A new NHL season begins today with five games, including a pair of classic Canadian matchups. Premier Matt Forte Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens, who will start goaltender Carey Price after a battle with flu, face the Maple Leafs in Toronto, while the Battle of Alberta resumes with the Calgary Flames visiting the Edmonton Oilers. As an added bonus you can join our live double-header chat tonight starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Canadiens will be missing some important pieces when they begin the 82-game schedule against their oldest rivals, the Maple Leafs. Michael Cammalleri, a Toronto-area native who is one of their top scoring wingers, will miss the opener due to a one-game suspension for a slash on Islanders rookie Nino Niederreiter during a pre-season game Saturday in Quebec City. The Habs are also without top defenceman Andrei Markov, who is expected to return later this month from knee surgery. Veteran rearguard Roman Hamrlik will also sit out with a sore knee that kept him out of all seven pre-season games. Then Price came down with the flu, raising the possibility that backup netminder Alex Auld will get the start. However he was was feeling better at this mornings skate. "I asked him how he felt and hes getting his strength back," said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. "I feel that hes ready to go." Absent players aside, Martin said he is optimistic about a team that came together in the playoffs and marched to the Eastern Conference final before bowing out to Philadelphia. "Were confident," he said. "Some players have made progress, theres a strong leadership group in place, and weve added a new dimension in (Jeff) Halpern and (Dustin) Boyd. We feel were ready for the challenge." Both teams have new captains. Right-winger Brian Gionta will wear the C for Montreal and defenceman Dion Phaneuf will handle the duties for Toronto. Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin have been named alternate captains by Leafs coach Ron Wilson. That means that arguably Torontos best defenceman -- Tomas Kaberle -- will no longer wear an A, a sign the teams leadership has shifted. Also on display will be Torontos new power play, which will have Phaneuf going to the front of the net at times instead of just wiring his heavy shot from the point. The Leafs finished last in the conference last season and had one of the leagues worst power plays. Toronto scored on just 13.97 per cent of its chances with the man advantage. It will also be the first Leafs game for sniper Kris Versteeg, who is fresh off winning a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks. There is a buzz in Edmonton as well over their trio of talented rookies, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi, who will get their first taste of real NHL action. The Oilers were last in the Western Conference last season, which landed them Hall, a former Windsor Spitfires star, with the first overall draft pick. Hes now part of an impressive group of youngsters playing key roles on the team, along with 21-year-old Sam Gagner and 23-year-old Andrew Cogliano. Edmonton also has a new captain in Shawn Horcoff and a new coach in Tom Renney. The Flames have summer acquisitions Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay back for second stints with the club on the top line with Jarome Iginla, their captain since 2003. Calgary also starts the season undermanned with centres Daymond Langkow, Matt Stajan and Ryan Stone out with injuries. Forwards David Moss and Ales Kotalik are also hurt. Chicago will open its season in Colorado. The Blackhawks have a load of new faces as they begin their quest to become the first repeat Cup winners since the Detroit Red Wings won their second straight championship in 1998. Seriously above the US$59.4-million salary cap, the Blackhawks were forced to dump a load of players in the off-season, including Versteeg, forward-defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, goalie Antti Niemi, Andrew Ladd and Ben Eager. "Now were at the point where its all behind us: The salary cap, the trades and this and that," said captain Jonathan Toews. "Were ready to move forward with the guys we have." The Flyers will go with rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky when they face off against Pennsylvania rival Pittsburgh, the 2009 Cup champions. The Penguins will be playing their first regular season game in their new arena, the Consol Energy Centre. The Ottawa Senators begin the season at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, while the Vancouver Canucks welcome the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Cheap Wholesale NHL Jerseys . All three signed one-year, two-way contracts. Mihalek, the Lightnings 2005 first-round pick (No. 30), had 18 points and a plus-6 rating in 75 games with the AHL Norfolk Admirals last season. Ben Roethlisberger Jerseys . Its a game that you can catch on TSN starting at 8pm et/5pm pt. The Raptors snapped an ugly 13-game skid last Friday when Andrea Bargnani had 30 points and DeMar DeRozan added 20 to help Toronto earn a 111-100 win over Minnesota at Air Canada Centre. Replicas Devin Hester Jersey . Atlanta entered the break with 57 points, putting the club just one ahead of Carolina for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The Thrashers have qualified for the postseason just once in their first 10 seasons as an NHL franchise. Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson Jerseys . Also discussed were the effect a returning Jordan Staal would have on game preparations and the significance of the Winter Classic relative to its place in the standings. Q. Can you tell us who is starting for you tonight in goal? COACH BOUDREAU: Varly. Q. Are you looking at this stage of the season for someone to emerge and say I want this job, and they both played well and they both maybe had some bumps? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I think they both want this job. Replicas Santonio Holmes Jersey . Related readings: Electoral change on table NPC starts reading?amendment to electoral law Explanation on draft amendments to electoral law Electoral Law revision key to equal rights Government electoral proposals well-received The amendment, regarded as part of the countrys efforts to narrow the urban-rural gap, requires both rural and urban areas to adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in elections of peoples congress deputies. DALLAS - The first witness in a lawsuit Wednesday between two neighbors was a real ass. Buddy the donkey walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being. Buddy the donkey is led by Ranch Operator Etienne Grimmett and owner Gregory Shamoun, right, into the Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 courtroom Wednesday, April 18, 2007, in Fort Worth, Texas. [AP]The donkey was at the center of a dispute between oilman John Cantrell and attorney Gregory Shamoun that began after Cantrell complained about a storage shed Shamoun wwas building in his backyard in Dallas. Authentic Devin Hester Jersey Bears. He said Shamoun retaliated by bringing Buddy from his ranch in Midlothian and putting him in the backyard. Cantrell complained of donkey noise and manure piles. They bray a lot any time day or night. You never know when theyre going to cut loose, he testified. Shamoun said Buddy was there to serve as a surrogate mother for a calf named Lucy that needed to be bottle-fed. Neither jurors nor Buddy had the last say. The neighbors settled their dispute while jurors deliberated. Shamoun agreed to buy some of Cantrells land and Cantrell agreed to withdraw his complaint with the city. ' ' '
