The 2014-2015 hockey season is officially underway.

The first game of the season featured the reigning Stanley cup champions, Los Angeles Kings versus the San Jose Sharks.

Wednesday, October 18th marked the beginning of the National Hockey League (NHL) season with eight teams starting their season. The most watched team, the Kings returned most of their players and are expected to win the challenging West division.

Other teams expected to challenge the Kings in the western conference are the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild are fresh off winning their first round series against the Colorado Avalanche.

It was back and forth series in which the Wild won in 7 out of the 8 games.

The Wild then played the Chicago Blackhawks who are the defending Stanley Cup champs.

It was a close series but the Blackhawks won in 6.

The Wild showed that they can play with anyone in the NHL and are anticipated to do well this season. Many experts predict them to challenge for the Stanley Cup this season.

With additions like former Minnesota Golden Gopher star and NHL sniper Thomas Vanek, the Wild put themselves in a good position for the Stanley Cup.

When the Wild played the Avalanche in the beginning of the season, the Wild outscored the Avalanche 8 to 0 in two games.

The Wild then took a trip out west where the Wild met the high flying Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks would come back and beat the Wild on a score of 2 to 1.

The Wild played the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday October 19.

The Wild outshot the Kings 41 to 16 but lost 2 to 1.

The Wild play next at the Xcel Center versus the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, October 23.