Preview: The Bruins kick off the season at home against Nashville

Just the facts

When: Thursday, 7 PM

Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, 100.7 WZLX (The Patriots are on The Sports Hub)

Rival SBN site: On the Forecheck

Who to watch

• PK Subban, duh. The former Canadien was a smash hit in Nashville last season. He’ll still get booed, but that’s because Bruins fans are bitter. Subban is great.
• Pekka Rinne seems to go from elite to ECHL on a regular basis. He was great in the playoffs, then he was bad, then OK. Can he put it all together?
• Viktor Arvidsson burst onto the scene last season, scoring 31 regular season goals and adding four more in the playoffs. He’s a guy who will be looking to avoid a slump, and is a fun player to watch.

Game notes

• No word yet on whether or not Patrice Bergeron or David Backes, who both missed practice on Wednesday, will play. If either is out, expect some weird lineup shuffling: Noel Acciari could end up higher than he should be, or Tim Schaller could center some skill guys. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
• Bruce Cassidy will have to make his first defense choices of the regular season. Will Paul Postma be in, or will Matt Grzelcyk get the call?
• Let’s watch the KIDS! Hopefully both Jake DeBrusk and Anders Bjork are in the lineup, and we can watch them each score 203 goals. Amen.
• Judd Sirott will make his regular season debut as the Bruins play-by-play guy. He has big shoes to fill, but did a good job in the preseason.

Never forget

Poor Mike Fisher.