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Around the Rink - Previews for October 8

All around the hockey world, people are reacting (and often times overreacting) to the first regular season games of 2010-11. It might seem a little silly, but it’s also fantastic to see the return of breathless accounts and meaningful results. Let’s take a look at Day 2 of the 10-11 season, with start times in ET.

12:00 pm

Minnesota “at” Carolina (Helsinki, Finland)

Two games are a pretty small sample out of 82 games, but you have to think that the Minnesota Wild feel some urgency with this one. Do you think they want to leave Finland without a single point, especially considering the jet lag they’ll experience once they return home? The fact that the Wild employ two of the best active Finnish players (Niklas Backstrom and Mikko Koivu) would add insult to standings injuries.

3:00 pm

San Jose “at” Columbus (Stockholm, Sweden)

If the Sharks don’t feel like a fish out of water already (sorry) going without Evgeni Nabokov for the first time in 10 years, how about starting the season in a foreign country? It’s a big season for Joe Thornton (constant pressure + contract year) while Steve Mason hopes to turn his career around.

7:00 pm

Dallas at New Jersey

For years, I used to joke that the Dallas Stars were the New Jersey Devils West. The two teams featured a puck-moving goalie (Marty Turco, Martin Brodeur), played a defense-first system and consistently generated success. While Stars fans may have chafed at that joke before, now they’d probably take it. The Stars keep regressing while the Devils are gearing up for an all-or-nothing run as the team is hard up against the cap thanks to the Ilya Kovalchuk signing. New Jersey is a team to watch this season while Dallas might just be difficult to watch.

7:30 pm

Anaheim at Detroit

The Ducks have always been a thorn in the side of the Red Wings, but that was when they featured Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. Aside from employing aging veterans Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, Anaheim now are invested nearly completely in young players and seem to be in a transitional phase. Meanwhile, Detroit is an older bunch ready to win now more than anything else.

Washington at Atlanta

Will the Capitals still dominate the Southeast Division after all the changes made by the Thrashers, Panthers and Lightning? We’ll begin to find out the answer to that question tonight. Michal Neuvirth will most likely start in goal because Semyon Varlamov is on the IR, so it will be a night of unfamiliar faces. How will Dustin Byfuglien look in a goofy Thrashers jersey? Should be interesting.

Buffalo at Ottawa

It’s possible that two teams couldn’t have more disparate goalie situations than the Sabres and Senators. Ryan Miller is a no-doubt rock for Buffalo while Ottawa face plenty of questions whether it’s Brian Elliott and Pascal Leclaire in net. Regardless, while the Sabres won the division, both teams made the playoffs yet were bounced from the first round. Will they improve or decline this season? We shall see.