It’s finally here. The first game of the Red Wings 2018-19 season.

Every one of us has been excited and also mortified at the thought of this season starting. It will either be full of young hope or existential dread as the Red Wings finish bottom-5 in the standings once again. Hockey is back and that makes us still happy.

The first game of the season is at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

A team that is supposed to contend for the Metropolitan Division title – they will be without their best defenceman in Seth Jones, but that probably won’t change much of the result.

The most exciting thing about this game is going to be the rookies. They can surprise us, or disappoint us, but hopefully the prior will happen.

Fast, young, big – the Red Wings rookies.

These new-look Red Wings actually don’t look as boring as we’re used to. A total of six rookies will be on the roster – a statement that is unheard of in Detroit. Especially with four of those rookies on the blueline, this is a new experience for all of us. It’s exciting but weird.

The Wings will look certainly much younger and perhaps quicker, but they still have the veteran experience that every hockey fan goes crazy for. Thomas Vanek, Trevor Daley, Darren Helm, and Luke Glendening will be part of the older group in this lineup. Hopefully they won’t slow these young kids down.

There might be a lot of goals on these lines, hopefully we’ll see some tonight.

Returning with one of the most underrated forward groups in the league – led by arguably the best left-winger in the league and a young crop of speed and skill. They are an extremely deep team upfront that will hopefully give the young Red Wings defence not too much trouble.

On the backend, the Blue Jackets are missing their best piece in Seth Jones. Michigan boy Zach Werenski will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Markus Nutivaara is a stealthy candidate for most underrated Finnish defenceman, and most likely the only other offensive option on their blueline.

The Red Wings go with their reliable starter for the home opener, Jimmy Howard. The man is nothing but consistent, only dipping below a .910 sv% once in the last seven seasons. You know what you’re going to get with the 34-year-old netminder and it won’t surprise you if he lets in a weird bounce or absolutely stands on his head to deny a rushing winger.

A full decade younger than Howard, the Blue Jackets are going with their backup to start their season. They have to head back home to face the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow, so they’re making a bet that Korpisalo can handle the Red Wings. Korpisalo only has 63 NHL games to his name, but he has certainly impressed for most of them. His rookie season in 2015-16, he ended with 31 GP and a .920 sv% – pretty good for such a young netminder. A mediocre backup since then, hopefully the Red Wings can exploit some of his recent weaknesses and score some freakin’ goals.

Puck drop will be at 7:30pm EST at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit Michigan. This game will be on Fox Sports-Detroit and Fox Sports-Ohio or any of the radio networks (I’m sure).

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