TORONTO – Antti Niemi, who backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup just 101 days ago, will be one of many players joining a new team — in Niemi’s case, the San Jose Sharks. Seven other players who dressed for Chicago that triumphant June evening are beginning careers elsewhere – four of them in Atlanta, where the Thrashers have retooled extensively. As National Hockey League training camps open, several team rosters feature dramatically new looks; five teams have new coaches and the Pittsburgh Penguins are preparing for the official NHL opening of their brand new home – CONSOL Energy Center.
In addition to new teammates, the skaters face a new formula for breaking ties in the standings — an added ingredient in the playoff races that begin virtually on the opening night of the season. There are new captains in Toronto (Dion Phaneuf) and Nashville (Shea Weber), new General Managers in Atlanta (Rick Dudley), Florida (Dale Tallon), St. Louis (Doug Armstrong) and Tampa Bay (Steve Yzerman).
The spectacular 2009-10 season, one that set records for revenues and TV ratings, was followed by an action-packed off-season. Here is a summary of those developments as the players return to the rinks to confront the questions that will become answers in 2010-11.
2010-11 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Observances
o Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild – 10th Anniversary season
o Colorado Avalanche – 15th Anniversary season in Denver
o Calgary Flames – 30th Anniversary season in Calgary
o Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks – 40th Anniversary season
Special Nights
Oct. 7 – CONSOL Energy Center opens in Pittsburgh
Oct. 9 – Blackhawks raise Stanley Cup Banner
Oct. 9 – Blues unveil statue of Brett Hull
Dec. 11 – Vancouver retires Markus Naslund’s number
Feb. 18 – Carolina retires Rod Brind’Amour’s number
2010-11 SEASON MILESTONES
PLAYERS APPROACHING 1,000 GAMES
Dean McAmmond, free agent 996
Wade Redden, NY Rangers 994
Sergei Gonchar, Ottawa 991
Stephane Yelle, free agent 991
Craig Conroy, Calgary 991
Robert Lang, free agent 989
Ryan Smyth, Los Angeles 987
Mike Grier, Buffalo 987
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix 969
Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey 965
Cory Stillman, Florida 960
Patrick Marleau, San Jose 953
Shean Donovan, free agent 951
Andrew Brunette, Minnesota 950
Vaclav Prospal, NY Rangers 949
Darcy Tucker, free agent 947
Todd Bertuzzi, Detroit 941
Petr Sykora, free agent 935
Adrian Aucoin, Phoenix 933
PLAYERS APPROACHING 400 GOALS
Jason Arnott, New Jersey 383
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa 375
Marian Hossa, Chicago 363
Miroslav Satan, free agent 363
PLAYERS APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa 992
Alex Kovalev, Ottawa 990
Joe Thornton, San Jose 931
Jarome Iginla, Calgary 920
PLAYERS APPROACHING 1,500 POINTS
Mark Recchi, Boston 1485
COACHING MILESTONES
o Lindy Ruff (Buf) is coaching in his 13th consecutive season behind the bench of one club, tying Toe Blake (Montreal), Al Arbour (NY Islanders) and Lester Patrick (NY Rangers) for fourth all-time. Ruff also needs 17 wins to become the 16th coach in NHL history to reach 500 and 16 games to reach 1,000.
o Ron Wilson (Tor) needs 18 wins to become the seventh coach in NHL history to reach 600.
o Joel Quenneville (Chi) needs one game to reach 1,000.
o Paul Maurice (Car) needs 23 games to reach 1,000. At 43, Maurice would become the youngest coach to reach the milestone, surpassing the 47-year-old Brian Sutter with Chicago in 2003-04.
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