The quest for Lord Stanley's mug begins today with two games.
1. NY Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lighting
Steven Stamkos makes his NHL debut today. Ryan Malone suits of for Tampa for his first game, Marrkus Naslund, and Nik Zherdev suit up for the Bluehsirts for the very first time.
Game time is 10 am and can be seen on CBC.
2. Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh
A rematch of last year's first round series. Sydney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin are healthy and ready to take a run at the Eastern Conference again. Gonchar and Whitney are out with injuries. The new look Senators will play there first game with out Wade Redden, and will have a whole new look on the blue line with the acquisition of Filip Kuba and Alex Picard.
Zherdev has the tools to be a top 10 scorer in this league.
So does a guy like Huselius, but it won't happen. There are plenty of guys with a ton of skill, but that's only one piece of the puzzle. I wouldn't say Iginla is a top 10 player in terms of natural skill (although he is very talented), but he's easily a top 10 player despite that, and arguably could be called the top player in the game.
Another musing, I think TSN really made some of the best deals in the off-season.
They got the hockey song and traded away Mike Milbury, and got a second channel.
Nice work.
TSN getting the hockey song was pointless. It will gain 0 viewers and will sound stupid when they use it. Lets be honest, it's a crappy song. The only reason it has significance is because it was used on HNIC for so long, it's tradition. It has ZERO significance to TSN, and doesn't fit with their broadcasts. It's a downgrade from what they would be playing otherwise.
But I agree with you 100% on Milbury and the second channel.
OOT - Oct. 4, 2008 - LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
