The 2011/2012 NHL Season Begins Tonight!

Are you ready for puck drop on another NHL season?  I know I am.

Three games get the season started on Thursday night, including a doubleheader on Hockey Night In Canada, which is the perfect way to kick off the season.

In the early games, we'll see the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, host the Philadelphia Flyers in a clash of two of the top Eastern teams going into the year.  In the draft, we'll have a combination of 26 players in this game, which includes one player currently in the minors, but it'll be a busy game for the draft, nonetheless.

Also having an early contest, the Montreal Canadiens invade the Air Canada Centre to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, a game with 20 players in the draft, minus a couple of injuries and a suspension, but still a pretty good game for points.

The late game sees the Pittsburgh Penguins start a Northwest Division swing with a game against the Western Conference champions, the Vancouver Canucks.  This game also has 20 players associated with the draft between the two teams on the list, but there are two key injuries to either side that won't be taking part, so the points may be limited.

The Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames are the most popular teams in the draft this year, each with 14 players taken, while the Ottawa Senators, who kick off on Friday night in Detroit, have the least amount of players going into the season, with only 6 players representing.

As for the sheet pool, I'm still taking entries until Sunday night, so teams will not be posted until Monday morning, but I'll try and post points for those teams that have entered teams until then.  Some teams might choose some teams that have an immediate advantage, but don't expect that to last, as not very many teams lead after the first week and go wire-to-wire for an end of season win.

That goes for the draft, it's good to have an okay start, but to have the dreaded first Mover and Shaker nod is somewhat of a death wish to your hopes of winning.

There is a mighty fine chance that I will be updating the website on Thursday evening with some live scoring, so please stay tuned... it should be a great night of hockey!  Again, good luck to all that have entered the pools!