The first highlights I saw when I got home from my legalized torture (aka Night School) was that of the Senators beating the Maple Leafs in a shootout victory. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. Seeing a game end in a shootout is just such an empty feeling...kind of like having sex with yourself. *ahem* Can Senators fans really feel good about winning that way over their rivals?

Hockey Analysis offers their thoughts on the shootout from a Leafs fan point-of-view:

Ummm, maybe I would have a different opinion had the Leafs won the shoot-out, but I doubt it. People talk about how interesting the shoot-out is, but to be honest it wasn’t one tenth as interesting as the actual hockey game. It just seemed that going from a fast paced, hard hitting, nail biting regular game and overtime to a slow paced shoot-out was a bit of a let down. The shoot-out takes about 10 minutes to take place but most of that is just watching players stand around waiting for one of them to take 5 seconds skating down the ice on a breakaway. And when you think about it, all it proved was that the Senators have more pure talent than the Sundin-less Leafs, but didn’t we already know that?

Tell me again why we need shootouts in the first place? >:(

I felt like the unpopular kid who was never invited to parties as I had to miss out on ALL of the fun and was subjected to getting the sloppy seconds via highlights. While co-workers and cohorts on other blogs were discussing the night's games, all I can do is stand to the side and check the boxscores.

Anyway, here are some scattered thoughts on Day 1 of the New NHL.

• Wings 5 - Blues 1 - New NHL, same old results. The Wing$ have always owned the Blues and it won't stop this year. Expect a lot of games like this for the Blues. They are gonna stink!
  
• Congrats to Gilbert Brule and Sidney Crosby for getting their first NHL assists last night. Here are some other NHL debuts and games of note from last night:
  
  • Jaroslav Balastik - 9:22 1SOG, 2PIM (9:22? *sigh)
    
  • Gilbert Brule - 1A, 12:42TOI, +1
    
  • Petr Sykora II - 9:53 TOI, 2SOG, 4PIM
    
  • Alexander Ovechkin - 2G, +1, 5SOG, 2PIM
    
  • Andrew Hutchinson - 0PTS, 16:36 TOI
    
  • Andrej Meszaros - 13:04TOI, 1SOG
    
  • Rene Bourque - 1G, 5SOG, 12:17TOI (efficient!)
    
  • Corey Perry - 1A, 12:51TOI, 3SOG
    
  • Sidney Crosby - 1A, -2, 15:50TOI, 3SOG
    
  • Milan Michalek - 1A, 12:19TOI, 1SOG (nice comeback!)
    
  • Wojtek Wolski - 12:34TOI, 0SOG
    
  • Thomas Vanek - 1A, +2, 3SOG
    
  • Andy Roach, -1, 6SOG, 13:46TOI
    
  • Johan Franzen, 15:27TOI, 0PTS
    
  • Tomas Plekanec - 13:07TOI, 6/10 Faceoffs, 0PTS
    
  • Colton Orr - 1shift 0:28TOI (Wow, don't break a sweat!)
    
  • Pavol Demitra - 1A, 1SOG, Even
  
  
• Roberto Luongo - Just another night at the office (as supposed to the Office Depot Center) for Robocop as he makes 34 saves for the shutout over the Kovalchuk-less Thrashees. If Roberto doesn't get the Vezina this year, they might as well just chuck the trophy into the Fraser River with all of the other sewage they dump there.
  
• Jaromir Jagr can sure shoot the damn puck, eh? Seeing the Ranger$ come back against the Flyers (Teh Great Evil!) was amusing, yet still rather unsatisfying.
  
• Note to Canucks 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines: It's OK to score some goals. Really, it is!
  
• Not a great start for Calgary. I would not want to have been a Flames player last night and deal with the Wrath of Sutter . "KRAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!!!"
  
• It's amazing the amount of panic and activity that occurs in fantasy pools after 1 day of action! The scramble to get the rookies is like tossing a dollar bill into a group of hungry hobos. It's a marathon folks, don't forget that.
  
• On the other hand, I'm feeling a little queasy about putting a lot of my chips on Martin Gerber. He's not the first goalie to be ripped apart by the Lightning, but DAMN, last night hurt!
  

James Mirtle has a nice little wrap-up of his own. Why doesn't the Globe and Mail publish this in their sports pages?