Tavares Debut Most Anticipated Game of 09-10

Every so often, I go on various websites and see these fan polls and think nothing of them. But today I happened to venture over to NHL.com and noticed their latest fan poll. The topic? "Which game of the 2009-10 season are you most anticipating?"

It's a tight race, but right now John Tavares' debut is leading the pack with 24.11% of all votes. That just barely eclipses the 2010 Winter Classic, which has 23.93% of all votes.

The current results are as followed:

John Tavares debut: 24.11%
Winter Classic: 23.93%
Pittsburgh-Detroit rematch: 21.77%
Teemu Selanne's last game: 12.09%
Marian Hossa's return to Detroit: 11.6%
Victor Hedman's debut: 6.5%

As I had said before, the addition of John Tavares gives the Islanders tremendous marketability legs. When was the last time you've heard of fans anticipating an Islanders game?

You'll probably have to go back a long time for that.

John Tavares jerseys are already being sold on NHL.com, and his press conference introducing him to the media and fans hasn't even happened yet.

Not only are the fans and NHL aware of John Tavares, but now, they're finally aware of the Islanders.