The NHL regular season is less than a week away, and hockey fans around the Williston campus have mixed feelings about it based on which team they root for.
The NHL is set to have its regular season begin with three games on Tuesday, Oct. 7. The Chicago Blackhawks will face the Florida Panthers, the New York Rangers will play the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Colorado Avalanche are set to face the Los Angeles Kings.
With the season underway, some teams have an opportunity to make history. Last year, the NHL saw the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year, beating the Edmonton Oilers in six games. During the offseason, they re-signed a few players who were vital to the team’s success. They extended defensemen Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad for eight years, veteran winger Brad Marchand for six years, and 2025 playoff MVP Sam Bennett for eight years as well.
Although they have looked practically unbeatable for the past two years, the defending champions have some serious challenges to overcome this season: Captain Aleksander Barkov and star winger Matthew Tkachuk are both out for long periods of time, with Barkov likely being out for the entire regular season.
Regardless, Panthers fans don’t appear to be worried.
Alain Iglesias, a second-year boarder and goalie, is a Miami native and thinks that the Panthers will still be able to hold their own without their top two offensive threats.
“Tkachuk will for sure be back for the playoffs”, said Alain. “It’s Barkov whose kind of a long shot, but I have confidence that the team will make the playoffs. Some of the boys will step up and play their roles and we’ll get the job done”.
Other NHL fans aren’t feeling as happy with their teams at the moment.
Sam Chartier, a first-year border and defenseman on the varsity hockey team, is a Boston Bruins fan and sees this year as more of a rebuild year for his favorite team.
“I love the Bruins with all my heart, but I’m not feeling too confident”, said Sam. “This is a rebuild year. I feel like if we train a couple guys, we’ll be a lot better, but I definitely see a bright future”.
Landon Brawn, a sophomore hockey player and Bruins fan, feels similarly to Chartier.
“I feel like we’re starting to rebuild right now, and I feel like our team’s not doing that well this season,” said Landon. “Hopefully in the next couple of years, we can build a new team and a better franchise”.
The opening night scores were somewhat expected. The Panthers narrowly beat the Blackhawks by a score of 3-2, the Penguins shut the Rangers out 3-0, and the Avalanche had a decisive 4-1 win over the Kings.
