On Monday morning, the NHL released the schedule for Opening Night on Oct. 7, and to nobody's surprise, the Boston Bruins are not one of the six teams playing that night. Last season, they began the season in South Florida and were the opponent when the Florida Panthers raised their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters. Pain.
As luck would have it, the Panthers steamrolled through the postseason for a second straight year to capture back-to-back championships, to the angst of the rest of the NHL. This season's run was a mixed bag of results for Black and Gold fans, but at least they won't have to watch their team be the Panthers' opponent on the first night again, and they should thank their lucky stars.