Montreal Canadiens take on the Toronto Maple Leafs as NHL hockey kicks off a new season
For the second year in a row the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs will face each other in their respective season openers. Last season the Maple Leafs were the hosts, and for a second year running
the Air Canada Center in Toronto will be the venue for the opener between these two Northeast Division rivals.
The Canadiens won that game 4-3 in OT on a goal by defenceman Josh Gorges before going all the way to the Eastern Conference final eight months later. The Leafs, on the other hand, after losing to the
Canadiens last 1 October didn't collect a first win until almost four weeks later as they lost seven straight games before finally managing a win against the Anaheim Ducks. The Maple Leafs failed to make the play-offs for a fifth straight season and haven't
been to the play-offs since before the lockout.
How they look
The Maple Leafs, once again, have a fresh start and they believe that they are a better team and will be hoping to contend for a play-off spot this season. The Maple Leafs have been busy rebuilding their
squad in the past few seasons thanks to general manager Brian Burke. They beefed up their defence by bringing in the likes of Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin and Dion Phaneuf last season, and have since added Brett Lebda to what is a very deep defensive
corps.
During the off-season they also brought in forwards Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg, from the Atlanta Thrashers and Chicago Blackhawks repectively, who they hope will have an immediate impact on offence.
Goaltending is still a question mark for the Leafs but they will be hoping that J.S. Giguere can reemerge as one of the top goalies in the league and recapture the kind of form that helped him lead the Anaheim Ducks to a Stanley Cup in 2007.
The Montreal Canadiens made one very significant change to their lineup during the off-season by handing the starting goaltending duties to Carey Price and shipping last season's play-off hero Jaroslav
Halak to the St. Louis Blues. The move has proved a subject of controversy in Montreal and has placed first-year general manager Pierre Gauthier in hot water in the Montreal media.
Coming into Montreal in exchange for Halak is Danish-born forward Lars Eller, who, by virtue of Mike Cammalleri's one-game suspension, will get to start on Montreal's top line with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei
Kostitsyn. The Canadiens also brought in some grit during the off-season by trading Sergei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators for Dustin Boyd, and signing veteran free agent Jeff Halpern who played with the Los Angeles Kings last season. But the Canadiens
will be hoping that they can get close to a full season out of veteran Andrei Markov, and that rookie P.K. Subban, who was instrumental in the Canadiens' play-off run last season, can pick up where he left off.
The Canadiens who overhauled their lineup last season will also be hoping that line chemistry will no longer be an issue and the team can fire on all its cylinders night after night.
What's going to happen
The Canadiens are a team with a lot of question marks and look like a side who could either take off to the top of the East or slide to the basement. The Maple Leafs appear to be on the rise, but aren't
even close to the NHL elite yet. Price's confidence still isn't all there and the Leafs will be looking to show its fans they are the team they hope they can be. With more to play for, and home ice advantage, the Leafs win 4-2.
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