last season.
Another question that remains is what will the team do with goaltender Curtis Joseph, who was signed to a lucrative free agent deal last year after Hasek's retirement. Joseph struggled at times for the Wings, who exposed him in last weeks waiver draft. No one claimed him, so he will start the year as Hasek's understudy.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, will try and erase the memory of an injury-plagued 2003-03 campaign. Goaltender Felix Potvin, now with Boston, was placed on injured reserve midway through the season and never returned. Key forwards Adam Deadmarsh, Brian Smolinski, Jason Allison and Steve Heinze all missed significant time due to various injuries. Promising youngster Eric Belanger was hindered for most of the year with back spasms, while defenseman Aaron Miller was absent for nearly half the season. Smolinski and Heinz are no longer with the team.
Allison and Deadmarsh are still sidelined while recovering from concussion- related injuries and will miss tonight's opener.
Despite the health issues, the Kings scratched and clawed for 78 points (33-37-6-6) and finished in a tie with the Phoenix Coyotes for third place in the Pacific Division.
For the most part, general manager Dave Taylor kept this team together in the offseason. One major move, though, was the addition of former Philadelphia backstop Roman Cechmanek. The 32-year-old played three outstanding seasons with the Flyers, but wore out his welcome with a reputation of allowing soft goals and, despite reports to the contrary, never truly getting along with his teammates.
Luc Robitaille is back in Tinseltown for the third time in his Hall-of-Fame career. After averaging an astonishing 49 goals through his first eight NHL seasons with the Kings, Lucky Luc returned for the 1997-98 season and skated for Los Angeles through the 2000-01 campaign. All the Montreal native has done throughout 17 seasons is total the quietest 631 goals in league history. Last year, though, the 37-year-old left wing totaled just 11 markers in 81 games for the Red Wings.
Los Angeles begins the season with three road games in four nights. Its home opener is October 15 against Ottawa.
The Red Wings are 32-31-14 in their 77 season-openers, while Los Angeles has posted a 16-11-9 mark on Opening Night.
Detroit, which was 2-1-1 last season against the Kings, is unbeaten in its last five against LA in the Motor City (4-0-1) and is 6-1-2 in the previous nine matchups at Joe Louis Arena.
The home team is 8-1-2 in the last 11 meetings.
