Five former Clarkson University Hockey all-stars are on opening day rosters as the National Hockey League opens the 2011-12 campaign on Thursday night.

Erik Cole, who raised a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, begins his first season with Montreal, playing on the Canadiens’ top line tonight when they visit Toronto. In his 10th NHL season, Cole was an all-star forward at Clarkson for three seasons from 1997-2000.

Cole’s teammate at Clarkson, Willie Mitchell will be on the blueline when the Los Angeles Kings host the New York Rangers on Friday. In his second season with the Kings, Mitchell has been a steady defenseman in the NHL since the 1999-2000 campaign. He played two years for the Knights 1997-99, earning All-America honors as a sophomore.

An up-and-coming standout defenseman in the NHL, Grant Clitsome begins his third season with Columbus on Friday when the Blue Jackets host Nashville. Clitsome starred at Clarkson for four seasons 2004-08.

Kent Huskins starts his first campaign for the St. Louis Blues this season, after playing with Anaheim and San Jose the past five years. He played on Anaheim’s 2007 Stanley Cup-winning team. Huskins was a four-year leader of the Knights’ blueline from 1997-2001. St. Louis, which has Clarkson’s all-time leading scorer Dave Taylor ‘77 in the front office as Director of Player Personnel, will host Nashville on Saturday.

Randy Jones will be in the lineup with the NHL’s return to Winnipeg. After skating on defense with Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, Jones begins his ninth NHL season in the Jets first year back in the league. Winnipeg hosts Montreal on Sunday in its season opener. Jones played from 2001-2003 with the Golden Knights.

Chris Clark, who has played in the NHL since the 1999-2000 season, most recently with Columbus, participated in the Boston Bruins preseason camp, but was not offered a contract for the season. Clark, who starred at Clarkson from 1994-98, played in the Bruins final preseason game on Saturday and suffered a broken nose in a second-period fight.

A two-time All-American at Clarkson (1993-97) , Todd White has played in the NHL since 1997-98, most recently with the NY Rangers, but has not signed with a team this season.

Two former Clarkson standouts, Craig Conroy (1990-94) and Todd Marchant (1991-93) retired this past winter and summer, respectively, after lengthy careers in the NHL. Conroy played 1,009 games in his NHL career, and scored 542 points. Marchant skated in 1,195 NHL games and won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007.