Blues poised for tough fight to defend first Stanley Cup

LOS ANGELES - The St. Louis Blues will be looking for a Stanley Cup encore, while the Tampa Bay Lightning hopes to exorcise some playoff demons and the Toronto Maple Leafs seek to end a 52-year championship drought.

The NHL is set to raise the curtain on a new season as 31 teams have their sights set on winning the oldest trophy in professional sports - including the Blues, who capped a worst-to-first performance by delivering the first Stanley Cup in the franchise's 52-year history.

"It's the hunger that you want," said forward Alex Steen. "Before, you might not have really known what it's like to win, but you're really hungry to find out. Now that we've done it, it's addictive."