NHL: Puck Drops With A Doubleheader
The NHL returns to North America with a televised doubleheader for puck fans anxious to wager and watch.
While the NHL opened with four games in Europe last weekend, the big celebrations were saved for Thursday as the season starts with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins visiting the Colorado Avalanche. Both games can be seen on Versus, with the Leafs and Wings starting the action at 7 pm ET.
There are a total of four games on Thursday night and you can check our Live Odds page for all the odds, every day of the season.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s televised games.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings
Only time will tell but this has all the makings of a blowout as it features quite possibly the worst team in the league travelling to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Not only are the Wings the defending champs, but they are also the favorite to win the Cup this year at 7:2 odds.
Meanwhile, Toronto is one of five teams listed at 100:1 odds. With General Manager John Ferguson fired last season and longtime captain Mats Sundin weighing his options as a free agent, Toronto has finally committed to rebuilding the team.
Gone are veterans Sundin, Darcy Tucker, and Bryan McCabe. In their place there’s a host of younger players that the Leafs management hopes can re-energize a team that should have started its rebuilding process years ago.
Even with Sundin, Tucker and McCabe leading the Leafs, they failed to make the playoffs the last three seasons and have won just one playoff series in the last five seasons.
Expect this game to be the start of a long season for Leafs fans and expect oddsmakers to make Detroit a heavy favorite.
The Red Wings return all the key players from last year’s Stanley Cup run and added one of the league’s top scorers, Marion Hossa, to a roster that already features two of the Top 6 leading scorers from last year in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
Add a veteran mix of scoring and grit up front, a defense corps anchored by six-time Norris Trophy (top defenseman) winner Nicklas Lidstrom and you’ve got easily one of the best lineups in the league.
Veteran goalie Chris Osgood may not get much work this season, facing just more than 23 shots per game last year, but he’ll be ready when called upon.
Meanwhile, you can expect Toronto goalie, Vesa Toskala, to see a lot of rubber in this game.
Boston Bruins @ Colorado Avalanche
Both of these teams surprised last season but still have questions lingering about goaltending. Boston still has Tim Thomas available in goal but Manny Fernandez, who played just four games last year, is the guy the Bruins would like to see take the starter’s job.
Colorado gave Thursday’s starter, Peter Budaj, the chance to win the starting job last year but he lost it when Jose Theodore returned from injury. Theodore has since moved to Washington as a free agent and now the job is once again Budaj’s to lose.
Many thought that the Avalanche may try to land veteran goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin when the Chicago Blackhawks put him on waivers recently but they appear to be set on Budaj starting for now.
The Avs ice a veteran lineup ahead of Budaj with captain Joe Sakic returning for his 20th and potentially last season in the league. Scorers Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny will help provide offense with Ryan Smyth and free agent signee Darcy Tucker providing leadership.
Boston fans should be excited about the upcoming season after what they saw from their young team in the playoffs. The Bruins took the Montreal Canadiens to seven games after falling behind 3-0 in their first-round playoff series but enter this season under the radar with a number of other teams expected to compete for the Eastern Conference title.
The Bruins showed a lot of heart and young forwards Milan Lucic and David Krejci showed a lot of potential while the team’s leading scorer, Marc Savard, is back for another year.
Boston’s blueline is anchored by one of the fiercest defensemen in the league, 6’9” Zdeno Chara. The big man on the point can add some points too, as he scored 17 goals and had 34 assists last season.
This should be a great game to start the season as both sides are evenly matched.
