NHL season opens with bid to head off severe injuries

A crackdown on severe hits to the head and the return of the Winnipeg Jets mark the major changes for the National Hockey League ahead of Thursday's start of the 2011-2012 season. Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's new vice president of hockey operations, has already imposed nine suspensions for a total of 31 games based only upon pre-season hits as protecting players from concussions becomes a top priority. "Change is always hard, but what we want is for the number of head injuries to come down," said Shanahan, who played 21 NHL seasons. "We're determined to stick with it." For a major reason why, look no further than opening night. The Pittsburgh Penguins will play at Vancouver, where Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby scored the gold-medal goal in over-time for Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympic final against the United States. But superstar Crosby will not play for Pittsburgh, having not recovered from a concussion suffered in a game last January. Crosby is on injured reserve and has not even returned to contact drills in workouts. Not surprisingly, Crosby is a believer in the crackdown on head blows. "Whether it's accidental or not accidental, you've got to be responsible out there," Crosby said. "You can do a lot more good than what it's going to take away from the game." Opening night also features the Boston Bruins celebrating their first Stanley Cup title since 1972 when they entertain Philadelphia and Canada's oldest NHL rivalry renewed when the Toronto Maple Leafs play host to Montreal. The Bruins won the best-of-seven NHL Final in a seventh game last June at Vancouver, where the outcome triggered a riot by disappointed Canucks fans, hoping to see their club take its first crown. Friday and Saturday will feature regular-season games in Europe, with the New York Rangers facing Anaheim and Los Angeles in Stockholm and the Buffalo Sabres playing Anaheim in Helsinki and Los Angeles in Berlin. Sunday will see the Winnipeg Jets play host to Montreal as fans in the hockey-mad central Canadian city enjoy the return of an NHL club for the first time since the original Jets left for Phoenix in 1996. NHL owners approved the move of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg in the off-season. While the Jets will remain in the Southeast division this season, realignment for next season is on the agenda for an owners meeting in December. Two issues could have an impact on realignment -- the Phoenix Coyotes remain a ward of city officials who are funding the team on a year-to-year basis and the NHL's bargaining agreement with players, forged after a lockout wiped out the 2004-2005 NHL campaign, expires next September 15. Pittsburgh, sparked by Russian playmaker Evgeni Malkin, and Boston, backstopped by Tim Thomas with giant Zdeno Chara on defense, will remain among the NHL's top Eastern Conference contenders this season. Washington, ignited by Russian speedster Alex Ovechkin, and Tampa Bay, with 21-year-old scoring leader Steven Stamkos, should be playoff contenders again. Brad Richards joins Marian Gaborik to make the Rangers a threat with noise from Buffalo, featuring stingy Ryan Miller in goal, and revamped Philadelphia, hoping for a spark from 39-year-old Czech right wing Jaromir Jagr. In the Western Conference, Vancouver had the best record in the regular season but barely ousted 2010 champion Chicago in the first round. Both will be Stanley Cup threats again, the Blackhawks thanks to star frontliners Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp while Vancouver is powered by Swedish siblings Henrik and Daniel Sedin and goaltender Roberto Luongo. Detroit, guided by veteran Swedish backliner Nicklas Lidstrom and left wings Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, and San Jose lead the best of the rest in the West.