Hockey Time!
Preseason is over (sorry I didn’t get my posts up) and you know what that means - all of your favorite players start the long road to the playoffs. The NHL regular season starts off on October 1 and here’s a quick look at the four games that will kick off the season.
Washington @ Boston
This game is my pick for game of the week as it should be a great game! I’m a huge Bruins fan and who doesn’t love watching Alex Ovechkin in action?
There’s no doubt that the Capitals have the edge when it comes to scoring in this matchup. Ovechkin alone is a scoring machine, but he’s brought a few of his friends along (including Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison), making the Capitals offense one of the best this year. The Capitals are also holding a pretty strong defense with Norris Trophy winner Mike Green. Though, they have one big hole in their game, and that’s at the net. Washington is still looking for a no. 1 goalie. There are three contenders: Jose Theodore Cristobal Huet, and Michal Neuvirth. All three have their ups and downs, but if the Caps can find the right guy, there’s a good chance that this team has the potential to dominate.
The Bruins have the exact opposite problem. Their defense and goal position are possibly the best in the league with reigning Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara and Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas in goal, but they’re lacking when it comes to the offense. Their top scorer Phil Kessel was traded to Toronto, though they have filled the gap with six players that had 20 or more goals last season. Plus, they signed Mark Recchi to fill the right wing position. The guy is 41 years old and was seriously considering retirement, but wanted one more shot at a Stanley Cup (I think he joined the right team). He’s scored 60 or more points in 14 of his 20 seasons, and is expected to bring some experience to the Bruins’ offense. Patrice Bergeron has returned as well. Hopefully he’s over the concussion and will add to the offensive power that this team is looking for.
Montreal @ Toronto
The Canadiens have had a total makeover. They released 11 players, including some of their biggest scorers and top defensemen. In an effort to rebuild, they brought in Scott Gomez, Brian Gionata, and Mike Cammalleri to head up the offense. They also signed Hal Gill, Paul Mara, and Jaroslav Spacek to bring some experience to the defense. And it’s all topped it off by Jacques Martin - former coach of rival Ottawa Senators - as their new head coach. Will this overhaul bring in the Stanley Cup number for the 25th time? Time will tell. Hopefully they’ve had enough time to gel over the preseason.
The Leafs are another team that was looking to makeover their image. General manager Brian Burke wants a team full of muscle that will strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. They’ve signed Colton Orr and Mike Komisarek to do just that. Orr had achieved a career high in penalty minutes last season, and Komisarek is known for being a hard-hitting defenseman. Though their biggest addition may be that of goalie Jonas Gustavsson. He had a 1.96 goals-against average in the Swedish Elite League last season. With this mission to add muscle, they seemingly forgot about the offense because this team is still lacking when it comes to top scorers.
San Jose @ Colorado
The Sharks are a great team as evidenced by their top seed position last season. Unfortunately, they have no success when it comes to the playoffs. This will likely be their big focus this season. The offense, as it was, looked good. Though the team made a last minute change by adding Dan Heatley. He’s definitely a top sniper, and him and Joe Thornton should be one of the better scoring lines in the league. More importantly though, Heatley will bring some playoff experience to the team. The team has also made a few additions to the defense with Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Doug Murray. It should be another winning season for these boys; we’ll see how the playoffs go.
The once mighty Colorado Avalanche have disappointingly fallen to the bottom run in the NHL ladder. Though I’m sticking by them as they use this season to rebuild. They’ve added plenty of new faces to help them in their massive task of making it back to the top. They lost their ever-reliable Joe Sakik to retirement during the offseason, and with a coach that only has two years in the minors as experience, this team might be lacking some leadership. The good news is: they’ve added Matt Duchene to the center position and expect him to bring some much-needed power to the offense. He’ll be joining Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk. Plus, they’ve signed on Kyle Quincy to join their veteran defensive line. They’re choice of Peter Budaj and Craig Anderson leaves something to be desired in the net as neither of these guys has proven to be worthy of the starting position. It looks like it’s going to be a long road to recovery for the Avs.
Vancouver @ Calgary
The Canucks have returned all of the core pieces that will keep this team a consistent winner. They’ve returned top scorers Daniel and Henrik Sedin and added free-agent Mikael Samuelsson. After losing Mattias Ohlund, they’ve boosted up their blue line with players like Brad Lukowich, Christian Ehrhoff, and Mathiew Schneider. All three should bring some experience and scoring power to their defensive line. They’ve still got Roberto Luongo in the net, which is a good as they start in rebuilding a consistent blue line.
The Flames have chosen a new coach and are focusing on their troubled defense in order to help them win some games. They’ve signed Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf, and goalie Miikka Kiprusoff in hopes of beefing up that weak spot. Jarome Iginla will be leading the offense again this year, and though he only scored a career low 35 goals last season, the guy is still one of the top offensive players in the world. Hopefully he’ll be able to step it up to help this team in the new season.
It looks like a great start to the season. If you would like to put down a wager on any of these games, or games throughout the season, check out my favorite sportsbook: BetUS as they have everything covered when it comes to the NHL (and all sports really). Check out their odds on the abovementioned games, and, if you’re brave enough, you can even put down a wager on their early Stanley Cup line.
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