The NHL season is essentially right around the corner and I am already excited for what is in store. This year has several unique aspects to it even 3 weeks before it begins.
1) NBA Lockout
Right now the NBA is in a pretty serious lockout and no deal has been made yet between the players and the owners. Now many people are still hoping that the league will at LEAST have an abridged season. Even then, however, this will lead to a long period where no basketball is being played. Now, we hockey fans know how crippling a players' lockout can be. And I'm not hoping that the NBA loses fans or suffer a big blow this year but all I'm saying is it's tough to come back from a lockout season. As PuckDaddy Greg Wyshynski put it:
But what I'm hoping is that the NHL at least wins over SOME fans. Hopefully the curious and bored basketball fans, during the period of the NBA lockout, will start following hockey. A city like New York, for example, might get some Knicks fans to start watching a few Rangers or Islanders games. The Los Angeles Kings and other California teams might get some new followers as well. The NHL has a unique opportunity to win over some fans at the beginning of this season (as mentioned in this article).
So I'm a Devils fan and I think it would be nice if we can fill up more seats for games. I'm sure that every team will at least gain something from this year.
2) Winnipeg Jets Return
Hockey was bourn in Canada. Hockey is most popular in Canada. Wouldn't it make sense to have more NHL teams in Canada?
This is the message someone should get to Gary Bettman as hungry cities in Canada just want an NHL team again. This past season on April 11, the Devils took on the Boston Bruins. This game was PACKED with Nordique Nation fanatics. I mean PACKED. Go to google images and type in "Nordique Nation at the Prudential Center" and you'll get hundreds of pictures like these:
They didn't travel all the way to New Jersey to make a bad impression on the Devils, a team that doesn't have such a great attendance. They were just there to show that THEY have the proper following to support a team. So they promised that they will cheer on the Devils. And they did.
So clearly people in Canada are hungry for more hockey.
That's why I'm excited for the people in Winnipeg who got their team back. The night of the announcement, Winnipeg was filled with crazed hockey fans in the streets celebrating. There's no telling how excited the fans will be once they start actually playing.
So hopefully Bettman will realize that Canada needs more hockey and maybe we'll see another team in Quebec shortly.
3) Bad Teams Getting Good
There are several reputably bad teams that may be the league leaders very soon. Teams that went out and got talent over the offseason or teams that are stacked with young talent. These teams will be freaking awesome to watch this year and for years to come.
For example, let's look at a team like the Panthers. They probably are the team that changed the most this offseason. They acquired good talent offensively in Tomas Kopecky, Kris Versteeg, Scottie Upshall, and Sean Bergenheim. All of these players (amongst other acquisitions, namely Matt Bradly, Tomas Fleischmann, and Marcel Goc) add more scoring power to the Panthers who were 28th in the league last year in scoring. This is in addition to Stephen Weiss and youngster Evgeny Dadonov who already were on the team.
They also added great veteran defenseman like Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski. This will add veteran-ship to the young, unexperienced defensive core.
Their goaltending is a bit of a question with the favourite probably being my boy Scott Clemmensen. He's been shaky at times for Florida, however, so they went out and signed veteran netminder Jose' Theodore. Theodore, at this point in his career, is a very reliable backup and could take over if Clemmer has any problems.
Overall this is a great team to watch next year. The Panthers, the Islanders, the Maple Leafs, and even the Oilers are amongst teams that should be followed carefully this year. These teams are young, talented, and scrappy and each one can go far.
4) New Superstars
As mentioned before (with the help of PuckDaddy), Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were fundamental pieces in the NHL's comeback after the lockout. They were players that were exciting for the fans to watch no matter where you lived and no matter what team you followed. The stadium would seemingly stir any time Crosby or Ovechkin touched the puck, similarly to how they used to do that with Guy Lafleur in the old Forum in Montreal.
Now there are new exciting NHL stars, not necessarily replacing Ovechkin and Crosby, but in addition to them. Last year, the top 5 scorers in the NHL weren't Ovechkin and Crosby. They were Steven Stamkos, both Sedin brothers, Martin St. Louis, and Corey Perry. Every one of those players are superstars. And the list doesn't stop there. There are still PLENTY of more bona fide super stars in the league. Gaborik, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk, Kesler, Kopitar, Nash, Subban, Malkin, Chara, Richards, Briere, Stall, Parise, Byfuglien, Spezza, Marleau, Heatley, Zetterberg, Weber, Doan, Bissonnette, Thornton, Lebron, Kane, Toews, Iginla, Langkow, Stastny, and Omark to name a few. And I'm sure I still missed out on many.
So ya. Hockey's awesome.
