NHL’s Back, but It’s Not Sticking to Its Old Ways

The National Hockey League reopened for business Wednesday, ushering in its return from a 310-day lockout with the familiar sounds of sticks slapping pucks and blades crunching on ice in arenas from Vancouver to Boston.

So much else surrounding the league and the game itself, however, was dramatically different: New faces. New rules. And a new concept: a salary cap.

The new rules were intended to restore the speed and flow that had been obliterated by a decade-long descent into dreary defensive tactics. On first glance, they seem to have succeeded:

The Mighty Ducks, in a 5-3 victory over the Blackhawks here, enjoyed the most productive season opener of the 12 they have played. The Kings led the Dallas Stars, 4-0, after the first period, but Dallas rallied for a 5-4 victory, a comeback that was unlikely, if not impossible, in the “old” NHL.

Also showing surprising scoring punch were the low-power, low-payroll Buffalo Sabres in a 6-4 victory over the New York Islanders, and the hapless New York Rangers in a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

In all, nine of the 15 games featured six or more total goals.

“This was much more fun to play because of the rules and the freedom we have now,” Mighty Duck forward Sergei Fedorov said. “I hope the fans like it. In general, it will make hockey more enjoyable for the fans and the players.”

All 30 teams played Wednesday, the first time the NHL has had a full schedule on opening night since 1928, and the fans responded.

Eleven of the 15 games were sellouts and every arena was filled to more than 98% capacity.

In St. Paul, Minn., where the Wild opened its fifth season, 19,398 fans flocked to the Xcel Energy Center, the largest crowd ever to see a Wild game.

In Toronto, where the Maple Leafs began their 88th season, an above-capacity crowd of 19,452 filled the Air Canada Centre and saw the Ottawa Senators defeat the Maple Leafs, 3-2, in the first tie-breaking shootout in NHL history.

In Tampa, 22,120 fans watched the Lightning raise a banner to commemorate its 2003-04 Stanley Cup championship, a joyful moment that had been delayed by the lockout. The Lightning went on to beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-2.

Eliminating ties and scheduling teams to play each of their division foes eight times, four more than before the lockout, are other ways the NHL hopes to appease loyal fans, lure new ones and improve TV ratings.

The league has also gotten a boost from the return of Wayne Gretzky, who retired in 1999 with a remarkable array of scoring records but now is behind the bench as the new coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Also on Wednesday, teenage phenom Sidney Crosby, touted as the “Next One” -- a play on Gretzky’s nickname of “The Great One” -- made his much-anticipated debut in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-1 loss to New Jersey at the Continental Airlines Arena.

Skating alongside Penguin owner-player Mario Lemieux, who turned 40 Wednesday and might have challenged Gretzky’s records if not for illness and injuries, Crosby recorded an assist in front of a crowd of 18,101, about 1,000 short of a sellout.

Gretzky and Crosby weren’t the only ones in new places. More than 200 players changed teams after the resolution of the labor dispute that wiped out the 2004-05 season, as general managers traded players, signed free agents and frantically punched their calculators to set their budgets beneath the new $39-million salary cap per team.

Fans may have had to consult scorecards to figure out who was who, but they didn’t mind.

In Chicago, where temperatures hit the very unhockey-like mid-80s, fans in the announced crowd of 16,533 roared during the national anthem.

Most of the pregame buzz in Chicago centered on the White Sox’s American League division series against the Boston Red Sox a few miles away, but hockey was foremost on fans’ minds once the puck dropped.

“I had a miserable season last year,” said Barry Valentino of Chicago, who wore a red Blackhawk jersey as he sat in a $25 seat in the upper level of the arena. “I’m happy they’re back. I don’t care what happened between the owners and players. I just want hockey.”

Hoping to erase the memories of the bitter labor negotiations and lost season, most teams reduced their ticket prices and gave special gifts to season-ticket holders. As part of the NHL’s marketing strategy, teams staged elaborate introductions, broadcast welcome messages from players on arena video screens, and painted the phrase “Thank You Fans” onto the ice inside each blue line.

Many teams gave away jerseys, tickets, chances to meet players and other prizes during the game. At every home opener, fans will be given a small replica of the Stanley Cup, the trophy that sat in a display case while players and owners haggled over money and finally produced a collective bargaining agreement in July.

The ultimate enticement will be good hockey, but the profound changes this season have made it impossible to predict what will happen.

“I slept about four hours [Tuesday] night,” said Brian Burke, the Ducks’ new general manager and architect of a team that will emphasize speed and skill to take advantage of the new offense-friendly rules, which are meant to help players avoid being hooked, held or otherwise impeded as they try to score.

“It’s time. I’m more excited than nervous.”

At the Ducks’ morning skate, a ritual unique to hockey, players chatted and joked, picking up the tempo as they found their legs and the rhythm they had missed. Rarely had a routine practice been so much fun.

“It’s good to get everything back to normal,” Dallas Star Coach Dave Tippett said before his team’s victory over the Kings. “When your life is surrounded by hockey, normal is being at the rink every day.”

Things hadn’t been normal for nearly 500 days.

“You know what, it’s exciting to be back,” Dallas forward Bill Guerin said. “There was definitely a little something in the air driving in today. It finally means something, playing again. This is for keeps.”

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Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report from Dallas.