Atlanta Thrashers
Will succeed if: Kari Lehtonen can finally live up to the expectations that have been put on him since being picked with the number two overall pick back in 2002...
Will fail if: They continue to have trouble finding scoring from anyone other than Ilya Kovalchuk...
Boston Bruins
Will succeed if: Tim Thomas can continue his Vezina trophy form in net...
Will fail if: The Bruins cannot find players to take over the production lost when Phil Kessel was traded to the Leafs...
Buffalo Sabres
Will succeed if: Ryan Miller can stay healthy and get back to top form....
Will fail if: The young core (Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Drew Stafford and others) that was talked about so highly only a couple of years ago continues to float along in their progression...
Carolina Hurricanes
Will succeed if: They can get off to a good start to the season instead of having to claw back from a sluggish start...
Will fail if: Cam Ward becomes complacent or loses his way after just signing a huge extension...
Florida Panthers
Will succeed if: David Booth can have another great season and Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss can finally live up to their full expectations...
Will fail if: The defense corps cannot step up to fill the shoes of the departing Jay Bouwmeester...
Montreal Canadiens
Will succeed if: Carey Price can return to the form that had everyone talking about him being the future Martin Brodeur and a possiblity as a goaltender for Team Canada in 2010...
Will fail if: All the new faces, including Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalleri, cannot find the chemistry to work together...
New Jersey Devils
Will succeed if: Jacques Lemaire can find the system to fit with a team that lacks a lot of natural talent...
Will fail if: Martin Brodeur runs into more injury problems or shows the same form he had in last year's playoffs...
New York Islanders
Will succeed if: John Tavares can live up to the hype and the other young guns (Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey) can start to show off their potential as well....
Will fail if: They can't find a number one goaltender out of Rick Dipietro, Martin Biron or Dwayne Roloson...
New York Rangers
Will succeed if: The numerous changes pan out and Marian Gaborik can actually last a full season without injury...
Will fail if: Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival have yet another dismal season to go with a less talented defence corps than what they had a year ago...
Philadelphia Flyers
Will succeed if: Chris Pronger proves to be the big missing piece to the puzzle and gets them over the hump against their cross-state rivals...
Will fail if: Ray Emery cannot grab the number one spot or turns into the old Ray and disrupts the team's balance...
Pittsburgh Penguins
Will succeed if: The new defensemen on this team (Jay McKee and Alex Goligogski) can take over fully for departing defencemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill...
Will fail if: They rest on their success from a year ago and fail to find the intensity that allowed them to win the Cup a year ago...
Tampa Bay Lightning
Will succeed if: Vincent Lecavalier, Steve Stamkos and Ryan Malone can find their full form after sub-par seasons...
Will fail if: 2nd overall pick Victor Hedman and Mattias Ohlund cannot handle the defensive workload that will be thrust upon them...
Toronto Maple Leafs
Will succeed if: They can find a way to put the puck in the net in order to complement a much-improved defence corps....
Will fail if: The team cannot stay out of the box or cannot improve on their league-worst penalty killing unit...
Yes, I realize that I "forgot" to talk about the Ottawa Senators, but as a way to set up the opener tomorrow night, I've decided to save that for tomorrow afternoon....I'm just soooo glad that meaningful hockey is back again....off to celebrate Night #2 of Birthday week with a couple of brews with a hockey game on somewhere.... :-)