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Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby (87) looks on during the first day of the NHL hockey training camp, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Cranberry, Pa. (AP Photo\/Gene J. Puskar)<\/p>\n
The immense challenge of threepeating as Stanley Cup champion got even more difficult for the Florida Panthers when they lost their captain and arguably most important player for the next 7-9 months to a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Even without Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers have a chance to do something no NHL team has done in more than 40 years. And in between the rest of the league trying to stop their dynasty, the world\u2019s best hockey players will return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, fresh off the wildly successful 4 Nations Face-Off that reminded fans just how good the game is on the international stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re a hockey fan, it doesn\u2019t get any better,\u201d New York Rangers and U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Sullivan said. \u201cIt puts the sport that we love on display to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The puck drops Oct. 7 on one of the most anticipated seasons in recent history, with Connor McDavid going into his final year under contract in Edmonton still chasing his first championship while also teaming with Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and others who will try to bring another gold medal home to Canada.<\/p>\n
Before Olympic play opens in Milan, Italy, 909 NHL games will be played, then 403 more down the stretch after the two-week break before another chase for the Cup begins in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot to look forward to,\u201d Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to hit the ground running and be as good as you can from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panthers launch threepeat bid<\/p>\n
Hedman and the Lightning won the Cup back to back in 2020 and \u201921. Crosby\u2019s Pittsburgh Penguins did it in \u201916 and \u201917. No team has gone back to back to back since the New York Islanders won four consecutive championships from 1980-83.<\/p>\n
During an offseason availability, Hedman joked, \u201cThey\u2019re not going to win three in a row\u201d as he walked past Florida star Sam Reinhart, but who\u2019s betting against a team that has won 11 of 12 playoff series since trading for Matthew Tkachuk and hiring Paul Maurice as coach?<\/p>\n
Barkov\u2019s long-term injury, and Tkachuk likely missing the first two months after his own surgery gives the Panthers longer odds. They\u2019re now 11-1 to win it all, behind co-favorites Edmonton and Vegas as well as Carolina, Colorado and Dallas, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe the best you can be at the start of the season: That\u2019s all you can focus on,\u201d Reinhart said. \u201cWhat we learned last year is throughout it, you kind of have that \u2014 not necessarily doubt, but you kind of wonder if you\u2019re going to have it again, that juice, that energy. You just kind of trust that you\u2019ll find it when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Champions usually suffer a bit of attrition, but with the salary cap increasing a record amount, Florida kept all three of its big three free agents: playoff MVP Sam Bennett, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and winger Brad Marchand, whose acquisition at the trade deadline paved the way for another parade in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the top dog right now,\u201d Carolina\u2019s Seth Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
McDavid\u2019s Oilers and other contenders<\/p>\n
Florida has won consecutive finals against McDavid and the Oilers with one of the best teams constructed since the NHL\u2019s cap era began in 2005.<\/p>\n
Edmonton, with McDavid and longtime running mate Leon Draisaitl, is an 8-1 Cup co-favorite with Vegas. After Minnesota signed Kirill Kaprizov to a record-setting $136 million contract just before the season started, all eyes are on McDavid, who could break the bank if he stays or goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have every intention to win in Edmonton \u2014 that\u2019s my only focus maybe next to winning a gold medal with Canada,\u201d McDavid told reporters in Calgary in August. \u201cI want the group to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll come Day 1 as possible. We don\u2019t need any distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other rivals with shorter title odds than the Panthers are Jarvis\u2019 Hurricanes, MacKinnon\u2019s Colorado Avalanche and the Stars. Dallas reached the Western Conference final each of the past three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just what do we have to do to get over that hump?\u201d Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger said. \u201cWe have pretty much same group of guy, and a lot of guys are entering their prime or in their prime right now and we feel like now\u2019s our time to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ovechkin and other storylines<\/p>\n
The league is full of other intriguing things to watch:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky\u2019s career goals record in April was a highlight of last season. The 40-year-old Washington Capitals captain goes into the final year of his contract \u2014 and maybe his final NHL season \u2014 with needing ony three goals to reach 900.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing Ovi, it probably won\u2019t take that long,\u201d teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois said.<\/p>\n
\u2014 While Crosby and the Penguins are languishing through a rebuild that sparks plenty of trade rumors, Sullivan taking over the Rangers is one of nine coaching changes leaguewide. Fellow multiple-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville is also back behind a bench with Anaheim, his first job since the investigation into Chicago\u2019s 2010 sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Auston Matthews said he is healthy going into the season, and that makes Toronto\u2019s captain a legitimate candidate to score 60 goals. Former Maple Leafs teammate Mitch Marner could also put up 100 points with the Vegas Golden Knights.<\/p>\n
\u2014 New York Islanders No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer headlines an intriguing rookie class that includes skilled Montreal winger Ivan Demidov and Washington\u2019s Ryan Leonard.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Penguins and Nashville Predators are set to play two games in Sweden in November. Four teams are taking it outside in the Sunshine State this winter: The Panthers host the Rangers on Jan. 2 in the Winter Classic, and the Lightning and Boston Bruins face off in the Stadium Series in Tampa on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1906 \u2014 Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs American challenger \u2018Fireman\u2019 Jim Flynn in …<\/p>\n