National Hockey League Opening Odds & Over/Under Totals for Wednesday, October 7, 2015

When it was all over – all the days with the Stanley Cup, the trades, the free-agent departures – the core of the Chicago Blackhawks just shrugged and went back to work. The National Hockey League has not taken any action against the Blackhawks forward and the case took a weird turn last month when the accuser’s lawyer abruptly quit. Still, fans didn’t seem all that upset as they kept track of the Cubs’ victory in Pittsburgh, marking yet another great night for sports in Chicago.

The Chicago Blackhawks are a very different looking team than the one that raised the cup in June, for better or worse.

“It’s one of those plays that could probably go either way, whether the ref blows the whistle or not”, said Kane, who was loudly cheered in his first regular-season game since becoming the subject of a police investigation in Western New York.

“It’s what we’re bred to do”. In the West, the conference in more top-heavy with the Anaheim Ducks, Blackhawks and Nashville Predators sitting as favorites.

For the last two decades, the Bulls’ championship banners outnumbered the Hawks’ – but not anymore. New York got to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Final before they were stopped by the Tampa Bay Lightning-or else they would have fought the Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup.

His fingernails chewed to the nubs, a gray Blackhawks hat pulled low over his forehead, Patrick Kane took a seat in front of his stall in the team’s shiny new locker room Wednesday morning. “It keeps everyone on their toes”.

“The first period, I don’t know, we had a little delay in our switch with the puck and without the puck, going to people slowly”, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. The team will make their home debut later on and this year the Rangers should be one of the better teams in the east again.

This isn’t the first time Panarin has caught people’s attention. Preseason tests have demonstrated the thrill of unleashing National Hockey League scoring talent in this format, which is all but certain to reduce the number of shootouts dramatically, essentially trading in one nontraditional strategy of avoiding ties for another.

New York Rangers center Oscar Lindberg, left, chases the puck past Chicago Blackhawks right wing Kyle Baun during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, October 7, 2015, in Chicago. “It’s unbelievable”, said Patricia Shaver, a fan of both teams. They score more goals than any tandem in the league, but if their percentage of the team’s goals goes down it’s because production from the third and fourth lines will increase.

Montreal goaltender Carey Price made 36 saves to help the Canadiens win 3-1 at Toronto, tarnishing Mike Babcock’s coaching debut with the Maple Leafs. No coach has more worldwide respect than the longtime Canadian Olympic boss, but fixing this legendarily underachieving marquee franchise is the biggest challenge of his career. The 28-year-old is coming off a remarkable season in which he won the Hart (MVP), Vezina (top goalie) and Jennings (fewest goals against) Trophies and the Ted Lindsay (most outstanding player) Award. A 101-point team last season, Vancouver replaced useful components Kevin Bieksa, Nick Bonino, Zack Kassian, Eddie Lack, Shawn Matthias and Brad Richardson with just Brandon Sutter and Brandon Prust. Joe Morrow, Colin Miller and Zach Trotman also give the B’s an impressive crop of young D-men who’ll make a positive impact this season and beyond.

OUTLOOK: The reconstructed Canucks will face a challenge in making the playoffs.

The Atlantic Division was full of surprises last season.