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The long wait is finally over. And how appropriate is it that the season will open in an arena owned by Commissioner Anschutz?
I'll update this column with thoughts throughout the day but I'll leave the heavy-lifting to the talented Jon Jordan and Scott Gallof so I can relax and watch the games. In addition to focusing on these two games I'll be adding random thoughts from around the League. (For example, has anyone other than Kings' fans noticed that Patrick O'Sullivan is still unsigned?)
Official Lineups:
NY RANGERS
G - Lundqvist, Valiquette
D - Girardi, Kalinin, Mara, Redden, Rozsival, Staal
F - Betts, Callahan, Dawes, Drury, Dubinsky, Gomez, Korpikoski, Naslund, Orr, Prucha, Voros, Zherdev
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
G - Smith, Kolzig
D - Carle, Heward, Meszaros, Mihalik, Niskala, O'Brien
F - Artyukhin, Gratton, Hall, Jokinen, Lecavalier, Malone, Prospal, Recchi, Roberts, St. Louis, Stamkos, Vrbata
And we're underway...
***
Going back to October 4th 2007, here was Tampa's opening night lineup:
G - Holmqvist, Denis
D - Kuba, Lukowich, Lundin, O'Brien, Ranger, Smaby
F - Darche, Gratton, Hlavac, Lecavalier, MacDonald, Ouellet, Prospal, Richards, Roy, St. Louis, Tarnasky, Ward
Only five players are dressed that played in last year's opener:
Gratton, Lecavalier, O'Brien, Prospal, St. Louis
Lundqvist makes a nice stop off a Stamkos backhand after he was left alone in front
***
Some new additions to the CBC lineup - Mike Milbury in the studio and Marc Crawford in the booth. And expect to hear a lot less of Bob Cole this year.
I know that you're all thinking, who is Lauri Korpikoski?
L-Korp was the Rangers' first round selection in 2004, 19th overall (four slots ahead of Andrej Meszaros). He spent two years in Finland before coming over to join the Wolf Pack at the end of the 05-06 season. In two+ years he's put up a total of 36 goals and 91 points plus another 2 goals and 1 assist in 23 playoff games.
Last season Korpikoski actually got into one playoff game and scored a goal against the Pens.
***
Artyukin is back with Tampa after playing the last two seasons in Russia. In his rookie season he notched 4 goals and 13 assists. He's a big player and should be a presence on the checking line.
Nice to see Drury wearing the C - I think he's a great leader and with 60 regular season and playoff game winning goals, there's no doubt that he steps up in key times.
***
I wonder if one day every team will play in their own O2 arena owned by AEG?
No score after one.
A couple moves from this morning:
Canes sign Zach Boychuk to an entry level deal. According to the press release, Boychuk will earn $787,500 per year with a $262,500 signing bonus - which we know is really three signing bonuses of $87,500 and could even be broken up into even smaller payments like Malkin's deal. So Boychuk gets the rookie max. The difference between his package and a top pick like Stamkos lies in the bonuses available.
Flames assigned Michael Backlund to Vasteras of the Swedish Elite League. We'll have to wait another year to see Calgary's 07 1st rounder.
Stars send down Dan Jancevski and Garrett Stafford, Jackets send down Tom Sesito, Adam Pineault, Clay Wilson and Grant Clitsome and the Avs send down Chris Stewart.
***
Second period
Carle played almost 10 minutes in the first - Meszaros clocked in at 8:25. For New York, Rozsival led the way at 8:40.
At the low end, Voros, Orr and Prucha were all under 3 mins for NYR as were Artyukin and Stamkos.
Things I still can't believe - Barry Melrose is back coaching and Wade Redden was handed $39 million.
***
Mike Smith looks good so far. I'm still not sure the Lightning have a legit #1 goalie and with that D I imagine they'll be near the top of the GA list.
Haven't noticed Naslund yet.
Vinny has 4 of Tampa's 8 shots so far but they're going on the PP.
And there's his 5th - a nice one-timer, stopped by Henrik.
Who is least likely to match last year's 27-goal total, Ryan Malone or Radim Vrbata?
I'll go with Vrbata, with Malone a close second.
I wonder who will catch contractyearitis this year - sounds like a good topic for a future column.
***
That looked like a dive by Kalinin.
Mihalik had a good chance shorthanded on a nice setup by Lecavalier. Mihalik is another one of those young d-men, a Tampa 1st rounder in 2005.
How young is Tampa's D?
Carle - 24
Meszaros - 24 (next week)
Mihalik - 21
Niskala - 27
O'Brien - 25
Then there's Heward, who's 37.
I remember when Heward was a young Leaf prospect with a cannon of a shot. Hard to believe he's still hanging around after a long career that's gone through:
Regina, Muskegon, Cleveland, Canadian National Team, St. John's, Toronto, Philadelphia (AHL), Nashville, NY Islanders, Columbus, Syracuse, Servette Geneve, Zurich, Langnau, Washington, Los Angeles, St. Petersberg (Rus) and now Tampa.
***
Noticed Naslund there and can’t believe he missed.
Mihalik is big. Almost Chara big. Will be interesting to watch him develop.
Naslund scores the first goal of the year off a nice pass from Gomez. Smith has got to stop shots like that if Tampa is going to be competitive.
1-0 New York after two. Tampa struggled in the second.
***
Early in the third, Smith went down after taking a shot up around the shoulder but stayed in the game.
Tampa's newly acquired depth isn't showing just yet - 11 shots, 5 by Lecavalier.
Next year I think Hockeybuzz should send me to Europe to cover the action instead of writing from my couch.
Carle and Meszaros were both over 18 mins through two.
St. Louis ties it up with a great backhander up high.
***
Heard on CBC: "St. Louis had 25 goals last year. With the addition of Naslund, 30 wouldn't be out of the question this year, absolutely."
Stamkos played just 4 shifts in the first and 4 in the second for a total of 5:38.
Naslund had a great chance at the side of the net but somehow Smith kept it out.
Stamkos can really skate - he was robbed by Lundqvist after blowing past Kalinin.
According to the Star Tribune, Risebrough and Gaborik are still far apart.
6 minutes to go.
Dubinsky's wrister goes right under Smith's arm to give NYR the lead late. Looks like the puck hit Mihalik and/or Smith was partially screened.
Apparently this is Smith's "first start as a starting goalie". Any chance we can get Bob Cole back?
Naslund still has his moves.
Tampa getting a late PP. A couple chances but they can't tie it up.
Rangers control the play and keep possession until under a minute to go. Tampa finally gets it in with under 20 second to go but can't generate a chance and New York gets it out and holds on for the win.
2-1 Rangers win the season opener.
***
Game #2 Lineups
PITTSBURGH
G - Fleury, Sabourin
D - Eaton, Gill, Letang, Orpik, Scuderi, Sydor
F - Bissonnette, Cooke, Crosby, Dupuis, Fedotenko, Godard, Kennedy, Malkin, Satan, Staal, Taffe, Talbot
OTTAWA
G - Gerber, Auld
D - Kuba, Lee, Phillips, Picard, Smith, Volchenkov
F - Alfredsson, Donovan, Foligno, Heatley, Kelly, McAmmond, Neil, Ruutu, Schubert, Spezza, Vermette, Winchester
Sundin gets a standing O when he comes out and then the game is delayed for a while as Mats decides whether he really wants to drop the puck or not.
He decides to go ahead with it and we're underway in Stockholm.
New mask, same Gerber? Tyler Kennedy scores seconds into the game.
Sens kill off a few penalties and then tie up the game on a deflection by Donovan.
Then Heatley misses on a chance in the slot.
Sorry if I don't write as frequently during this game. I'm working on some research/analysis for posts that will go up this week
***
Post-game:
As you surely know, Jason Spezza turned the puck over to Tyler Kennedy in the last half-minute of OT and Kennedy beat Gerber for his second goal of the game, giving the Pens the win.
Kuba played just under 30 minutes for the Sens and had 2 assists.
Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza combined for 17 shots but were -7.
Spezza and Malkin both scored shorthanded and the teams were a combined 1-13 on the PP.
Gerber allowed 4 goals on 30 shots, several of the weak variety.
Malkin scored the prettiest goal of the game but Crosby and Malkin were outshined on this day/night by young Tyler Kennedy, who capped off last season with no goals in his final 29 games.
Overall an entertaining day of hockey and a nice show for the fans in Stockholm and Prague.
And as an added bonus, AEG made some extra cash today too.
Danny - dtolensky@hotmail.com
I'll update this column with thoughts throughout the day but I'll leave the heavy-lifting to the talented Jon Jordan and Scott Gallof so I can relax and watch the games. In addition to focusing on these two games I'll be adding random thoughts from around the League. (For example, has anyone other than Kings' fans noticed that Patrick O'Sullivan is still unsigned?)
Official Lineups:
NY RANGERS
G - Lundqvist, Valiquette
D - Girardi, Kalinin, Mara, Redden, Rozsival, Staal
F - Betts, Callahan, Dawes, Drury, Dubinsky, Gomez, Korpikoski, Naslund, Orr, Prucha, Voros, Zherdev
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
G - Smith, Kolzig
D - Carle, Heward, Meszaros, Mihalik, Niskala, O'Brien
F - Artyukhin, Gratton, Hall, Jokinen, Lecavalier, Malone, Prospal, Recchi, Roberts, St. Louis, Stamkos, Vrbata
And we're underway...
***
Going back to October 4th 2007, here was Tampa's opening night lineup:
G - Holmqvist, Denis
D - Kuba, Lukowich, Lundin, O'Brien, Ranger, Smaby
F - Darche, Gratton, Hlavac, Lecavalier, MacDonald, Ouellet, Prospal, Richards, Roy, St. Louis, Tarnasky, Ward
Only five players are dressed that played in last year's opener:
Gratton, Lecavalier, O'Brien, Prospal, St. Louis
Lundqvist makes a nice stop off a Stamkos backhand after he was left alone in front
***
Some new additions to the CBC lineup - Mike Milbury in the studio and Marc Crawford in the booth. And expect to hear a lot less of Bob Cole this year.
I know that you're all thinking, who is Lauri Korpikoski?
L-Korp was the Rangers' first round selection in 2004, 19th overall (four slots ahead of Andrej Meszaros). He spent two years in Finland before coming over to join the Wolf Pack at the end of the 05-06 season. In two+ years he's put up a total of 36 goals and 91 points plus another 2 goals and 1 assist in 23 playoff games.
Last season Korpikoski actually got into one playoff game and scored a goal against the Pens.
***
Artyukin is back with Tampa after playing the last two seasons in Russia. In his rookie season he notched 4 goals and 13 assists. He's a big player and should be a presence on the checking line.
Nice to see Drury wearing the C - I think he's a great leader and with 60 regular season and playoff game winning goals, there's no doubt that he steps up in key times.
***
I wonder if one day every team will play in their own O2 arena owned by AEG?
No score after one.
A couple moves from this morning:
Canes sign Zach Boychuk to an entry level deal. According to the press release, Boychuk will earn $787,500 per year with a $262,500 signing bonus - which we know is really three signing bonuses of $87,500 and could even be broken up into even smaller payments like Malkin's deal. So Boychuk gets the rookie max. The difference between his package and a top pick like Stamkos lies in the bonuses available.
Flames assigned Michael Backlund to Vasteras of the Swedish Elite League. We'll have to wait another year to see Calgary's 07 1st rounder.
Stars send down Dan Jancevski and Garrett Stafford, Jackets send down Tom Sesito, Adam Pineault, Clay Wilson and Grant Clitsome and the Avs send down Chris Stewart.
***
Second period
Carle played almost 10 minutes in the first - Meszaros clocked in at 8:25. For New York, Rozsival led the way at 8:40.
At the low end, Voros, Orr and Prucha were all under 3 mins for NYR as were Artyukin and Stamkos.
Things I still can't believe - Barry Melrose is back coaching and Wade Redden was handed $39 million.
***
Mike Smith looks good so far. I'm still not sure the Lightning have a legit #1 goalie and with that D I imagine they'll be near the top of the GA list.
Haven't noticed Naslund yet.
Vinny has 4 of Tampa's 8 shots so far but they're going on the PP.
And there's his 5th - a nice one-timer, stopped by Henrik.
Who is least likely to match last year's 27-goal total, Ryan Malone or Radim Vrbata?
I'll go with Vrbata, with Malone a close second.
I wonder who will catch contractyearitis this year - sounds like a good topic for a future column.
***
That looked like a dive by Kalinin.
Mihalik had a good chance shorthanded on a nice setup by Lecavalier. Mihalik is another one of those young d-men, a Tampa 1st rounder in 2005.
How young is Tampa's D?
Carle - 24
Meszaros - 24 (next week)
Mihalik - 21
Niskala - 27
O'Brien - 25
Then there's Heward, who's 37.
I remember when Heward was a young Leaf prospect with a cannon of a shot. Hard to believe he's still hanging around after a long career that's gone through:
Regina, Muskegon, Cleveland, Canadian National Team, St. John's, Toronto, Philadelphia (AHL), Nashville, NY Islanders, Columbus, Syracuse, Servette Geneve, Zurich, Langnau, Washington, Los Angeles, St. Petersberg (Rus) and now Tampa.
***
Noticed Naslund there and can’t believe he missed.
Mihalik is big. Almost Chara big. Will be interesting to watch him develop.
Naslund scores the first goal of the year off a nice pass from Gomez. Smith has got to stop shots like that if Tampa is going to be competitive.
1-0 New York after two. Tampa struggled in the second.
***
Early in the third, Smith went down after taking a shot up around the shoulder but stayed in the game.
Tampa's newly acquired depth isn't showing just yet - 11 shots, 5 by Lecavalier.
Next year I think Hockeybuzz should send me to Europe to cover the action instead of writing from my couch.
Carle and Meszaros were both over 18 mins through two.
St. Louis ties it up with a great backhander up high.
***
Heard on CBC: "St. Louis had 25 goals last year. With the addition of Naslund, 30 wouldn't be out of the question this year, absolutely."
Stamkos played just 4 shifts in the first and 4 in the second for a total of 5:38.
Naslund had a great chance at the side of the net but somehow Smith kept it out.
Stamkos can really skate - he was robbed by Lundqvist after blowing past Kalinin.
According to the Star Tribune, Risebrough and Gaborik are still far apart.
6 minutes to go.
Dubinsky's wrister goes right under Smith's arm to give NYR the lead late. Looks like the puck hit Mihalik and/or Smith was partially screened.
Apparently this is Smith's "first start as a starting goalie". Any chance we can get Bob Cole back?
Naslund still has his moves.
Tampa getting a late PP. A couple chances but they can't tie it up.
Rangers control the play and keep possession until under a minute to go. Tampa finally gets it in with under 20 second to go but can't generate a chance and New York gets it out and holds on for the win.
2-1 Rangers win the season opener.
***
Game #2 Lineups
PITTSBURGH
G - Fleury, Sabourin
D - Eaton, Gill, Letang, Orpik, Scuderi, Sydor
F - Bissonnette, Cooke, Crosby, Dupuis, Fedotenko, Godard, Kennedy, Malkin, Satan, Staal, Taffe, Talbot
OTTAWA
G - Gerber, Auld
D - Kuba, Lee, Phillips, Picard, Smith, Volchenkov
F - Alfredsson, Donovan, Foligno, Heatley, Kelly, McAmmond, Neil, Ruutu, Schubert, Spezza, Vermette, Winchester
Sundin gets a standing O when he comes out and then the game is delayed for a while as Mats decides whether he really wants to drop the puck or not.
He decides to go ahead with it and we're underway in Stockholm.
New mask, same Gerber? Tyler Kennedy scores seconds into the game.
Sens kill off a few penalties and then tie up the game on a deflection by Donovan.
Then Heatley misses on a chance in the slot.
Sorry if I don't write as frequently during this game. I'm working on some research/analysis for posts that will go up this week
***
Post-game:
As you surely know, Jason Spezza turned the puck over to Tyler Kennedy in the last half-minute of OT and Kennedy beat Gerber for his second goal of the game, giving the Pens the win.
Kuba played just under 30 minutes for the Sens and had 2 assists.
Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza combined for 17 shots but were -7.
Spezza and Malkin both scored shorthanded and the teams were a combined 1-13 on the PP.
Gerber allowed 4 goals on 30 shots, several of the weak variety.
Malkin scored the prettiest goal of the game but Crosby and Malkin were outshined on this day/night by young Tyler Kennedy, who capped off last season with no goals in his final 29 games.
Overall an entertaining day of hockey and a nice show for the fans in Stockholm and Prague.
And as an added bonus, AEG made some extra cash today too.
Danny - dtolensky@hotmail.com
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