Tonight we begin our new season at 9:15 at Port Credit arena and you can feel the excitement in the air.  5 weeks of round robin play as each team begins a new fresh start as the snow melts outside the arena will be buzzing.  A few fun facts to digest before we give you a team by team review.  For our last 14 seasons, our modern era, here is how the regular season seeds have finished in the playoffs.  #1 seed has made it to the Gold medal game 13 of 14 tries winning the Gold 6 times and Silver 7, they also have 1 Bronze medal.  The #1 seed is the only one that has always played Championship night.  #2 seed has made it to the Gold medal game 6 of 14 tries winning Gold 4 times and Silver twice.  They also have 3 Bronze medals.  #3 seed has made it to the Gold game 4 of 14 tries winning Gold 2 times and Silver twice and have zero Bronze medals.  #4 seed has played for Gold 3 times winning Gold once and Silver 2 times.  #4 seed also has 5 Bronze medals to their name.  #5 seed has played for Gold 2 of 14 times winning 1 Gold and 1 Silver and they also have 5 Bronze medals.  So anything can happen.

This seasons #1 seed is the New York Islanders and they finished strong winning the last 4 of their 5 games to take top spot with a 13-6-1 record.  Islanders had a best 4-0-1 record vs the Bruins and a 4-1 record vs the Habs.  They squeezed out the season series with the Oilers 3-2 and lost their series with the Flyers 2-3.  Islanders have the league record breaking points man in McKean and Vezina winner in Bobby Ide.  They led the league in scoring with 110 goals for and also led in penalty kill %, special teams +/- and even strength +/-.  NYI was last in power play at 12%.  They decided early on to load their top 3 forwards on one line and it paid off with the #1 seed.  Riddell and Tygesen with 30+ point campaigns.  Moe Connell led all defensemen with a 28 point season as well.  Las Vegas has them as the favourites to win Gold this season.

Our #2 seed the Philadelphia Flyers.  Stumbling a bit at the finish line as they lose their last 2 games and give up the #1 seed.  Finished the season with a 12-7-1 record.  Their best season series was with the Bruins at 4-1.  They handled the Habs with a 3-1-1 record.  Won their season with the Islanders at 3-2 and lost to the Oilers at 2-3.  Flyers finished 3rd best in all special team categories.  Diluzio, McCormick with a big bounce back season and Robb led all Flyer scoring.  If healthy Flyers will contend for Gold this playoffs and need a good start tonight against the Habs who they have had some struggles with this season.

Our #3 seed goes to the Edmonton Oilers with a 11-9-0 record.  Oilers finished 2nd in the league in goals for with 108.  They had winning records against the Habs 4-1 and Flyers 3-2 and losing records against the Islanders and Bruins at 2-3.  Oilers had the 4th best power play, 2nd best penalty kill and were 2nd best in +/- in both special teams and even strength.  2nd best attendance and one of the lowest penalty minutes in the league.  Oilers won 6 of their last 7 games and are the hottest team to enter the playoffs.  Brideau, Nelson and Maguire led the team in scoring.  Rookie defenseman Chamberlain also with a stellar season with 22 points and a Calder trophy candidate.  Some forecasters believe it will not be a surprise if the Oilers take Gold this season.

#4 seed are the Boston Bruins with a 8-11-1 respectable record.  Injuries early on hurt the Bruins and finding some farm team help mid way was a challenge.  Bruins had winning seasons against the Habs 4-1 and Oilers 3-2 and losing records against the Flyers 1-4 and Islanders 0-4-1.  Bruins had the 2nd best PP in the league and 4th best penalty kill.  They were the lowest penalty minutes amongst the 5 teams this season with 54 minutes.  Flumerfelt, Cummings and Cosentino led the team in scoring.  They enter the playoffs with 1 win in their last 6 games and need to find that mid season form as they kick off tonight against the red hot Oilers in our late game.

#5 seed goes to the Montreal Canadians with a 4-15-1 record.  Montreal managed to beat all 4 opponents once this season but finished the season on a 7 game losing streak.  Montreal had the best attendance in the league and best power play at 22%.  After that they pretty well finished last in all categories.  They also spent the most time with Brenda this season with 90 penalty minutes.  Rukavina, Peacock, and Randa led the Habs in scoring.  Habs like the Bruins will look to find some of their early season success to make it to Championship night and the struggling Flyers may be prime picking tonight in our opening match.

So lets get ready to ruuuummmmmbbblllleee, ok not really rumble, tonight 9:15 hans play Flyers and at 10:30 Oilers and Bruins.  Islanders get the night off.  Good luck Boys and see you all on the ice!