Of course, this is for those who care. If you’re going to crack along the lines of “the NHL was gone” or “what’s an NHL,” the jokes have been done before. [irish cop]Please move along. Nothing to see here[/irish cop] 
Linkety link link
YEEEEEEEEHAW!!!
At last hockey is back. Now we get to see what happens to the rest of the league, which agents will be freed, who gets top pick in the draft, etc. I am a happy happy happy happy happy happy person right now.
I’m quite happy with this. I’m kind of dreading having to watch the Leafs get torn apart under this new salary cap.
Oh well, at least hockey’s back. Now I’ve got something to do on Saturday nights.
Fuckin’ finally!!!
Still… they’re gonna have to come crawling back, begging for my forgiveness.
I’ll start holding my breath now.
I can’t wait to see what the Bruins will look like when the season starts, given that as of this moment they have four players under contract and virtually all of the salary cap to use.
Hockey! 
mmm cheap tickets
Don’t sweat it. Most teams are probably going to have issues solving the cap at first.
What are the rules changes of which they speak, and how will the league improve its tv revenues, given that ESPN’s ratings went up in hockey’s absence? Should the NHL adopt Olympic rules? Is it going to contract any teams? Isn’t Blue Jackets a stupid name for a team, or is it no more stupid than Maple Leafs?
Sorry, don’t mind me. I’m glad hockey will be back. I’m just thinking out loud.
Yeah, I understand that. Personally, I’m going to find it difficult to watch the Red Wings, Avalanche, Stars, Leafs get completely dismantled to fit under the cap. The only exception to this being the Flyers. I hate the Flyers so much. From Snider to Clarke to Hitchcock to Roenick. I hate that whole organization.
The players the six Canadian teams have under contract for next year. Link
I’m trying to find a similiar link for all 30 teams.
I’m oddly ambivalent about this, though I’m sure I’ll get more excited once the games start. It’s good news, by any measure.
Oh, yeah, and the Flyers rule! The Sharks rule, too! Well, maybe the Sharks serve as viceroy…
I hate Roenick as well - pompous ass. My father is pretty good friends with Snider and says he is a good guy. Clarke, away from hockey is a nice guy as well, but sometimes his competitive nature gets the better of him.
But how on earth can you dislike Hitchcock? He is affable and friendly, he always has a good story to tell and he is a winner. He’ll be helping Canada win another Olympic gold in Italy.
Thank God…having to deal with Basketball as the only major sport between the Super Bowl and the first pitch of MLB was torture this year. It will nice to see the pucks flying again this year! (While I love football, and I enjoy baseball…hockey is my favorite sport…basketball is fun to play, but I HATE watching it)
Yeah, but the bruins would have to spend money. Good luck with that.
I am really excited to see what happens with free agency. The market could be huge. I’m just wondering what players will do with it. Will they take less money to go to still established teams (Colorado, Toronto, Detroit, Dallas) or will they jump to whoever has the cash. It’s gonna be real interesting.
I’m not too worried about Detroit. They’ll likely cut some players to get some cap room (Hatcher, Cujo, and Whitney). Chelios likely won’t be back, or be back on the cheap. I can’t see them cutting Shanahan. He’s still a great power winger with a hell of a shot and a locker room leader. They’ll likely keep Lang too. The restricteds (Datsyuk, Fischer, Zetterberg, etc.) will get resigned.
I just hope Yzerman goes for one last season.
Foxsports has an excellent article on this. I’ll see if I can find it later tonight.
I got yer link right here bub.
Read this post and as an added bonus you can see the thirteen rule changes being considered by the NHL.
bub?
Thanks for link. It’ll be some good reading for work tomorrow.
I had forgotten that Lang was on the Red Wings or that Langkow had signed with the Flames. So much catching up to do…
Three on three in a second overtime? The fire-wagon hockey lover in me is salivating but it seems a little gimmicky.
But, so as not to be a wet blanket:
Thank Og Hockey’s Back!!!
Well, I am happy, but I am much less enthused thatn before the work stoppage. I have gone from a season ticket holder to a couple of games a year kinda guy. It’s not because I am angry or vindictive, just that the year off has shifted my priorities.
They still have their heads up their asses concerning how hockey needs to be changed on the ice, but at least it’s back.
It’s depressing, however, to think about how pointless this was. There was never any chance the players would get a better deal, and everyone knew it, and they still refused to see reason for ten months.
I’m extremely happy. My only lament is for players that were close to retirement that will now probably do so. For selfish reasons, my examples would be Al MacInnis, Eric Weinrich, Dallas Drake, and Scott Mellanby.
Finally, something I can watch with interest besides Golf.
I’m all So-Cal (Kings and Ducks)…and let me be the first to say that all the other teams suck!
Oh, yeah. The Bloomberg Article that I had on the other thread. Looks like the boys came back crawling.