Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need

Hoo-ah! The 2005-2006 NHL season kicked off last night with all 30 teams in action, and I for one was loving life. Wielding the remote like a finely tuned instrument, I deftly zipped from the Sox-Sox playoff game to OLN's opening night coverage to the Bruins-Montreal game to the Leafs-Senators game, which was my primary focus.

The boys in blue played much better than expected, dominating much of the game but only leading 1-0 late in the third when Ottawa tied it up. The Leafs answered back with a big goal from Eric Lindros, who had an impressive night, but the Sens tied it up right away and eventually the game went to overtime, and then the first shootout in league history. Although it's exciting, my problem with the shootout is it takes a team game and transforms it into a head to head competition. The Sens scored twice in the shootout while the Leafs failed to put one past Dominik Hasek, leaving Ottawa a 3-2 winner. The loss was made even worse by the fact that Toronto lost captain Mats Sundin early after he was struck in the eye; he'll be out four to six weeks with a broken orbital bone. The Leafs usually get hit with the injury bug late in the season; this year, their best player is struck down seven minutes into the season. I was encouraged by the play of new additions Lindros, Jason Allison (who was impressive, but damn, is he slow), Jeff O'Neill and Alexander Khavanov. Eddie Belfour was excellent in net, although it looks like he could use some practice on the shootout, and the defense, which included rookies Carlo Colaiacovo and Andy Wozniewski, was solid. Still, it's going to be a tough stretch without Sundin.

As for the play overall, the rules changes definitely generated more offense and more flow. There were fewer whistles and stoppages of play, but a lot of penalties as the officials called anything that looked like obstruction. Special teams is a crucial factor, as teams are getting more power plays now than ever before; at least for now. We'll see if they're still making the same calls in January.

A little sumpin'-sumpin':

• Scary-sounding alert today out of NYC about potential subway attacks. Let's hope it's just bogus chatter.
• Here's an amazing story about a battle for Everglades bad-ass supremacy between alligators and Burmese pythons. No kidding. Wildlife officials found the carcass of a 13-foot python that had swallowed a 6-foot gator, which in turn managed to partially claw its way through the snake's midsection before dying. Check out the incredible photos.
• Say what you will about Dick Cheney, but there's no denying the man just exudes warmth. Warmth caused by the molten lava that courses through his veins, of course.