The New Season

Well it's the start of a new season for the NHL; a fresh start; a clean slate if you will. So what are the changes and how will they pan out? Well that's why we have an 82-game season; to figure these things out.
Some of the teams that made the big moves have us scratching our heads. Let's start off with the biggest of them all: Montreal. After a disappointing season following an excellent season, in which 50 percent of their players had career years including rookie netminder Carey Price, The Habs dramatically revamped their entire organization. Coach Guy Carboneau was first to gobeing replace by GM Bob Gainey. After voicing his displeasure for the head coach position, he stepped down and brought in former Panthers coach Jaques Martin. Mid way through the summer, the club announced the sale of the team and the purchase by former owners the Molson brothers. But the fun didn't begin there; signings of two prime defencemen, a star center, a gritty winger and a few goal scorers and this team has a whole new look. With the departure of captain and starting center Saku Koivu, who has been a mainstay with the team through the leanest years in franchise history, Russian scoring sensation (or scoring cessation depending on how he is feeling that day) Alex Kovalev, Chris Higgins, and top D-man Mike Komisarek, a good margin of the team will not be returning this season. As an added bonus both Kovalev and Komisarek signed with two rivaled Canadian teams; Ottawa and Toronto respectively - which will make for some even more interesting match-ups. The only mentionable players to stay were Plekanec, Markov, and the Kostitsyn brothers.
So what's to expect from the new look les-saints flanelles'? About as much as was expected when they lost their 8th straight playoff game...Nothing.
There's a lot of what-if's on this team and I think too many ingredients to make it right.

Which brings us to the Flyers. Finally they let go of the 6-foot something pylon they called Darien Hatcher who was leeching their salary cap for God knows how long. Chris Pronger is a good addition and, I think, the right guy to play in front of question mark Ray Emery. Yes he has been a good netminder but he is to the Flyers what Iverson was to the Sixers. "practice. we talkin' 'bout practice." If the Flyers can keep this guy on a leash then they should have some success. If not, he'll most likely be exiled to Russia for another stint in the KHL.

Some other teams to watch out for as this seasons rolls along will be Toronto, New York Rangers, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. The Red Wings and Penguins are the two teams that did probably the least in terms of adding players so it will be interesting to see what they do.