What did you want? Some kind of Franken-Nordiques / Avs jersey? And this coming from the same person who drones on and on in these lame posts that ridicule others for "jersey fouls".
If you bothered to watch the presentation, you would've seen that Sakic's legacy with the Nordiques was not "ignored".

the years on his jersey say 1995-2009. And its old news but WTF is ray bourque doin up there

Ya and look who scored the ONLY 2 goals for SJ. Gotta love that guy!

Seems like Wolski loves opening night, but let's see if he can actually produce on a consistant basis during a whole season for once. Still, the Avs didn't look too bad out there tonight. If that can continue, again IF, maybe there's some hope out there for the season.

@Fin: But Gorges was the #1 Star! Umm, he still plays for San Jose, right?

Great comeback by Montreal. Some stupid penalties at the worst time, and some dumb ref calls, sucked any momentum Montreal tried to build. Price played excellent, and looks to have rebounded from last year - great confidence builder for the young goalie. It took a while for the team to find its chemistry, but by the end of the game, Gomez, Gionta and Cammelleri were giving the Leafs fits. Latendresse, Lapierre and D'Agostini looks to be a real good energy/checking line. In the early part, they were the best line Montreal had. I also was impressed with the energy and work by Plekanec especially, but AK46 as well. Pleks was getting some good shots, was forechecking well, and had good pace.
Thank you Mike Komisarek for acting like the jackass we all knew you could be. I appreciate you were trying to bring the fire for your new club against your old, and you will have endeared yourself in some ways to the Leafs Nation, but you gave us the game with your two dumb penalties, and should have had a third (that 5-3 Montreal gave up shouldn't have happened, as Habs should have been on a powerplay for cross-checking at that time).
Loved to see Laraque fill up Colton Orr - every Leaf fan I knew was yammering about Orr busting up Big Georges. I knew it wasn't going to happen. Montreal equalled Toronto in the physical department, so all the talk about Bobbletants and Smurfs was a bunch of baloney, as I knew it would be.
The major negative for me was the two bad giveaways that Hal Gill dropped that directly resulted in Leafs goals. That's the one part of all the off-season negativity I was worried about, and it bore bitter fruit. He blocked some good shots and had some good defensive play, but he coughs the puck over like he has Tuberculosis and the puck is his phlegm.
Defensively as a whole, Montreal has a lot of work to do. I think a lot of that will come as players adjust to Martin's system and the players become more comfortable with one another. I'd rather see Gill paired with someone other than Mara (great game by him as well) - maybe Gorges. WHY DOES RYAN O'BYRNE STILL HAVE A STARTING ROSTER SPOT??????

Quick, switch me to Direct TV if they promise never to bring VS back. All summer to tweak their broadcasts and they bring back the same three stooges for the studio show and their game announcing becomes even more gabby than ever. Luckily Center Ice had HNIC so we could see how it’s supposed to be done – I’m guessing the CBC is blacked out in VS production headquarters because they just don’t get it…

Real weak effort by Colorado, listing Joe Sakic as 1995-2009.
Of course, that's also the team that retired Bourque's number after he played 94 games there.

im not a avs fan but duschene deserves an honorable mention, that kid turned some heads, very exciting night for avs fans.

Heatley - 3. Sounds like he is in mid season form already. What an over-rated baby!

That Sakic banner is horse [profane]

As a Bruins fan living in Maryland i gotta say nice game caps...i'm not a hater. Now as for my B's you guys looked sad...Timmy, timmy, timmy what were you doing in goal last night? Ya didn't look to sharp bro...they blew a couple easy one's past you that i could of stop when i was in high school....It's only the first game so no biggie right.....but i'm telling ya if you want to be on top again this year the caps are a team your gonna have to beat sooner or latter.
Oh ya....learn to pass for christ sake...passing sucked...no set ups....power play was frigging weak as hell too....ok i'm done.

How you know you are the best in the world:
You score two times, along with an assist, on the road against one of the best teams in the league and it's not considered one of of the three best performances on a day with only four games.
Boy oh boy - the bar is pretty darn high for Avie.

Great analysis Brian C, I agree 100%. The game winner could not have gone to a more deserving player than Gorges, either.
I am not yet sold on the new look Habs though...they got lucky against an improved but unproven Leafs team. That last goal Price gave up was the result of a defensive breakdown, but come on...you can't let that pass go between you and the goal like that.
Send down O'Byrne and call up Weber!

Side rant: when is Center Ice going to do something about HD? The only thing worse than watching sports in standard def is watching them in standard def on a large HDTV.

As embarrassing a win as I have ever seen, being outshot like 47-27..Price was excellent, yes, but against the 'Lowly" Leafs as Montreal fans like to call them...More shots than a drunken sailor..or Me!! Wasnt Jacques Martin supposed to be working on keeping the shots down?? What happens when we play a good team?? Unlike some others, I don't see things thru Slime Green Glasses..If you saw the game, you cant be Habby.

@ #8 Mad One:
You hit the nail on the head. I can't stand listening to those morons Engblom and Ed-zo. I'd rather pour BBQ sauce on my head followed by flesh eating ants a la Itchy & Scratchy. The one nice thing they did last night was cut to the Habs / Leafs game in OT before the Avs / Sharks game. Got to see the OT winner, it was a beaut.

Kyle Quincey should be a honorable mention too. He was by far the best defensemen that night. He took away a few good chances the Sharks had and took a shot off his head that would have been a goal.

I know you mentioned Kipper, however, one save in particular should have been noted. Halfway through the third with the score 4-3 Flames, and Canucks outshooting the Flames by 16-1 in the period at that point, Kipper made a paddle save off Sedin that was reminiscent of his save last year off wellwood. Not quite as spectacular but more timely.
Shots on goal for the Canucks 1st - 7, 2nd - 14, 3rd -21. Obviously, Calgary was running on adrenaline. For a team that supposedly has the league's top D (it's definitely the most expensive) 21 shots in the third at home? Not exactly intimidating. Dion Phaneuf was a gutless puke yet again. Elbows Sedi in the head and then hides behind his faceshield, the linseman and his teammates. he wanted NO part of Bieksa. Has Dion (gayest first name in the NHL btw) ever fought anyone?
Three years ago, in 06-07', Roberto Luongo won 47 games and was robbed of the Vezina. Hell, he should have won the Hart (but, of course, that was Sid's best year...like the league is going to give it to a goalie in a Westcoast Canadian market over their poster boy). Louie was unbelievable. During the past two seasons I have used the word "overrated" and "Luongo" in the same sentence more often than "best goalie in the league". That said, he always starts slow. Last October his SV% was like .880 and his GGA was like 3.50. Shirokov looked average. Samuelsson looked good, grittier than expected. Ehrhoff looked good on the PP, otherwise average at best. I'm liking what I see from Steve Bernier. Rob Johnson has got guts.

Number 1 star is Direct Tv for sparring me the agony of listening to Eddie-O "wet dreaming" over the three big names in hockey.

@ Brian and other Habs fans
Nice to know we can play a mediocre game at best and still come out on top of a "fired up" Laughs team. The defensive game will tighten up under Martin, but it was nice to see Price stand tall when he needed to.
O'Byrne was in because Hammer is hurt right now. He actually has improved a lot- played some great games in the pre-season and seems to have more confidence this year. I think Martin will bring out the best in him. Having him as a sixth or seventh d-man for now is fine, and I think he'll see more regular minutes because of injuries and the fact that he's the only right-handed shot on the point (with Weber, Subban and Carle all in Hamilton). He still has room for improvement, but I think he could eventually replace what we lost in Komisarek.
Speaking of "Facewash" Komisarek, I'm glad he's gone. He played with lots of energy last night but that is exactly what he will give the Laughs: some big hits and blocked shots, lots of costly penalties, cheap shots at smaller players, and more talk than actual fight. He's a terrible fighter unless he "wrestles" someone half his size to the ice. That's not the kind of guy you want as a leader on your team, regardless of how good an interview he can give. Good riddance Mike, must have sucked to hear boos in your own building.
Speaking of that- the ACC had almost no buzz at all for most of the game. In other arenas (even in the US) the crowd is into the game and picks up on little plays and cheers. The ACC was practically dead for much of the night. I wasn't there, but you can't tell me that certain arenas sound louder on TV than others. Where were all the "Go Leafs Go" cheers?
Anyway, it feels good to start out a five game road trip with a win even though we didn't play great. The boys will come together on the western swing and if we can come back home at .500 or better, things will be looking up for sure.

Luongo looked real sharp in the first period.

@habs Decent goaltending is designed to steal badly played games.
Camallerri will continue to be a bright spot.
Boston looked unprepared as did the Sharks. Look for linechanges Shark fans. Marleau, the goat, was your only bright spot.
Habs fans don't miss their "All Star" Komisarik already? hmm.

Klmisarek is a suck ass, basterd, and lousy misfit.. What organization drafted Him...Yikes..