The NHL season got started on Tuesday October 1 with three big games to open things up, as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets winning and on Wednesday the rest of the league will hit the ice to get the 2013-14 season going.
The NHL has a number of new things this season, including a new rule that was brought put in the preseason called "hybrid icing", which was put in place to help player safety. After a number of players were injured recently, the league put in the new rule to help avoid those quick hits and pile ups when players are going after the puck when it crosses the line for icing.
The biggest new thing will be the divisional alignments, which puts everyone into four divisions among two conferences with three top teams in each division getting into the playoffs with two "wild card" teams also making it in. The new divisions are called the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific divisions and the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets will move to the east from the western conference.
The new Atlantic division has Toronto on top with two points after defeating Montreal on Tuesday, while the teams behind includes the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers along with the Canadiens. The Metro division has the Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, NY Islanders, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Caps and the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Central now has the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who started off with a win over the Caps, with the Jets second now in the division after winning on Tuesday. The division also has the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Preds and the Minnesota Wild. The Pacific now has the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, LA Kings, San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks along with the Phoenix Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers.
