Chicago Blackhawks dream of repeating NHL Stanley Cup glory

The NHL is set to raise the curtain on a new season as 30 teams have their sights set on a Stanley Cup title, including the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago, who beat Boston last year to capture the championship for the second time in four years, will get the season started with a banner-raising ceremony at United Centre arena tomorrow morning (Hong Kong time).

"You get excited looking around the locker room because it is almost the same team as we had last year," play-off MVP Patrick Kane said.

The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Montreal Canadiens, Taylor Hall's Edmonton Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets and the Blackhawks take on the Washington Capitals at home.

Chicago beat Boston in six games in June after a lockout-shortened 48-game regular season.

The Blackhawks know this season will not be like the last time they tried to repeat as champions when they had to purge their roster because of the salary cap.

Kane and captain Jonathan Toews will lead the way as Chicago seek to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

Time will tell what effect the off-season realignment will have on the new season, which this year includes an extended break in February, so the world's top hockey players can represent their nations at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Jets moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference, while the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets went the other way. For the first time there will be a wild-card play-off format with the top three teams in each division qualifying for the postseason in addition to the two next-best finishers in each conference.

This year it looks like the young Oilers are finally ready to break through.

Edmonton brought in a new head coach, Dallas Eakins and signed veteran defenceman Andrew Ference, but more importantly former first round draft picks Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and Hall are set to take the team to the next level.

The Nashville Predators should be another much-improved team this season and challenge for a play-off spot. Their best player is Shea Weber, who will also anchor Canada's defensive corps at the Sochi Games. Goaltender Pekka Renne is primed to bounce back following off-season hip surgery.

The Vancouver Canucks will no doubt regret trading goaltender Cory Schneider in the off season to the New Jersey Devils in favour of keeping the eccentric and inconsistent Roberto Luongo, who has yet to prove he can win a Stanley Cup.

The Canucks also brought in coach John Tortorella. As hard as Tortorella tries to be like Toe Blake, Punch Imlach or even Mike Keenan, his abrasive coaching style will not wash in Vancouver and he will be lucky to last more than 12 months in that role.

The realignment is good news for Winnipeg, who will fly fewer hours this season after moving to the West in their third season since returning to the NHL.

They added Michael Frolik and Devin Setoguchi, and last year's goal-scoring leader Blake Wheeler was rewarded with a six-year, US$33.6 million contract as the club is hoping to continue their steady improvement.

Look for the rivalry between Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin to heat up early in the new season.

Crosby showed in the preseason that he has not lost a step and is healthy again after concussion problems over the past few years.

Ovechkin will step up his play as he prepares to lead the favoured Russian national team into the Olympic ice hockey tournament, which begins on February 8.

Last season, Los Angeles were unable to validate their 2012 Stanley Cup title when goaltender Jonathan Quick failed to carry an overachieving team like he did the previous season.

The Kings are solid in goal with Quick, but they need better production from their veterans if they are to succeed.

Captain Dustin Brown has arguably benefited more from the instigator rule than anyone in the league, but his teammates can only protect him for so long.

Brown's scoring dropped last season and he has not been the same player since his dangerous knee-on-knee hit on Phoenix Coyotes Michael Rozsival in the play-offs last year.