Except for those teams that played overseas, the season begins Thursday night. (Toronto at Detroit and Boston at Colorado are on Versus.)

Here's the Outsports NHL preview -- however, something needs to be said about this...



I think that a mention of the team that beat both Washington AND Montreal in the playoffs might be warranted, especially when you consider that much of the Washington success down the stretch was due to their addition of Cristobal Huet in goal, and Huet is now in Chicago. But I guess saying nothing about the Flyers is better than saying something stupid about them...

If Simon Gagne can stay healthy, I think that Philadelphia will be a force to be rekoned with.

I'm also predicting... scratch that... GUARENTEEING that the Edmonton Oilers win the Division Championship

Watch out for the BLACKHAWKS!!!

Joe, did you see the story about the Flyers' owner inviting Sarah Palin to drop the puck at their home opener?

Hockey, mom!

Hey Miamispartan, I am salivating over the thought of the Blackhawks/Rangers game in just over an hour. I heard good things about Chicago last night by one of the Versus guys.

Well after the delerium of watching the Leafs shocking win over Detroit as Part One of Hockey Night In Canada's opening double header last night - I have no words to describe the heart wrenching start to Game Two as the Vancouver Canucks started their season with a tribute to Luc Bourdon - the Canuck who was killed in a motorcycle accident during the off-season.

There is an incredible video tribute as Tom Cochrane sings live 'My Boy's Gonna Play In the Big League' with Luc's family and girl friend in attendance. Also at the conclusion of the Canuck's last home game last season - every player signed the jersey they wore that night and presented it to a fan who won in a draw at GM Place that night. Well the woman who won Luc's jersey was there to present it back to Luc's girlfriend and family. It was as moving and emotional a ceremony as I can ever recall at a hockey game. I was in tears watching it. How they played hockey after that - I'll never know.
Here's the tribute as it was presented on Hockey Night In Canada last night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HGD12AqYjk

Even though the Blackhawks lost to the Rangers, I was impressed by alot of Hawks play. They are fast and they are excellent skaters, and they also have a quality goal tender. I see nothing but good things for the Blackhawks. They will win some games. Looking forward to the Rangers/Flyers matchup this afternoon, and Palins drop of the puck....

Loved the welcoming reception of boos Ms. Palin received in Philadelphia last evening. Otherwise the Flyers were deep in a hole 3-0 after the first period, and gave their fans nothing to cheer for or about. Birons start was shaky and thats putting it mildly. To their credit though,they came back by the 3rd and made a contest out of it. There were several fights. The Rangers are very impressive this year. This team doesn't look anything like any Rangers team I have know for a very long time. They are the 6th youngest team in terms of ages, with the average being about 27. Some start for the boys from Broadway this year!

Back down to earth for the Leafs in their home opener. a 6-1 one sided loss to Montreal. I guess we should hold off on out Stanley Cup parade plans that we were dusting off after the win against Detroit the other night. lol

First of all Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I am watching the Blues/Leafs game Travelpat. I like the enthusiasm of your play by play Announcer.

The Palin issue can be discussed over in the Politics & Religion section.

The Flyers' first game is best forgotten. Although, since I wasn't home I didn't see it. Besides, around here it's still baseball season.

Edit to add: The Flyers' second game isn't much better. They've played two games and they're TEN POINTS OUT OF FIRST PLACE! (Of course, that's in part because the Rangers have played 5 games already.)

OK...what the hell is going on with the Blackhawks???
They have not won a game, and their defense, which was supposed to be much improved, ain't there...

Miami, sounds like some tinkering is definitely in order. Meanwhile the red hot Rangers are 5-0. Best start for them since 1983! Like I said the other day, I haven't seen a Rangers club look like this in a very very very long time. The biggest difference is these guys are young.

In trying to follow the ALCS game and catch up with some of my online reading, I can't say much about the game even though I had it on my TV at times, but the Flyers are now 0-3-1 after their loss at Colorado. I've seen so little of their games this year I can't comment on exactly what's going on, but they clearly suck right now. It really makes their playoff run last year seem like a fluke.

But they don't seem to be making a coaching change, unlike Chicago. The Blackhawks replace Denis Savard after just 4 games -- and coming off a win, no less. Joel Quenneville is now the coach.

I guess that was the much needed "tinkering."

Big news!



Okay, not so big...

Late Saturday the Flyers lost again, blowing 3-1 and 4-3 leads and losing in OT at San Jose. They're now 0-3-2. They're missing a couple of defensemen due to injuries but that's not the big problem. The forwards aren't playing well -- they're taking lots of penalties because they're either not working hard or they're out of position, and Marty Biron has gotten off to a poor start. The only reason they were in the game on Saturday was because of Antero Niittymaki.

In each of the last two seasons they had a 10-game winless streak. Are they going for that dubious mark again? And if John Stevens can't find ways to cut short losing streaks, why is he the head coach?

Most people around here aren't paying attention but the Flyers are now 0-3-3, the only team that hasn't won a game yet. They came back from a 6-4 deficit to tie it tonight but lost in the shootout against San Jose.

The game report at philly.com says the soon-to-be-Wells Fargo Center was just 3/4ths full, presumably because people stayed home to watch some silly baseball game.

I guess Sarah Palin isn't the Flyers good luck charm.

I thought I saw a headline this morning that said the HB ( hockeybitch) will be in St. Louis on Friday to drop the puck for their home opener..I hope she receives the same kind of "welcome" she got in Philadelphia.

The Blackhawks seem to have climbed out of their initial hole...
Tied for 2nd now after beating previously unbeaten Edmonton....

And....the number of teams with more points than the Sabres is.....ZERO!!!!!

Lose Drury, Briere, trade Campbell.....still on top with a nice comeback win over the Wild last night!

6-0-1!!!!

Great time to be a Buffalo sports fan!

Technically it's back on top, not still on top, but a great start nonetheless.

Danny Briere has a sports hernia and will have surgery tomorrow. He'll miss 3-4 weeks. The Flyers reacted to this news tonight by...winning! Finally!

...and the Flyers won again today, taking both games in the home-and-home with New Jersey. Last night's win broke an 0-11-1 streak in regular season games at NJ. Both wins were pretty impressive efforts. The only reason it went to OT today was because of Martin Brodeur. Where was this team the first 6 games?

Some idiot threw some sort of smoke bomb onto the ice in overtime today after a shot that looked like it might've gone in was ruled no goal by the officials. Replays show it hit the crossbar and then was gloved by Brodeur, and clearly was no goal. There was a short delay and players skated around to clear the smoke, but whatever it was it really stunk. People were shown holding towels over their nose and mouth, and the broadcasters said a few minutes after it landed that the odor reached their booth, which (as is the case in most newer buildings such as the Wachovia-soon-to-be-Wells-Fargo Center) is way up at the top of the building.

Flyers again this evening against the Thrashers. Last night watched Minnesota who is rollin.

Streaky Team is at it again. The Flyers have now won 4 in a row after starting the season with 6 losses (3 in OT/SO). How about some consistency? One thing that's been consistent is the offense. The Flyers lead the East with 39 goals, 3 more than the Rangers -- who have played 13 games to the Flyers' 10.

This is a HUGE blow to the New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur will have elbow surgery Thursday and is expected to miss 3 to 4 months. Kevin Weekes is his backup in goal.

Sabres 8-2-2

Vanek - 11 goals

Miller back to back shutouts. Last one against Jersey yesterday.

Have to admit, if Weekes played like he did against Buffalo last night in a 2-0 loss the Devils should do fine.

Seemed like NJ had just gotten the news right before game time and they got absolutely hammered with 20 first period shots and still only trailed 1-0 at the end of one period.

Buffalo is rollin. I watched that game. Devils have got alot of injuries, but Sabres are playing some damn good hockey. Miller looks fantastic.

The Flyers -- aka Team Schizo -- looked dismal last night in losing their second in a row, following the 4-game win streak, which followed the 6-game losing streak, and thus it's time for the shakeup. The Flyers trade defenseman Steve Eminger, forward Steve Downie and Tampa Bay’s fourth round pick in the 2009 draft (acquired in a previous trade) to Tampa Bay for defenseman Matt Carle and San Jose's third round pick in the 2009 draft (I assume the Sharks traded this pick to the Lightning some time in the past).

Downie's been in the doghouse this year, twice being sent back to the AHL. There was a lot of hype for him, in part based on his efforts for Team Canada in the World Jr. Championships. He was the Flyers' first-round pick in the 2005 draft. Either he's not living up to it or he wasn't allowed to develop, and now he's gone. We'll see if this comes back to bite the Flyers as has happened in the past (for example, Justin Williams with Carolina and Patrick Sharp with Chicago).

Will this clear cap space and make a contract space available (it seems there's a limit on the number of players that can be signed to professional contracts, and the Flyers were at the limit) to fit in Shanahan? We'll see.

Wow, the Flyers broke their latest losing streak at just 3 games. Daniel Briere came back over the weekend after missing just 6 games because of his abdominal surgery. He scored yesterday and promptly left the ice, never to return. In the spirit of mystery that seems to be gripping NHL teams, all they're reporting is that it's a "lower-body injury" and they don't think it's related to the prior injury. You'll excuse me if I'm skeptical. Their next two games are at Pittsburgh and Montreal -- tough sledding.

Speaking of the Penguins, they had an impressive comeback last night in Detroit, winning 7-6 in OT after trailing 5-2 in the third period. Jordan Staal scored goals 4 through 6 for Pittsburgh, the last one tying the game with 23 seconds left in regulation, and assisted on the OT winner. I'm sensing a Shiny Happy Falconpride after this one.

Brian Burke steps down as GM of Anaheim. He's still under contract to the team through this season. Everyone seems to think he'll take over Toronto next.

The Pens/Flyers game sounded typically crazy last night. Plus the Bruins FINALLY beat the Habs last night in Beantown.

I see Tampa Bay has fired Barry Melrose,already.

And the rumour mill is running rampant that the Leafs will offer Brian Burke - who is now out as GM of Anaheim - something like $3 million/year to take the GM role with the Leafs.

And speaking of my Leafs - and I know this will jinx them by me posting something here - but I'm gonna do it anyways - Wow! They are playing high speed, energetic, fun to watch hockey!

They've made the early slot of Hockey Night In Canada exciting almost every Saturday night so far. Many come from behind victories and other gritty efforts falling just short. All the credit in the world to new coach Wilson - who is clearly getting everything possible out of this roster. A late night slot visit to Vancouver on HNIC tomorrow night.

I've got tickets to see them next Saturday against another good team - the Hawks. And surprisingly- I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

Minor correction - tonight's Leafs game in Vancouver is actually the early game on HNIC at 7PM ET. A 4PM start Vancouver time.

A couple of weeks ago on Hockey Night In Canada they had some reporters between periods talking about different issues, and one writer said he was giving the over-under on Melrose's firing as mid-November. Dingdingding! We have a winner!

There must have been some weird stuff behind the scenes. Last night on NHL Network I saw a clip of Melrose talking to the media after their second game overseas, ranting about how the players weren't giving enough effort and such. It was their second game. They lost both games to the Rangers (a good team) by identical 2-1 scores. Though I didn't see the games, the fact that both were 2-1 doesn't indicate that they were blown out.

Rick Tocchet is the interim head coach even though he's still on probation for that gambling scandal. Even if Tampa Bay doesn't keep him on as head coach, if he does a decent enough job some other team will give him a chance. It's kind of amazing that he got to continue his coaching career despite what happened, and now he's been promoted.

Meanwhile, the Flyers are in Montreal tonight after that game in Pittsburgh the other night, where they scored 4 second-period goals after falling behind 3-0, only to have a bad giveaway lead to the tying Pens goal late in the third period and the eventual shootout loss, unsurprising because the Flyers are so lousy in shootouts.

Bruins and Leafs this evening from Toronto. Looking forward to it! Boston is doing really well so far this season.

Jason Arnott is being taken off via stretcher right now in Nashville... crashed hard into the net head-first... here's hoping he's okay...

Arnott was okay. Went to the hospital but was promptly released and could play Friday.

It should be noted that Joe's ex was very classy and stayed on the ice with him until he was taken off while the other Sharks (and the Preds) went back into the dressing room for an early intermission.

I was watching the Bruins/Leafs game and saw a quick clip of the guy being hauled away on a stretcher. Didn't sound to good at the time, but I guess there is movement in the extremities, so hope for a full and total recovery. I can't recall how many chances the Leafs had against the Bruins. Seemed like half of the first period and alot of the second they were on a power play and came so close so many times to scoring. Even received a 5-3 pp and didn't score. Its interesting that the Leafs outscore their opponents so badly in the 3rd, but not last night. Meanwhile its the Wild/Penns tonight which should be really interesting.

Hey hockeytom. That game last night was a typical Leafs game this year. For the most part creating more scoring chances than the other team - but just not being able to score very often in the first two periods of a game. And almost always Toscala is playing like Raycroft last season - letting in at least one softy a game. He let in 4 goals in 9 shots against the Canucks the other night!

The Leafs just do not quit though- which has resulted in a few thrilling comebacks this season - but they really do have to start scoring when they have a 5-3 manpower advantage. They are 0 for 15 now this year with a 2 man advantage and that killed them not only last night but in Vancouver on Saturday - when they could not score twice with 2 man advantages.

They are entertaining as heck to watch - so I can't really complain - but with more and more of these losses piling up - in games that they should be winning based on the flow of the game - it is fun - but undeniably beginning to get a bit frustrating at the same time.

And look for a Brain Burke to Toronto announcement any day now.

The Flyers are finally unveiling their alternate "third" jerseys at a meet-and-greet for season ticket-holders tonight, and they go on sale tomorrow at their website and at the Wachovia-soon-to-be-Wells-Fargo Center when they play Carolina on the now-traditional day-after-Thanksgiving game. But if you want a preview, go here. Looks much closer to their old orange jerseys from the 70s (the ones that used to be their road jerseys), even down to the white-patch/black-letter box for the name on the back.

The day after Thanksgiving could also be the day Carolina debuts a new head coach, if they follow the pattern of Washington and Columbus, the Flyers' opponent on Black Friday the last two years. And judging from this bit I read at Yahoo, it's not impossible if some ugly losses occur in the next week...



Speaking of alternate jerseys, check out the Chicago and Detroit jerseys for this year's Winter Classic. Love Chicago's! Detroit's, not so much.

I agree with you Joe, that the Flyers 3rd jersey looks retrospective to the seventies. Chicagos jersey is interesting. The Red Wings is different....lloks like King Janes style of letter style or something .Meanwhile last nights game between the Pens and the Wild was very interesting. Offense against defense. Minnesota just totally shut down the Sens potent offense. At times it wasn't pretty in doing so, lots of intense corner battles, but they got the job done in a shootout win.

Nice to see the Blackhawks are 2-0 on this long "Circus" road trip this year....
I also like the Hawks' Winter Classic Jersey....may have to pick that one up...

..and nice come from behind win at Toronto last night for the Hawks....3-0 on this long road trip...big game coming up at San Jose on Wednesday...

Flyers are hot right now. Won their 5th straight last night against the Stars. Islanders have won 5 out of their last 6 games. Tonight looking forward to the Blues/Preds on Versus.

The Flyers are 6-0-1 in their last 7 (only that OT loss in Pittsburgh is a blemish). They're not really playing 60 full minutes, though. Still too many defensive lapses. They're getting much better goaltending, though, and they're still scoring enough. Jeff Carter is now tied for the league lead with 15 goals.

Leafs win their first game with Brian Burke as GM knocking off those Flyers 4-2 at the ACC last night. I went to the Leafs game last Saturday against Chicago and again the Leafs played well losing in overtime.

That night Wendel Clark's # 17 was raised to the rafters at the ACC - although the Leafs unlike some other teams do not retire the number. Clark is probably the most popular Leaf of the last 20 years and he received a loud and prolonged standing ovation. Funniest happening of the night. Thousands of fans were given moustaches that looked something like the moustache Clark had for much of his career. When I went to the washroom at the end of the first period - it seemed about 70% of the guys in the can were still sporting the 'Wendel Moustache'. I just about killed myself laughing when one of the guys in line for one of the urinals turned to I assume his friend beside him and said - 'I suddenly feel like I'm in a bad 80's gay movie.'

And speaking of gay movies and the Leafs - I finally watched Breakfast With Scot - which is playing this month on one of the HBO-like movie channels up here. It would be a stretch to say it was great, but I enjoyed it - and as a gay Leaf fan I guess I'm kind of proud that it was the Leafs and the NHL that allowed their trademarks to be used in a gay themed movie. Don Cherry even appears in a still photo posing with Scot!

The Flyers/Tampa game last night was rather feisty, but kind of expected that, with some ex-Flyers on Tampa behind the bench and on ice. Look out for the Sharks though. Sitting pretty at 21-3. Incredible.,

For the Sharks, it's all about advancing deep into the playoffs for once. The regular season will be meaningless if they come up short in the postseason again.