Mick Kern’s NHL Games of the Week returns as the 2024-2025 season gets underway

It seemed like just yesterday that the Florida Panthers edged the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final. As the league gets ready to kickstart the 2024-25 regular season, a myriad of intriguing questions will eventually be answered. 

Will the Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions? A back-to-back Cup grab doesn’t happen often in the modern NHL, though the last team to turn the trick were also based in the State of Florida; the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Will the Oilers go that little bit extra this time around and hoist the Cup for the first time since 1990?  A Canadian-based franchise has not won it all since 1993. 

How will super rookie Connor Bedard fare this time around with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks?  What about first-overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with the San Jose Sharks? 

Will coaching changes in Buffalo, Ottawa, New Jersey, and Toronto translate into playoff spots and then success in the post-season? The Sabres, Senators, and Red Wings haven’t played playoff hockey past mid-April in ages. 

Does the legendary Alex Ovechkin snipe 42 goals this regular season and pass the legendary Wayne Gretzky as (numerically) the top goal scorer in NHL history? 

The 4 Nations Cup (Canada, United States, Sweden, and Finland) takes place in February in Montreal and Boston. It’s an appetizer for the Winter Olympics the following year and a chance for some of the league’s top players to finally play together. 

Once again, some teams will overachieve, and some will disappoint. New stars will emerge, and some old favourites will continue to dazzle. 

Before you know it, we’ll be into the 2025 calendar year.  The NHL Trade Deadline is in early March, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in mid-April.   

Ladies and Gentlemen…Start Your Engines! 

Friday, October 4 – 1 pm Eastern – SiriusXM 91 
New Jersey Devils at Buffalo Sabres 

The 2024-25 NHL regular season gets underway this afternoon, with Game One of the Global Series from the O2 Arena in Prague. The Devils and Sabres missed the playoff cut in the Eastern Conference last season, and both are looking to make amends. The Devils have upgraded the goaltending position and hope to have superstar centre Jack Hughes back for the entire campaign. The hard-luck Sabres haven’t been in the post-season in almost a decade-and-a-half, and their long-suffering fans are anticipating the day this franchise finally clears that hurdle. After years of stockpiling impressive, young talent, that should be sooner than later. 

Saturday, October 5 – 10 am Eastern – SiriusXM 91 
Buffalo Sabres at New Jersey Devils 

Game Two of the Global Series from the O2 Arena in Prague gets underway this Saturday, with the Devils serving as the home team this time around. 

Tuesday, October 8 – 10 pm Eastern – SiriusXM 91 
Chicago Blackhawks at Utah Hockey Club 

The 2024-25 NHL regular season opens on three fronts this evening back in North America, including the first-ever official game involving the Utah Hockey Club.  You may remember them last season as the Arizona Coyotes. Still, after a quarter-of-a-century in the desert, the NHL finally saw fit to relocate the struggling franchise to greener pastures. Expected by many to be named the Yeti in time for next season, the ex-Coyotes finished a sizeable 21 points out of a playoff spot last year in the Western Conference.  The Blackhawks finished further back (46 points), but this is the second time around for Rookie-of-the-year sensation Connor Bedard, and most people expect Chicago to be more competitive this time around.  

 Wednesday, October 9 – 7 pm Eastern – SiriusXM 91 
Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens 

The age-old rivalry adds another page this evening, as the Leafs and Habs hook up in this Atlantic Division tilt. Once again, the expectations are high for Toronto, who have a new head coach, new defencemen, and new hopes for the post-season. Les Canadiens finished 15 points back of a playoff spot, and look to cut into that deficit this season. They will be without newly acquired sniper Patrik Laine for a couple of months, due to an injury suffered when these two teams met up in the pre-season. 

Thursday, October 10 – 7 pm Eastern – SiriusXM 167 
Florida Panthers at Ottawa Senators 

It’s the defending Stanley Cup Champions up against the underachieving Senators, who were a disappointment last year but now have a Vezina-winning goaltender (Linus Ullmark) patrolling their crease. As for the Panthers, two Stanley Cup Final appearances in the past two seasons are impressive enough, but the Cats took home the big silver mug this past June and will be one of the leading contenders to do so again. 

Friday, October 11th – 10 pm Eastern – SiriusXM 91 
Philadelphia Flyers at Vancouver Canucks 

Arguably the two teams that surprised people the most last season, both these squads won’t be sneaking up on anybody this time around. The Flyers ultimately fell a bit short of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, but they’ve added young sniper Matvei Mishkov to their lineup. The Canucks look like they won’t have starting netminder Thatcher Demko for a while, due to injury. Vancouver are still expected to be in the thick of things in the Pacific Division.