Season Starts in Dallas--Same Place It Ended

The first puck of the NHL season drops in Dallas--the same place last season ended. Less than four months after the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup with a double overtime victory at Reunion Arena, the Stars will play host to the Colorado Avalanche in the only game on the NHL schedule tonight.

The Thursday schedule has Ottawa at Boston, Chicago at Buffalo, Vancouver at Philadelphia, Detroit at Calgary and St. Louis at Phoenix. All 30 teams, including expansion clubs Columbus and Minnesota, will play by Saturday.

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The Detroit Red Wings placed captain Steve Yzerman on injured reserve. Yzerman is recovering from a knee injury suffered in Detroit’s Sept. 28 exhibition game against Toronto. The Red Wings said he would not play in the games Thursday at Calgary and Friday at Edmonton but was expected to be ready for the home opener Oct. 11 against Edmonton.

Also, the Red Wings assigned defenseman Todd Gill and forward Jason Williams to Cincinnati of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Ken Wregget to Manitoba of the International Hockey League.

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The Washington Capitals reduced their holdout list to one when they signed defenseman Sergei Gonchar to a four-year, $13.3 million contract.

Gonchar led Washington’s defensemen in scoring last season with 18 goals and 36 assists. Forward Chris Simon is now the lone holdout.

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The New York Rangers sent forwards Derek Armstrong, Manny Malhotra and Jeff Ulmer and goalie Jean-Francois Labbe to Hartford of the AHL. Forward Pavel Brendl was assigned to the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL and forward Jamie Lundmark was sent to the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL. Brendl and Hitmen were first-round picks in 1999. . . . Goalie Garth Snow signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., for a 25-game tryout. Snow was 10-15-3 for Vancouver last season. . . . The Calgary Flames claimed forward Dwayne Hay off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hay has played in 30 NHL games with Washington, Florida and Tampa Bay during his career. . . . Goaltender Jose Theodore signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal also assigned defensemen Barry Richter and Miloslav Guren and forwards Jason Ward and Matt Higgens to the AHL’s Quebec team. . . . The Chicago Blackhawks released left wing Kris King and sent six players to Norfolk of the AHL. . . . The Boston Bruins signed free-agent goalie Peter Skudra to a one-year contract, a week after backup goalie John Grahame broke his ankle in an off-ice incident. . . . Veteran forward Doug Gilmour is questionable for the Buffalo Sabres’ opener after missing two straight practices because of a sore hip.