It's been a while.
So the owners called the players bluff and the 04-05 season was cancelled. Finally, after much back and forth, they found an agreement that suited all parties...well perhaps the owners more than the players but some middle ground was found. None of that matters now that hockey is back, though.
There are changes on the ice with rule changes aimed at creating more open ice and allowing the skillful players do what they do best. Two-line passes are legal and there will be, effectively, no red line in regards to offsides. Goalies have to make do with equipment around 10% smaller than before and the area that they can play the puck in is also reduced. The most interesting change, in my eyes, is the 'zero tolerance' on interference, hooking and holding. Officials have tried to enforce this in the past but after the first 10 or 12 games it's been put in the too hard basket.
There's some deeper issues to look at too. Can a sport that locked out its fans hope to attract them back? Perhaps in Canada where hockeys heart and soul is, but in the US it could be a different story where hockey was already last in the 'Big 4' sports. Time will tell.
Alot of the players turned to Europe to play during the lockout in 04-05 but they're all back. Not necessarily with the 03-04 teams though and, as expected, the trading period was furious.
I'm biased, but one of the biggest moves for me was Forsberg moving from the Avs to the Flyers.
Sidney Crosby, the most promising prospect for years, was snaffled by Pittsburgh from the draft and will play alongside one of the legends of the game in Mario Lemieux. There's been too many trades to mention (Hasek to Ottawa, Khabibulin to Chicago etc) and it will take a while to get used to all the names in all the new colours.
For those of you with NASN, they are leading with 2 games tonight.
First up at 12.30am, Crosby and Lemieux lead out Pittsburgh against New Jersey followed by Wayne Gretzky making his debut behind the bench for Phoenix against Vancouver. I'm not getting any sleep tonight.
I wouldn't be so silly to predict a Stanley Cup Champion in the opening post but...let's go Flyers.