The NHL opened the 95th season on Thursday, but Detroit Red Wings fans had to wait one more night.

But if Detroit Red Wings fans thought this offseason was long, just imagine how much the players wanted the season to begin.

Last night's 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators began a long, grueling 82 game journey towards the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Some players, including captain Nick Lindstrom, want one last crack at the Stanley Cup while others like rookie Cory Emmerton are looking at their first crack at the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Playing in Detroit is an opportunity of a lifetime, as the Red Wings are still such a talented team.

But with the high talent on the team comes high expectations.

Some of these expectations are realistic, while others are just out of the question.

At any rate, here are the five Red Wings who need to get out of the gate quickly to start this season.

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Shanahan and NHLPA representative Mathieu Schneider released a couple videos about the new boarding rules as well as illegal hits to the head.

Not surprisingly, these new rules have already been broken, and Shanahan dished out two suspensions this preseason: One to Jody Shelley, and one to Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

Shanahan's duty is to keep players safe, and to suspend players if necessary.

But by creating videos to explain the recent suspensions of Jody Shelley and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Shanahan has gone above and beyond his duty.

Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the league's decision to have Shanahan take over the role of disciplinarian, because unlike his disciplinary predecessor Colin Campbell, Shanahan will likely not be second guessed by fans or media because of the videos that he creates.

Through his first two suspensions, Shanahan seems to have a firmer grasp on how serious these rules are in the game.

He takes his role seriously, and he explains what he is doing in each of the videos he has made.

The new rule changes to the boarding and illegal checks to the head have also undoubtedly helped Shanahan be more specific in his judgments.

But even last year, it seemed as though Colin Campbell was publicly criticized for suspending (or in some cases not suspending) players because his suspensions were usually not an appropriate length.

I wrote an article last season about how it was time for Campbell to step down because it seemed there was nothing he could do to make the game safer for players.

Then Campbell actually stepped down on June 1st of this year.

Shanahan was put in the position of disciplinarian, and I wasn't sure if things were going to get better in the NHL before they got worse.

I only had my doubts about "Shanny" because I had seen him getting into fights in his "heyday" with the Detroit Red Wings.

But Shanahan has surpassed my expectations.

I applaud the effort he puts in to make the game safer, and if his video series continues in the right direction, we could see him actually succeed in eliminating boarding and blindside hits to the head from the NHL.

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Many look back on Detroit's great players like Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, and Terry Sawchuk, to name a few.

But one would be remiss not to mention the great fights that Hockeytown has witnessed over the past few decades.

From brawls with the Avalanche to just dropping the gloves for the sake of it, Detroit has been home to some of the League's best fighters, as well as best fights.

Without further delay I will name who I believe to be the five best fighters to wear a Detroit uniform over the last 40 years.

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Even before Chris Osgood retired July 19, Detroit fans have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of signing a backup goalie.

There were numerous names thrown around like Tomas Vokoun, Jose Theodore and Brian Boucher, but Conklin, for some reason, seems to be the right fit in Detroit.

Maybe it's because he's been here before.

Perhaps it's because he's succeeded here before.

But my personal opinion is that it's because he is content to be a journeyman backup goalie.

Now, the word "journeyman" (according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary) refers to someone who is, "an experienced reliable...athlete...especially as distinguished from one who is brilliant or colorful."

Conklin fits the description wonderfully; he is not cocky, arrogant or boisterous like other players and goaltenders in the NHL. He simply does the job and does what is asked of him.

Conklin has been to Detroit for a season before, and he made the most of it, going 25-11-2 in 40 games played with a 2.51 GAA and 90.9 save percentage.

While those aren't the most impressive GAA numbers and save percentage, one should look at the 25 wins in 40 games played very positively; Conklin knows how to win as a backup.

Conklin did not play a full game with Detroit in the playoffs (Osgood played them all), but there is no doubt he remembers it well. For the second time in his career, Conklin came to within one game of winning his first Stanley Cup.

The Wings are hoping to get further than the second round of the playoffs this go-round, but if they are to do so, they must once again get some quality playing from Conklin so Jimmy Howard can rest when necessary.

One remembers the 2009-2010 postseason all too well, as Detroit's Howard simply looked like he ran out of gas from playing too many games.

Conklin is again playing backup goalie, but this time, it is to a far younger Howard. Conklin will benefit greatly by playing in Detroit, as opposed to his past two seasons with the lesser-skilled Blues. He will almost certainly see his numbers improve from last year's .500 record as a backup in St. Louis.

Hopefully (knock on wood) no long-term injuries affect Howard this season, but even if he goes down to an injury, it's good to know Detroit has a confident and capable backup waiting for a chance to get in and do what is asked of him.

As far as the "journeyman" title for Conklin, I think his days as a journeyman—in the modern day sense—may be over, and he may find a home in Detroit if he has another solid season here.

If Conks has another good season with the Red Wings, GM Ken Holland can spend less time looking for a backup goalie and more time giving Conklin a new contract next offseason.

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But no question was bigger than, "will Nick Lidstrom retire?"

Obviously now know that Captain Nick will come back for another season, but his longtime partner on the ice, Brian Rafalski will not return.

Rafalski announced his retirement in May, foregoing another year of hockey which would have seen him make $6 million.

Some Red Wings fans, myself included, were initially surprised by Rafi's decision to hang 'em up, but in hindsight, Rafalski's injuries caught up to him and he made the right decision to retire while he was still on top (with a top five ranking in defensive scoring).

The big questions that face the Wings going into training camp revolve largely around who will be imported into the Red Wings defensive corps to try and fill the shoes of Rafalski, as well as the departed Ruslan Salei.

I will attempt to summarize what look like the best options for the Red Wings and suggest what I believe to be the best pairings on the back end.

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With the retirement of longtime Detroit Red Wing Kris Draper, many Red Wing fans will be waiting to see who will step up to claim his spot, among others, as player battles commence during the Red Wings training camp this fall.

Draper showed how hard it was to claim a spot in the starting line up on any given night, starting just 47 games.

Jiri Hudler and Mike Modano also showed frustration at being left off the starting roster (given Mike Modano did sustain severed tendons which caused him to miss three months of the season). Modano was limited to 40 game and Hudler benched a few times for poor production.

It will be interesting to see who coach Mike Babcock will use to fill the roles of the third and fourth line, as the line combinations he uses will ultimately affect the success of the team when the first and second lines cannot get it done.

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From the trap defense to the new NHL, it seems that the offensive and defensive styles of defensemen seem to change from decade to decade.

With the creation of the "New NHL" or post-lockout NHL, the League took a drastic turn to try and increase the scoring.

With this increase in offense, defensemen are now expected to step up offensively as well as clamp down defensively.

This article examines which four newly acquired defensemen are best poised for a break out career year in 2011-12.

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As some teams opened up their checkbooks and started signing free agents, people began to raise eye brows at some of the length and dollar figures of some of the contracts that were signed.

As a Red Wings fan, I was most unimpressed with the signing of Jonathan Ericsson for $3.25 million a year for three years. I cannot strongly say that he will be worth it in the long run, but hey, I'm not Ken Holland.

As for the rest of the league, there are a select few players that are worth much more than what their contracts for the upcoming season would indicate.

This article examines the five best value signings in free agency thus far.

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After Detroit's abysmal performance tonight against Chicago—giving up a goal on the first shift of the game, three goals in the first period and four goals in the first half of the game—I have had just about enough of this playoff talk.

While most are making a big deal of reaching the playoffs for the 20th straight season, it is time for us fans to look at a different statistic that should worry us.

The "pint-sized" total of 21 home wins this season.

Okay, I'll admit it for the rest of the fans: we've been spoiled over the past two decades watching an amazing franchise make runs at Lord Stanley's Cup.

However:

The last time Detroit had fewer than 25 home wins in a season was 1996-97—granted, they did win the Cup that year, and that was before the expansion to 30 teams, but Detroit has 21 wins this season.

"But Detroit can win on the road this season they're 25-11-4 on the road..."

True, Detroit's road record is one of the best in the NHL, good for second in the league (pending the outcome of the final game with Chicago on Sunday). But Detroit is at minimum the No. 3 seed in the West this year after locking up the division—meaning they will host the first two games of this round.

Frankly, that should scare most Red Wing fans after seeing this year's home record.

But enough with the doom and gloom talk and back to Sunday's game.

Here are few things that I personally would like better than being the team to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks from the playoffs.

After tonight's performance, those feelings only got stronger.

A regulation win by Detroit over the Blackhawks on Sunday and a win by Dallas in their final game of the season would eliminate Chicago from the playoffs, making them another team in the past decade to win the Cup one season and not qualify for the playoffs the next.

THAT would make my season.

Although some may argue otherwise, Detroit doesn't really have a rival other than Chicago. To knock them out of the playoffs would be nothing short of inspiring going into the playoffs.

The Wings have just three wins in their last 10 contests. Detroit needs this game to build momentum going forward into playoffs.

The lackluster performances at home this season could all be forgotten about by knocking the defending Cup champions from the playoffs with a big win.

A loss? Well, I'd rather not mention that possibility. I've seen it far too many times against Chicago this season with Detroit's record against the Blackhawks standing at 1-3-1 record this season.

I think it is safe to say that the playoffs for Detroit start Sunday.

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Rule 48 was implemented in that late stages of last season to try and curtail the head shots that were taking place. 48.1, titled, "Illegal Check to the Head" sets out that "A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted."

The topic of head shots in the NHL has come to the forefront especially after more and more NHL players have sustained concussions as a result from the head shots. Some of these players include Sidney Crosby (twice), David Booth, Marc Savard, and most recently Max Pacioretty.

One man who was involved in the fore-mentioned rule changes was current Senior V.P. and Director of Hockey Operations of the NHL, Colin Campbell. Campbell is currently the main disciplinarian in the NHL but has come under fire recently. This is because Campbell is directly responsible for suspending (or in some cases, not suspending) the player who delivers the head shot.

The following videos will show why Campbell no longer deserves his lengthy title in the NHL.

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