It has been five months since the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Stanley Cup and NHL hockey has finally returned for its 106th season of play. Things have started to get interesting already in the first leg of this season. Rookies showing off their skills for their new teams like first overall draft pick out of Slovakia Juraj Slavkovsky already netting his first career goal. Players currently making a difference are Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos already leading the NHL in goals averaging one goal per game already. New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin leads the NHL in points and the goaltender with the best save percentage being Buffalo Sabre Craig Anderson.

Coaching changes were also brought to the NHL during the offseason like the hiring of veteran head coach John Tortorella to the Philadelphia Flyers. According to an interview with Bleacher Report, Tortorella had described the Flyers as having “some work to do” as Philadelphia has been struggling in recent years to find any kind of success. Another team that is struggling to find success is currently the Vancouver Canucks, as they continue winless in the beginning of this season. The hopes of the players seem to be going downhill as well. Canuck’s head coach Bruce Boudreau had described his team as “mentally weak” and captain Bo Horvat had said “at this point, it just feels like it’s never going to happen, like we’re never going to win again.” This was in response to angry Vancouver fans throwing jerseys and debris onto the ice after the Canucks had blown another lead in their home opener to cap off another loss. Obviously, it is improbable for the Canucks to lose the rest of their games because there are 82 on the season in total.

History has already been made throughout the league as well already. The Arizona Coyotes have made history as well now having the smallest arena in the league after being booted out of Glendale, Arizona to Mullet Arena at Arizona State University. The stadium holds up to 5,000 people making it the smallest in the NHL while a new arena plan is pending. Due to the unpreparedness of the arena the Coyotes had no choice but to play their first six games of the season away. Vegas Golden Knights Forward Phil Kessel broke the NHL’s “Iron Man” record after playing his 990th consecutive NHL game. The last player who held this record was Kieth Yandle. Former Shark Mike Grier became the general manager of the San Jose Sharks which had set him as the very first Black GM in league history.