"I can probably go back in all the years that I've played and remember every Opening Night, where we were, what we did, if I was sick before the game or not. That's just the way it is.

"It's just a very marked day in the season. It's the one where your season ends, you start your workouts for the summer, you start skating again, and then you wait for the schedule to come out, and what's the first one you look at? Who we're starting against," Biron said.

Tonight, Biron will make some more memories as the Flyers open the season at home against the New York Rangers.

"It's the Rangers. It's at home and after the finish of last year and the playoffs, it's going to be pretty jacked up," he said. "Yeah, it's 82 games, and there are a few others that you look at, but the first one is one of them."

Eighty-two games.

That's a lot of games and a long time. By the time the Flyers reach the end of the season, tonight will be a distant memory. But for right now, it is the beginning, and there is an air of excitement and expectation among the players and coaches.

"I'm excited to get it started," said Mike Richards, who will take the ice as the team's 16th captain. "Camp always seems to drag on when you're looking forward to something, and it's a good way to start it out with the Rangers.

Last season, the Flyers started on the road in the Canadian Northwest. They won the first, lost the second and then won the next five before settling into a pattern of inconsistency that stretched right down to the final games.

They got their legs solidly under them for a long playoff run and are now focused on a regular season they hope has fewer highs and lows.

"Nobody is saying that we're going to come flying out of the gates and reel off 10 straight wins like we're something special," Mike Knuble said.

"We know inconsistency was a big battle that we had last year as a group, and when we got consistent, we had a lot of success in the playoffs. This team, this year, there won't be a 10-game losing streak like we had last year. That would be way more unacceptable."

The Flyers won't have to wait long to see whether they will have a strong start. They play five games in 8 days - the Rangers, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Colorado and San Jose, all top-quality opponents.

"Any time the season rolls around, you're excited and anxious to get going," coach John Stevens said. "You could kind of see the level of intensity go up the last couple of days in practice, I think the guys are zoned in on [tonight]. They have preseason behind us and we're looking forward to getting started." *