It's opening night in Canada — here's a look at our 7 NHL teams

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The NHL did not include Canada in its season-opening plans. The 2024-25 campaign started last week in the Czech Republic with two games between New Jersey and Buffalo, and the North American schedule began yesterday with a U.S.-only triple-header.

Hockey's most devoted country finally gets its turn tonight with three all-Canadian matchups. Toronto visits Montreal at 7 p.m. ET before Calgary faces Vancouver and Winnipeg takes on Edmonton at 10 p.m. ET. Ottawa opens Thursday night vs. Florida.

Here's one question facing each Canadian franchise this season, presented in descending order of their odds to win the Stanley Cup:

Can Edmonton go all the way? The Oilers pretty much answered this question last June by reaching the Stanley Cup final for the first time in the Connor McDavid era before falling one win short of a championship. McDavid was devastated, refusing to come out of the dressing room to accept the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP following Edmonton's 2-1 loss to Florida in Game 7. If the world's best player can convert that heartbreak into fuel for another Cup run, look out. His team enters the season as the betting favourite to win the Cup.

Is this Toronto's year? New head coach Craig Berube, who in 2019 guided St. Louis to the only Stanley Cup in the 50-plus-year history of that franchise, is now in charge of ending hockey's most storied championship drought, which turns 58 next year. If the Leafs finally do win the Cup (don't laugh — the betting markets have them in the mix), Auston Matthews will be the first to hoist it after inheriting the captaincy from