CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Blues knocked the Chicago Blackhawks out of the playoffs last season with a one-goal victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.Now, the Blues are back in Chicago to open the season against their division rivals.Starting off against St. Louis, its a good reminder for us to not forget what we went through and how we went down in Game 7, Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews said. Theyll be hungry, too. Obviously, both teams want to prove themselves again.Theres obviously a long way to go before we get back to playoff hockey again, but nonetheless, these games are always going to be important.And intense.In last years seven-game playoff series, six games were decided by a single goal. The same held true for three of the teams five meetings during the regular season. Both teams topped 100 points during the regular season, but neither achieved their ultimate goal as Chicago was bounced in the first round of the playoffs and the San Jose Sharks eliminated the Blues in the conference finals.This time around, some familiar faces will not be present for the rivalry. Former Blues captain David Backes signed a free-agent deal with the Boston Bruins, and St. Louis promoted defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to wear the C on his sweater.Meanwhile, Blues goaltender Jake Allen will assume a clear-cut No. 1 role in net after the team shipped goaltender Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames.Allen went 26-15-3 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in 47 games during the 2015-16 campaign. He exited the Blues final preseason game because of an apparent injury but said he felt fine heading into the season opener.A couple days off was nice just to get back to 100 percent and ready to go, Allen told NHL.com. I knew in the back of my mind that I should be good to go on Wednesday. It was just doing the proper steps to be ready.Blues coach Ken Hitchcock decided to return for a final season behind the bench. His successor already has been named: former Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo, who will serve as Hitchcocks assistant this season before taking over next season.The Blackhawks said goodbye to several key contributors during the offseason, including feisty forward Andrew Shaw (traded to Montreal) and young playmaker Teuvo Teravainen (traded to Carolina). Top-six forward Andrew Ladd left as a free agent to sign with the New York Islanders.Veteran defenseman Brian Campbell, who won a Stanley Cup championship with the Blackhawks in 2010, is back with the Blackhawks on a one-year deal. He will provide depth and experience on the blue line, which also will feature newcomer Michael Kempny.Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is notorious for changing his line combinations at a moments notice, but look for Toews to anchor the teams top line to start the season. He will be joined by Richard Panik on the left wing and Marian Hossa on the right wing.The second line contains even more firepower as left winger Artemi Panarin and right winger Patrick Kane will try to replicate last seasons dominance alongside center Artem Anisimov.Goaltender Corey Crawford is back in net for Chicago and is expected to start against the Blues.St. Louis likely will counter with left winger Robby Fabbri, center Paul Stastny and right winger Alexander Steen on its top scoring line. Next will be the combination of left winger David Perron, center Jori Lehtera and right winger Vladimir Tarasenko.Toews said he and his teammates embraced the challenge of facing St. Louis in the seasons first game.We might as well get right into it, Toews said. We know theres going to be tough games all year. Hydro Flask 32 Oz White . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Hydro Flask 18 Oz Sale . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. http://www.flaskwaterbottle.com/cheap-hydro-flask-24-oz-standard-mouth-flamingo-water-bottle.html .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Hydro Flask 32 Oz Pink . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Hydro Flask 32 Oz Wide Mouth . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Ty Dillon has a full-time Sprint Cup ride in 2017 at Germain Racing. He will replace Casey Mears as the driver for the Richard Childress Racing affiliate.Mears had a deal with Germain and sponsor Geico through 2018, but a frustrating season with Mears finishing 28th in the standings -- as well as likely significant support from RCR for Dillon, a grandson of RCR owner Richard Childress -- spurred the change.I want to thank Casey Mears for everything hes done for our race team over the past six years, team owner Bob Germain said in a statement. Hes been an integral part of our growth and a great representative for Geico and our many partners.Bringing Ty on board is an exciting opportunity for us and we are committed to giving him all the resources he needs to reach his full potential. Hes a very talented driver and first class young man. Im looking forward to working with him, as well as expanding our relationship with RCR.Geico will remain at Germain as Dillons sponsor and also plans to continue to sponsor Mears, nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, in select Xfinity Series races next season.The 24-year-old Dillon, the younger brother of RCR driver Austin Dillon, has 18 career Cup starts with a best of 14th at Michigan in Junne 2015.dddddddddddd Third in the Xfinity Series standings last year, he was fifth in the 2016 points after failing to advance out of the first round of its Chase. He has one win in the Xfinity Series, coming in the 2014 race at Indianapolis.Having spent three full seasons in Xfinity, it was time for Dillon to make the jump to Cup. There wasnt room or sponsorship for him at the three-car RCR operation -- with Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman returning with their same primary sponsors in 2017.Mears, 38, has one win in 488 career starts, with the victory coming in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has 13 top-five finishes. He enjoyed his best season points-wise in 2006, his last year driving for Chip Ganassi, when he finished 14th in the standings. He finished 15th the next year driving for Rick Hendrick and 20th in 2008 -- the last time he was top-20 in points.He joined Germain Racing late in the 2010 season. His best finish in the standings while at Germain was in 2015, when he finished 23rd. 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