i listened to the first 2 periods and watched the 3rd today and I gotta tell y’all: it totally fucking rocked to be watching hockey again!
Plus we won 6-2, so there’s that. 
I went to practice today. Quite a few guys forgot ice is slippery.
But I get to got to preseason Wednesday.
Nope!
That may in fact be a good thing. One of the big reasons why we had the last two lockouts was that the league had tremendous leverage over the players. That leverage is significantly reduced if the owners have to go in the hole to pay big bonuses without a full season’s revenue to pay for it.
It begins here in Detroit. Once again I find myself in Hockeytown Cafe with a nice Two Hearted ale, waiting to walk over to LCA.
I envy you, I considered looking into the preseason opener a while ago, but totally slipped my mind. 
Stars and Wild are just about to begin on FSSW. Preseason is a good chance to see some players that might not be there early (or at all) in the regular season. Looking forward to seeing Bow in goal, having seen him here in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars last season. And really, just hearing that sound of puck on ice is exhilirating.
Looking at the team for 25 minutes into preseason, I am sold on the Wings 
Good mix of energy, skill, speed, and hands. I’m thinking this year looks pretty good for starting another playoff streak.
All of the Knights pre-season games are being televised over-the-air!
So far, I really like the way that the Knights are rotating on both offense and defense. There’s a lot of movement but slots are never left unguarded.
And tonight I was really impressed with Garrett Sparks. I suspect that Mr. Subban may not be secure in that #2 spot come mid-December.
Yeah, and tonight was a pretty good game for the Stars. Even though the guys who are supposed to be in the lineup were the only ones to score, the young folks didn’t look completely lost out there (but yeah, a little lost). Both goalies were good, if we hang on to those guys and they develop I have high hopes for our future in net.
You bastards! We had to put up with Minnesota’s feed with a Dallas overlay…and I was happy to get it.
The current word is that Byfugliens’ leave of absence from the Jets is because he is seriously considering retirement.
I always hated seeing him in the opposing lineup but there is no denying his talent. I hope he doesn’t take too much flak if he does retire.
Woot! Nothing like coming from down 0-2 to win in OT on the road!
I know it’s just preseason, but 4-0 feels pretty good.
Wings have fallen short so far, but they’ve pretty much focused on playing the “kids.” first game the only 3 veterans dressed were Glendening, Bowey, and Howard. Athanasiou played Friday and showed he’s as fast and tricky as ever. Be interesting to see if Zadina makes the cut this year (not thinking he will.)
I have a request for our NHL threads; this mostly goes out to dalej42 and Leaffan, since the three of us start the majority of the hockey season’s threads.
Can we please title them with the season number? Like “NHL 103 - October 2019”? I plan on putting the season # in there if I start a monthly thread; I think it would be great if we had a uniform nomenclature.
When Las Vegas wins the Stanley Cup next year, I’m gonna email the author of this piece about the best 50 players in the NHL for the S103 and laugh at how he has only one Knight in the list and how he’s placed him at #45.
Tonight I saw my second preseason game(on TV) and I am honestly excited. They just look like they have talent and a spark, which they haven’t in 3 years. I can’t wait for the reg season.
Indeed. Conversely (and as I figured) the Canes, who have only one player in that list (Sebastian Aho, #28), made it to the Eastern Conference Final last year, showing that a team sure doesn’t need superstars to go deep in the play-offs. By the second round, with eight teams still left, there were only two players who were in the top 15 in scoring.
Still hasn’t sunk in for me that the Flyers, for the first time, in decades upon decades, have a truly solid starting goalie with Carter Hart. And he’s only 21.
In Vancouver, JT Miller better perform - a first round draft pick was given up for him, which I don’t feel all too reassured about. Stoked about rookie of the year Elias Pettersson’s return, but even more amped up about a very strong potential Calder winner in the form of Quinn Hughes, a 19-year-old defenseman with absolutely amazing hands and vision - a joy to watch the creative dekes he pulls as he carries the puck through the neutral zone, just like Elias (who btw looks like he could still use, oh, about another 120 pounds).
Man, I’m hoping Givani Smith plays as a Wing this season. He really reminds me a lot of Darren McCarty; a power forward who can be an enforcer when needed. Definitely brings that “you mess with my teammates, you answer to me” vibe that the league has (sadly) been trying to eliminate.