Champion Penguins, goalies, Olympics effect among 10 things to watch

Can the rivalry between hockey's two brightest stars reach a new level this season? Are any of the Canadian teams good enough to win a Stanley Cup for a change? Are there any real dark horses out there? The answers are to be determined, but in the meantime, these questions will be among the storylines to follow this season. Here are 10 others.

1. The march of the Penguins: Will it be forward or backward after the fresh-faced Penguins wrote the perfect script last season? Pittsburgh rebounded with a fury after changing coaches in February, ultimately winning the Stanley Cup against the team it lost the Finals to the season before. The conventional wisdom said Pittsburgh had learned what it took to win after losing a year earlier, but it had no experience on being the hunted instead of the hunter. And the teams at the top of the East are better than last season.

Dany Heatley will look to light up the board for his new team, the Sharks. (Getty Images)

2. Oh Dany boy: Dany Heatley may be the most hated person in Ottawa after backing the Senators into a corner with a petulant trade demand. Heatley finally got his way when the Senators dealt him to the San Jose Sharks, a team that has its own character questions to deal with. But Heatley is one of the NHL's best pure scorers, and he'll be teamed up with one of the best playmakers in Joe Thornton. The two could end up anchoring a line for Team Canada at the Olympics, but in his new situation, it will be worth watching to see if Heatley could challenge Alexander Ovechkin for the goal-scoring crown.

3. Pipe dreams: A handful of teams are probably good enough to be considered Stanley Cup contenders, but several of them could have some real issues in goal. The Red Wings always seem to be dealing with this even if Chris Osgood is coming off his second strong playoffs in a row, and the Washington Capitals aren't sure if Semyon Varlamov was a one-hit wonder in the playoffs or if Jose Theodore has anything left. Then there's Ray Emery, who will need time to get rid of his doubters in Philadelphia. In Chicago there has to be some discomfort with Cristobal Huet after he was signed to a big contract and failed to win the No. 1 job last season.

4. Winded City: Speaking of the Blackhawks the big question is what they will do for an encore. Chicago had a controversial summer after a storybook season when the talented young team jelled enough to make the Western Conference finals. The Blackhawks won't be under the radar this season and many believe they have to win this year because salary-cap challenges might make it impossible to keep the entire key trio of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith when they become restricted free agents next summer.

5. Games on: The Olympics are going to have an impact on the season. The first three months of the schedule will be a chance for many Canadian and American players to prove they deserved one of the uncommitted spots on their respective rosters, which is good news for the various teams who will likely benefit from these inspired efforts. The down side of all this is the compression of the schedule to accommodate the two-week Olympic break, something that could take an added toll on the star players going to Vancouver when they return for the stretch run to the playoffs.

6. Drying up in the desert: What now for the Phoenix Coyotes? It's been more than four months since the feces made contact with the oscillator in Phoenix, and the mess it created has not come close to being cleaned up. It even dumped on icon Wayne Gretzky. Now on the eve of the new season, bankruptcy judge Redfield T. Baum has rejected purchase bids from Blackberry mogul Jim Balsillie and the NHL, leaving the future of the team uncertain. This is a problem that will likely linger though the entire season.

Isles fans hope John Tavares has some magic while the team is still in town. (Getty Images)

7. A Swede it is: Last season, the comeback of Mats Sundin seemed to hold hockey folks in rapture until he signed with Vancouver in the midseason and effectively turned into a $5 million bust. Sundin has graciously decided not to hold anyone up this time by announcing his official retirement, but in the meantime fellow Swede Peter Forsberg is dropping hints that he'd like one more crack at the NHL. Forsberg is playing back home these days, but he'll be in Colorado this week to honor former teammate Joe Sakic. Forsberg isn't likely to be in anyone's lineup soon, but if he's healthy, there will be a few contenders looking at him before the season is over.

8. PA politics: In retrospect, the players union won the lockout. Funny thing is it initially appeared to have lost because of its fractured internal situation. Bob Goodenow lost his job as a consequence and replacement Ted Saskin was booted out for improprieties, but the NHLPA seemed to have stabilized after respected lawyer Paul Kelly became boss two years ago. Not so apparently. Despite salaries continuing to rise under a hard salary cap, a group of dissidents has remained within the union, effective enough to undermine Kelly and execute a coup in the middle of an August night. That decision was taken by the PA's executive and is being increasingly challenged by a growing number of rank and file members. It threatens to unravel the union with several key issues facing it, including negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement that will be needed after next season.

9. K.C. here they come? John Tavares should be the center of attention for the New York Islanders on opening night Saturday. Some 10,000 Islanders fans were at the team's arena when he was drafted first overall in June, but he officially arrives on Long Island for what could be the beginning of the end for the franchise. Islanders owner Charles Wang has been trying to get approval for a real estate project that will include a much-needed refurbishing of the Nassau Coliseum, but the process has dragged on with no resolution in sight. So Wang has set Oct. 3 -- the home opener -- as his deadline. If no agreement is reached, Wang, apparently with the support of commissioner Gary Bettman, says he'll explore relocation options, most likely to Kansas City, where a new arena sits empty and the Isles scheduled some preseason games in September. But county officials say his lease runs until 2015 and that will keep the team from leaving any time soon.

10. Who started it: The NHL always seems to pay lip service to the idea of cracking down on fighting, so you'll have to take the plan to toughen up on instigators with a grain of salt. Terry Gregson, the new director of officiating, says refs will make calling the instigator penalty, which has tended to be overlooked, a priority this season. "It's not new," Gregson said. "We're not changing the wording and we're not trying to make every fight an instigator call, but if a player travels [to start a fight], you have to ask 'did someone clearly instigate?' And if so, apply the rule." We'll see.