Welcome to Opening Night of the 2014/2015 Season!

Well, tonight couldn't come fast enough, could it?

It's finally hockey season and since the draft was already 10 days ago, it seems like ages since we've really constructively done anything with our hockey conversations.  Now, we have something to tangibly work with, like how much these games actually mean.  None of this preseason bullshit anymore.

There are four games on the docket to kick off the 2015 NHL season and I shall offer up a quick preview of these games, just for the sake of something to do, more than anything.  It will also serve as a small preview of what we should expect tomorrow morning, in terms of points... maybe.  In theory, anyways.

Let's have a look at each game, see how many players were taken from each side, see if there are any pool standouts and maybe the best picks of the draft?  Something like that.

Tradition in Canada begins and ends with the Montreal/Toronto NHL rivalry, as the Canadiens will visit the Maple Leafs to get the season started at the Air Canada Centre.

The two teams are pretty even in the hockey pool, although the Maple Leafs did have an extra player taken in the draft, but David Booth was dropped in preseason waivers by Ryan, so the two teams will go in squared up at 11 players each in the pool.

Stacey M. leads the way, as if anyone is surprised, with four Habs on her team this year, which leads the number of players on a pool team from this game, both teams taken into consideration.  Stacey loaded up on Max Pacioretty, Andrei Markov, David Desharnais and Lars Eller this year, so if the Habs are scoring, her team isn't doing too bad.

The Leafs, on the other hand, get the nod for the highest pick player in the draft, as Tony chose Phil Kessel with the 10th overall pick, edging out Carey Price, taken by Wes in the 16th spot.

What about our defending champ?  Does he have any stock in this game?  Well, Allan does have one Canadiens player, PA Parenteau, who was brought into Montreal for some solid offensive play.  You can spell repeat from Parenteau.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins are set to go head-to-head on opening night at the TD Gardens, as two historically bruising teams will match wits, as neither team is really carrying much for brawn in this match-up.

This match-up, in straight drafted numbers, is also pretty close.  The Bruins had 13 players taken at the draft to the Flyers' 11 players, but in between the draft day to opening night, the Bruins dealt one of those players away, sending Johnny Boychuk to the island.  Then, in the preseason Waiver Draft, we saw another move, as Vincent Lecavalier was picked up, so the match-up evened out completely, going to 12 picks for each team on opening night.

Three teams in the pool have equal investment at the top of the pool, each having three players on their side in this opening game.  Allan, Dale B. and Ryan are all well-invested in this game and would tune into it, if they could.  Allan picking up Lecavalier on Wednesday, adding him to Steve Mason and Michael Del Zotto (another waiver pick-up), giving him an all-Flyer representation.  Dale has a mix of two Bruins and one Flyer on his team, owning Tuukka Rask and Milan Lucic from Beantown and defenseman Andrew MacDonald from Philly.  Ryan is an all-Boston team tonight, rocking forward Reilly Smith and defensemen Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug.  Lots of points to be had in this game.

Pool newcomer, Troy, jumped in with two feet, taking Claude Giroux with the 5th overall pick, making him the highest pick player in this game.  Rask, noted above, was taken 12th by Dale B., so the match-up isn't too far off in that respect.

Our champ has 2 points on the line early, as he has the visiting goalie in this one.  Allan took Steve Mason with the 28th overall pick, a solid 2nd rounder.

In the second half of the Rogers Sportsnet doubleheader on Wednesday night, it will be the Vancouver Canucks travelling to Calgary to take on the Flames.  The Pacific Division rivalry should do well to boost some early ratings.

The Flames are riding some ridiculous amounts of optimism in this hockey pool, being in Calgary and all.  They outnumber Canucks picks, 14-9, and there have been no preseason adjustments to either side, leading up to this game.

The sophomore season for Leo is very pro-Calgary, as his pool team has five Flames, including the whole goaltending battery of Jonas Hiller and Kari Ramo, so as they go, so will Leo.  He also added Mason Raymond, Kris Russell and Matt Stajan to his side, failing to find anyone better in the pool than those three.

The only point that the Canucks have, so far, in this post is the highest pick between the two teams, as Grant S. took Ryan Miller in the 2nd round, 33rd overall.  The Flames may have 14 picks to their side, but Leo's selection of Hiller, 57th overall in the 3rd round, was their top pick.

Allan may have been wise in this series, not having anyone from these two Western Canadian sides.

Finally, the Stanley Cup champs will get to raise their banner on opening night, as the Los Angeles Kings will play host to the San Jose Sharks at the Staples Center on Wednesday night.  This Pacific Division battle should have some bite to it, as a Cup defense and a battle to regain some dignity will hash it out on the ice.

This match-up isn't too far away in pool picks either, but the Kings have a decided edge of 13-11 to their side, as the champs gained a little bit of favour with their Summer win.  San Jose's instability in the room, may have led to their lack of picks this year.

Stacey M. and Troy, who we have already seen in this blog post, lead the way in this California battle, each having three players on their team.  Stacey has Marian Gaborik and Jake Muzzin from LA, while Tomas Hertl is her resident Shark.  For Troy, he has the Dry Island castaways, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, while he has Jason Demers from the tank.

To no one's surprise, the goaltending takes top pick again here, as Jonathan Quick was the best pick in the draft between these two, taken by Grant S., 14th overall in the 1st round.  San Jose keeper, Antti Niemi, was taken with the 19th pick by our champ, Allan.

Niemi was the only stock taken by our defending champ... maybe that's all he needs?