Buffalo plays New Jersey in Czechia while Toronto opens in Montreal next week. Pictured: Buffalo Head Coach Lindy Ruff. Photo Credit: Sabres/Facebook.
There are more than a few story lines to the opening of the National Hockey League regular season, which begins Thursday from Prague Czechia when the Buffalo Sabres meet the New Jersey Devils.
First, the 2024-25 NHL campaign will open outside of North America once again.
Secondly, Lindy Ruff back behind the bench in Buffalo – for a third stint with the Sabres, first as a player and twice now as head coach. Ruff faces off against the team he coached last season in the Devils.
Thirdly, former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will make his official coaching debut for New Jersey.
And lastly, speaking of the Leafs, with Keefe shown the door in Toronto, Craig Berube will make his coaching debut for the blue and white next Wednesday, Oct. 2, in Montreal.
Back to Buffalo, where the Sabres have the longest playoff drought in the NHL at 13 pain-staking seasons.
Despite that, Ruff offered this to nhl.com:
“Make sure I get it done,” Ruff said. “Get it done means win the Stanley Cup. That’s what get it done means. It doesn’t mean anything less.”
“I’ve been in Buffalo since 1979,” Ruff continued. “We kept our place the whole time and have lived here. I’m a big Bills fan and I go to Bison baseball games. I’m ingrained in the community. All of our friends are here. For me it ramps up a little bit of the pressure to make sure I get it done, but at the same time I look at it as a humbling opportunity.”
Any success the Sabres will have this season likely starts on the backend with goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Buffalo’s big three on the blueline, including newly named captain Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Bowen Byram.
To Toronto now, where the big four remain intact with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander who as of now has moved to centre, and John Tavares who relinquished the captain’s ‘C’ to Matthews.
The speculation surrounding a possible Marner trade all summer proved to be just that.
Berube will likely demand more from his players, and his task is simple – get the Maple Leafs over the playoff hump. Let’s not forget he led the St. Louis Blues to Stanley Cup glory just five years ago.
The former longtime Philadelphia Flyers forward has said he wants the Leafs to be more aggressive this season.
“Competitive: we don’t want to get outworked ever,” Berube explained back in May when he was hired. “We want to be highly competitive every night. It is all about the team for me.”
“That is one of the things I really focus on,” Berube continued. “That is part of building a team. Everybody is important on a team. Everyone has to be used on a team. They all have jobs and roles on the team. That is a really important aspect for me.”
Defenceman Chris Tanev was the Maple Leafs biggest off-season acquisition, but once again the biggest question mark surrounding the Leafs, that comes up every year at this time, is goaltending.
Joseph Woll is the expected starter between the pipes, with Anthony Stolarz – who won a Stanley Cup in Florida aa a backup last season – the projected backup.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
