The NHL on NBC returns on Saturday when new captain Claude Giroux and the Philadelphia Flyers host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the battle of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh will be looking for revenge as they were knocked out by Philly in six games last year in the first round of the playoffs. On the West Coast, the Los Angeles Kings will raise their Stanley Cup banner as the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Staples Center. The Kings went into the playoffs last year as the eighth seed in the West and were able to upset the number one Vancouver Canucks four games to one. They then went on to defeat the number two seed, St. Louis Blues, with a clean sweep of four games. In the Western Conference Finals, they breezed by the number three seed, Phoenix Coyotes, four games to one. In the finals, it took six games to prove that whenever the playoffs start anyone can raise that cup, even if you did barely make it into the playoffs. These two games will have a pregame show at 3 p.m. and then FINALLY at 3:30 p.m., the puck will be dropped for the first time this season.
Some other rival-type games consist of the Boston Bruins hosting the New York Rangers in TD Garden. That game can be seen on the NHL Network at 7 p.m. The battle of Canada starts with the Winnipeg Jets hosting the Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. Another Atlantic Division rival game features the Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Devils visiting Long Island to take on the New York Islanders. In the Southeast division,, the Washington Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Carolina Hurricanes with newly acquired Jordan Staal take on the Florida Panthers. The remaining games on Saturday are Detroit vs St. Louis, Columbus vs Nashville, Phoenix vs Dallas, Colorado vs Minnesota, and to top off opening night, the Anaheim Ducks head to Vancouver to take on the President's Trophy winner Canucks.
Having broadcasted games on both Saturday and Sunday will be the first time in TV history that NBC has done this. The Sunday game once again consists of the Philadelphia Flyers making the trip to Buffalo to take on the Sabres. This game will start at 12:30 p.m. and will be Buffalo's season and home opener. San Jose takes on the Calgary Flames at 6 p.m., and Pittsburgh travels to New York to take on the Rangers at 7 p.m. in Madison Square Garden. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter play their first game in Minnesota as the Wild take on Jaromir Jagr and the Dallas Stars. Edmonton plays their first game of the season when they take on the Vancouver Canucks in British Colombia. Opening weekend ends when resigned captain Shane Doan takes on Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Jobing.com Arena.
The season is just one day away and fans have been anticipating this moment since early October. The wait is finally over and hockey is ready to return to the ice with no labor negotiations for at least eight years. I'm going to make a bold prediction for the season that every local fan wants to hear. Eastern Conference Finals will be the Flyers vs Capitals with Philly winning in six games. In the West, the Chicago Blackhawks will take on the San Jose Sharks, with Chicago winning in five games. In a Stanley Cup Final rematch from 2010, the Philadelphia Flyers will defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in six games with Claude Giroux winning the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup in his first year as captain.
-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
-Twitter: @jimmyfort28
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- Thanks for reading!
-Twitter: @jimmyfort28
- Facebook: search Sports Goombahs
- Thanks for reading!
The "Fish' is in the know. Bank on it.
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