The first five days and 32 games have produced a memorable beginning to the 2016-17 NHL season.
To name a few: a rookie (you may have heard of him) set a modern-day league record with four goals in his debut outing, the Edmonton Oilers opened a beautiful new rink, Connor McDavid made an early bid for the Art Ross Trophy, and, unfortunately, too many key players began the season on the sidelines.
Here are 10 snippets from the first handful of nights in the season:
1. Wonderful start for 19-year-old Auston Matthews, who checked in with a four-goal performance for the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night with his parents in the seats and Ottawa Senators associate coach Marc Crawford, his coach in Switzerland last season, behind the opposing bench. Matthews's opening-night act will be difficult to follow up on, but it will be fun to watch the young Maple Leafs grow up.
Auston Matthews sets NHL record with 4-goal debut0:21
2. A nice second act to Matthews's opening-night antics was McDavid's two-goal game to open the $485-million Rogers Place in a 7-4 win against the Calgary Flames last Wednesday. The 19-year-old, who two nights later had another three-point night in another win over Calgary, was the first to skate on the ice surface of the new downtown rink on Sept. 1 before it was completed.
Connor McDavid leads Oilers over Flames0:27
3. A long list of important players began the season suffering from injuries or illness — Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jack Eichel, Carey Price, Clarke MacArthur, Matt Murray, Jaden Schwartz, Niklas Kronwall and Marian Gaborik. Standouts Evander Kane, Jonathan Quick and Bryan Little were added to the list of long-term injuries in early games.
4. Some of the injuries mentioned above were the result of the World Cup of Hockey. But one player who continues to feed off his World Cup accomplishments is Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand. He opened the season with a five-point game in Boston's 6-3 win at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
5. Flames dynamo Johnny Gaudreau has been unable to build off a strong World Cup. He missed what was left of training camp after the World Cup due to a contract dispute, then signed a six-year, $40.5-million US contract days before the start of the season. But Gaudreau has just one assist in three games in the Flames' dismal 0-2-1 start.
6. New Senators head coach Guy Boucher is off to a perfect 2-0 start in the nation's capital. In his first NHL gig with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he began with three straight wins and a 7-2-1 record in October 2010. He better hope Kyle Turris stays healthy.
7. Offence has been up this season by more a goal per game. In 32 games, an average of 6.3 goals per game have been scored, compared to 5.3 in the first five nights last year. Yes, it's early, and there have been some horrific goaltending efforts so far. See Brian Elliott in his Flames debut against the Oilers last Wednesday, as well as Toronto's Frederik Andersen and Ottawa's Craig Anderson on opening night.
8. The final four from last spring's playoffs have gone a combined 9-0-0 so far as the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0), San Jose Sharks (2-0-0), Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0) and St. Louis Blues (3-0-0) have picked up where they left off.
9. Despite the snafu of Mats Sundin's banner and others getting tied up in knots, nice touch by the Maple Leafs to ring in their centennial season by retiring the numbers of 17 players — including prodigal son Dave Keon, named the No.1 player in club history.
Leafs retire Dave Keon's No. 14 in centennial season ceremony1:20
10. Finally, we leave you with an item on former Alberta premier Jim Prentice, who tragically died in a plane crash with three others in Kelowna, B.C. last Thursday. He loved hockey. His father, Eric, played five games for the Maple Leafs in 1943-44 and his uncle Dean played more than 1,400 regular-season and playoff games over 20 seasons with the New York Rangers, Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Penguins and Minnesota North Stars
10 stories from the NHL season's first 5 days
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