Who: Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins
Where: TD Banknorth Garden
When: Thursday, October 1, 7:00 pm

Broadcast Info: Versus, WJFK 106.7 FM

It’s time. Finally. We’ve waited for months, suffered through pictures of the Stanley Cup being raised by the wrong hands, indulged in mid-summer hockey relief, counted the weeks, the days, the hours…to this moment.

And here we go.

Game #1 of 82 (and hopefully many more) finds the Caps traveling up to Boston to take on the Bruins, the first of four meetings and a rematch of what was one of the more entertaining matchups last year.

We’ve talked about how the Caps come into this season with tons of potential and more to prove, hungry after being knocked out of the playoffs by the Penguins and armed with a few new faces. Well, the Bruins aren’t much different.

After dominating the East for most of the regular season, Boston quickly disposed of the Canadiens (*sigh*) in round 1 before getting their own early exit courtesy of the upstart Carolina Hurricanes. Like the Caps, they come into this year with a lot of the same cast that helped them to a strong season last year – with 100% less Kessel, of course.

The similarities between the two teams are hard to ignore. Both are filled with young talent – guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Green for the Caps, guys like Lucic, Krejci, and Wheeler for the B’s. Both have experienced fan revivals in the last few years. Both went from the league basement to a bubble seed in the playoffs to an Eastern Conference power.

And both are looking for another shot at the Cup.

Three things to look for

Defense, defense, defense – These two teams have historically played pretty tight games against one another, with no game featuring more than seven goals combined since the lockout. That is, no game with the exception of that 10-2 thrashing the Caps gave the B’s two seasons ago. Ah, memories.

Close as close can be – Since the lockout, the Caps and Bruins have played 16 games; 13 of them have been one-goal decisions. And nine of those have required overtime or a shootout, including the last two meetings.

The Great 8 vs. Big Zee – It’s always a battle of mutual respect and great entertainment, and this game should be no exception. Will Chara stand up Ovechkin? Will one of them line the other up for a big hit on the first shift? Who will bounce off of whom when said hit takes place?

Players to Watch

Washington – Mike Knuble, appearing in his first regular season game as a Washington Capital
Boston – Tim Thomas, looking to prove that his Vezina-winning season wasn’t a fluke (Ha! Ahem.)

Gazing into the Cheap Seats Crystal Ball…

Will break the glass on his first shift – Alex Ovechkin or Milan Lucic, or both at the same time
Will score on his first shot – Alexander Semin
Will make the world’s ugliest save – Tim Thomas
Will make the world’s prettiest save – Quintin Laing
Will fall down on his first shift – Alexander Semin
Will fall down on his first shift and make a great play – Boyd Gordon
Will frighten the referee with his glare – Zdeno Chara
Will definitely not frighten the referee with his glare – Nicklas Backstrom
Will get a Semin hat trick (goal, assist, hooking penalty) other than Semin – Marc Savard
Final score – Caps 3, Bruins 2

Before we wrap up this Opening Night edition of the gameday previews and get this season underway, I would be remiss if I didn’t send out birthday wishes to my father, who turns the big 6-0 today!

Happy Birthday, Dad – thanks for being the instigator of all this insanity, for instilling in me a love of all things hockey and the Caps that borders on psychosis, and for teaching me about understanding, patience, icing, passion, Bobby Orr, writing, the Stanley Cup, and most of all how to find humor everywhere. Here’s to a great year, on and off the ice