NHL History & News

Thursday at the Air Canada Centre, the New York Rangers take on the surprising Toronto Maple Leafs in a battle of NHL Original Six teams.

The Maple Leafs won their first four games before dropping their first of the season Monday, while the Rangers have stumbled out of the gate at 1-2-1.

Rash of injuries to key players in the team’s first few games is one reason for New York’s sluggish start. Forward Chris Drury is out indefinitely with a finger injury, forward Vaclav Prospal also is out indefinitely with a knee injury and leading scorer Marian Gaborik is expected to miss at least three weeks with a shoulder injury.

In the past 10 head-to-head, the Rangers are 5-1-0-4, including going 3-3 in four meetings last seasons. But, so far this season the Maple Leafs won the one meeting, beating the Rangers 4-3 last Friday.

In a 3-1 setback against the Colorado Avalanche, New York dropped its third-straight game Monday. -125 home favorites had been the Rangers.

On Monday, Toronto lost 2-1 to the visiting New York Islanders, as -180 home favorites in various hockey odds.

Giving the “C” to Brian Gionta, the storied Montreal Canadiens named their new captain Wednesday.

In the team’s 101-year history, Gionta becomes the 28th captain, and just the second American to hold the position.

Gionta succeeded a Finn whose 10-year captaincy, Saku Koivu, ended when he left Montreal as a free agent following the 2008-09 season. Last season, Montreal did not name a captain.

Gionta, who led Montreal with 28 goals in his debut last season after signing a five-year, $25 million deal said, “It’s pretty special”.

In 19 playoff games, the 31-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y., added nine goals and six assists as Montreal advanced to the Eastern Conference final, the deepest the team had gone in the playoffs since winning a record 24th Stanley Cup in 1993.

Hal Gill, an alternate captain and fellow American said, “There’s no greater honor than to play for a franchise like this, and to wear the ‘C’ has got to be a great feeling for him, I imagine. He’s worked hard for it and there’s a long line of great players that also wore that ‘C’ and not everyone gets that opportunity.”

However, Gionta may have to brush up on his French.

Gionta said, “Obviously, we came here, my family and I, and we’re embracing the culture. We enjoy living here in Montreal. It’s a great place to be and we’re going to do our best to learn it. I can’t make promises that I’ll be able to speak it fluently but I’ll try.”