Saturday, January 19, 2013

The NHL Returns Tonight

There won’t be many places in Canada interested in watching tonight’s Florida/Carolina game, but Saint John will certainly be watching it closely.

Tonight, Sea Dogs star Jonathan Huberdeau will play in his first National Hockey League game as his Florida Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes. Game time is 8:30pm Atlantic and most people should be able to watch it thanks to Centre Ice being on free preview.

Huberdeau tweeted this last night:


It’ll be interesting to see how Huberdeau does at the NHL level. A third overall pick of the Panthers in 2011, there is certainly some hype surrounding him.

USA Today calls Huberdeau one of the rookies to watch this season and is an early candidate for the Calder Trophy.

"Based on what I've seen, he's ready," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said.

Some other links:

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres will start the season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens take on the Philadelphia Flyers today at 4pm Atlantic on NBC.

“The range of likely defense partner Kris Letang will help cover for Despres, but his inclusion among the top six is more an indication that Robert Bortuzzo has not developed as hoped — and that Ben Lovejoy may be in coach Dan Bylsma‘s doghouse until he eventually leaves Pittsburgh,” writes Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Despres played in 21 games with the Penguins last season split between the regular season and playoffs. He registered a goal and three assists.

Also tonight, former Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant makes his return behind a NHL bench as an assistant coach. Gallant’s Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 8pm on Hockey Night in Canada.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

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