The NHL season begins at last tonight after an excruciatingly long summer. It starts with 4 games: Montreal :mad: at Toronto :) (7 pm Sportsnet), Philly at Boston (7:30, NBC Sports), Vancouver at Calgary (10 pm Sportsnet), and the champion LA Kings hosting San Jose (10 pm, Sportsnet One, NBC Sports).

This season promises to be an interesting and exciting one with the biggest off-season news being the new $1.2 billion Canadian TV deal with Rogers, home of Sportsnet. Last week, they began spending some of that money by building a new studio in the CBC building in Toronto that is larger than any network studio that went before it. It is rumoured to even be bigger than the one that FOX has for their NFL games.

New Sportsnet Hockey Central Studio (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/rogers-sportsnet-unveils-new-nhl-hockey-night-in-canada-cbc-studio-10-things-to-know/)

With a new season comes new hope for all teams, as they all look to make the playoffs in April and take a shot at the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, it looks like the same familiar names will realistically have a shot at it. I look at the Cup as being won either by Chicago or one of the 3 California teams (Kings, Sharks, Ducks). In Canada, all of these teams will be watched very closely more than ever before, thanks to Sportsnet, although Montreal and Toronto are still expected to dominate the headlines and online chatter. For me, it's more fun than ever to follow all the action. You can find the full season schedule with TV times for all US and Canadian national and regional networks here:



Full Schedule and TV times (http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyseason.htm?navid=nav-sch-sea#)


I honestly can't wait any longer. Let's drop the puck!!

I'll be rootin' for the Blue Jackets! Ohio's only NHL Team...right now.

They were late-bloomers of the 4 expansion teams...but is starting to make people shake and cheer for the Blue Jackets!

I'll be rootin' for the Blue Jackets! Ohio's only NHL Team...right now.

They were late-bloomers of the 4 expansion teams...but is starting to make people shake and cheer for the Blue Jackets!


You won't be the only one cheering for them this year. Even Sportsnet is starting to take notice. I saved this link especially for you:

Why the Blue Jackets are no longer a long shot (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/why-the-blue-jackets-are-no-longer-a-long-shot/)

I'm a big Rangers fan, and the Finals are still sitting :( with me. Hoping for another solid season from the Blueshirts. Would love to see some more Canadian teams do well and make the playoffs.

I'm a big Rangers fan, and the Finals are still sitting :( with me. Hoping for another solid season from the Blueshirts. Would love to see some more Canadian teams do well and make the playoffs.

I did want the Rangers to have another Stanley Cup last year...I also wanted to see the Broncos win the Super Bowl and Brazil win the World Cup...but they didn't happen!

But maybe the Rangers will win it all...and the Jackets may be closer to the cup! If NHL does ever expand...I'd like to see a new Cleveland team, a Cleveland-Columbus rivalry would be good!

It should be an interesting season for the Vancouver Canucks! A new President. A new G.M. A new Coach. And several new players. It can't possibly as bad as last year so it will be interesing to see how much they improve!