GAME ON !

[ntsumgspe]

Drop the puck!

Tonight in rinks across North America the NHL welcomes back hockey fans for opening night of the 2005-06 season. All NHL clubs will be in action to open the season, a first in League history, as the NHL embarks on a new era.

It's life in the fast lane right from the get-go this season as Sidney Crosby makes his much anticipated NHL debut at 7:30 p.m. as the rejuvenated Pittsburgh Penguins, with a healthy Mario Lemieux and newcomers Ziggy Palffy, John LeClair and Sergei Gonchar, meet the New Jersey Devils.

In Tampa Bay, the Lightning will raise the 2004 Stanley Cup banner, won in a scintillating seven-game series with the Calgary Flames, in pregame ceremonies prior to the 7:30 p.m. opening faceoff with the Carolina Hurricanes.

In Vancouver, "The Great One", Wayne Gretzky, makes his debut as a head coach, guiding a substantially changed Phoenix Coyotes squad against the Vancouver Canucks, who welcome Todd Bertuzzi back into their lineup.

And in Philadelphia (7 p.m.), the New York Rangers will take on the Flyers in a game that marks the first NHL telecast by OLN, the League's new cable television partner in the United States.

In Canada, TSN has opening night covered from all angles, with regional coverage of the Ottawa Senators taking on the Maple Leafs in Toronto (8 p.m.) in one of the League's white-hot rivalries. TSN also has the Flames opening their season in Minneapolis against the Wild at 8 p.m.

The second games of the TSN twinbill see the Colorado Avalanche meeting the Oilers in Edmonton at 10 p.m., and the Coyotes-Canucks game at 10:30.

RDS will telecast the Montreal Canadiens opening their season in Boston against the Bruins at 7 p.m.

To commemorate the new direction, all fans attending games will receive a mini Stanley Cup, a remind of the ultimate goal for each of the NHL's 30 teams.

"It's our way of thanking the fans for staying with us," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. "Obviously it was a long process, and I think we all feel good about the fact that we were able to forge a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, a new partnership with our players that moves the game forward and put it on a stage that we have not seen for quite some time, and so we are very excited to start the season."

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Storylines abound as the new season takes shape. League-wide, there are the new rules that figure to open up the game and create more scoring and shootouts will be used to eliminate ties and the size of goaltenders' equipment has been reduced 11 percent.

There will be much attention paid to the standard of enforcement of the rules that has seen the referees whistle down hooking, holding and slashing, thus giving the players the opportunity to move the puck and create more offense. It has been an ongoing process throughout the preseason to change the mindset of players, coaches and even officials about the need to see the game accelerate.

Los Angeles Kings' forward Jeremy Roenick is a proponent of the new rules.

"This is going to be great for the game in general, it's going to increase scoring and increase the excitement and open the game up for sure," said Jeremy Roenick, who now calls Los Angeles home.

"The league is working hard right now behind the scenes to accelerate the process; meaning, the teams have all received, the coaches and the players and the managers, have all received DVD's," said Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom. "Our guys have gone through a training camp here. We're actually officiating games so that we can get into the right mindset, because it's not just the players' culture and the coaches' culture that needs to change. It's the officiating culture, as well, because what were accepted practices in the past will no longer be accepted practices in the future. So with all of that going on and us having pretty much an open-door policy in regard to the rules with the teams at exhibition games, we're hoping that the learning curve is accelerated.

"However, when the games start, let's recognize that when a player gets beat by another player with the puck, now the player is going to have to make a decision: Do I hook and hold him, or do I let him go? And sometimes it won't even be that slow. It will be much quicker than that; he'll just react, and his reaction could in turn put him in the penalty box. So I don't think we will eliminate fouls in the hockey game, but we will definitely enforce the fouls that do take place."

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Selected with the first pick of the 2005 Entry Draft, Sidney Crosby's debut with the Penguins has been eagerly anticipated. A standout junior with Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Last season, he scored 66 goals and 102 assists and has been a star with Canada's national junior team as well.

Crosby is widely regarded as the best junior player to come into the NHL since his Penguins' teammate, Mario Lemieux, debuted in 1984.

But happily for hockey fans, Crosby is far from the only exciting, young player to come along this season. Talented, young players abound around the NHL, starting with Alexander Ovechkin, the top selection in the 2004 draft, who will debut with the Capitals when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.

The Flyers are eager to see how junior stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter fare in regular-season play. The Buffalo Sabres are excited about the possibilities offered by Thomas Vanek. In Atlanta, the Thrashers will welcome goalie Kari Lehtonen, one of the most anticipated goaltending prospects in years, to the NHL.

Defenseman Dion Phaneuf is expected to make his debut with the Flames, while backliner Ryan Suter steps into the NHL ranks with the Nashville Predators and Zach Parise will be taking the first steps of his NHL career with the Devils.

***

In addition to the many new faces, many established NHL stars have moved on to new teams.

Peter Forsberg and Derian Hatcher are now Philadelphia Flyers. Ziggy Palffy, Sergie Gonchar and John LeClair are in Pittsburgh, Tony Amonte, Roman Hamrlik and Darren McCarty are Flames. Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts call Florida home, while Eric Lindros and Jason Allison are new Maple Leafs.

The Chicago Blackhawks have significantly revamped their roster with the additions of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin from the Lightning and defenseman Adrian Aucoin from the Islanders.

Brian Leetch is now a Bruin, Paul Kariya a Predator and Adam Foote a Blue Jacket. Scott Niedermayer left New Jersey to join his brother Rob with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Free agency wasn't the only vehicle for change during the offseason. The Oilers acquired defenseman Chris Pronger from St. Louis and center Michael Peca from the Islanders, sending Eric Brewer and two prospects for Pronger and Mike York and a pick for Peca.

The Flyers traded Roenick to the Kings after signing Forsberg, and "JR" joins Pavol Demitra as two significant new Kings.

And one of the biggest deals of the summer saw Dany Heatley join the Ottawa Senators, who sent winger Marian Hossa and defenseman Greg de Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers.