Gearing Up Again

That Sound You Hear? » Dream Big by Ryan Shupe & The RubberBand
Days Until 2005 NHL Entry Draft » 9
Big News » Yesterday, wannabe terrorists with brains smaller than pecans tried to set off more bombs in London's transit system. And when I say "tried," I mean attempted and failed. Seriously, how addled do you have to be to build a bomb that doesn't explode?

Now, today's story...

With the NHL Players' Association having completed the formality of ratifying the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it's finally starting to feel like hockey is really coming back.

It feels like it's been forever. The only reason I can remember the date of the last hockey game I went to is that my team was trapsing around with the Stanley Cup at the end of it. (FYI: It was Monday, June 7, 2004.)

But now the players have agreed on the CBA and hockey can get back to normal. Of course it won't exactly be "normal." From everything I've read the CBA involves a lot of rule changes, not the least of which is the very real possibility that there may never be another tie game again due to the insertion of shootouts into even games.

There's that and a bunch more. I understand the league will be announcing some/most/all of those changes tomorrow afternoon during the Draft Lottery. Speaking of which, more evidence that we're getting back on track. Since ESPN is throwing a hissy over last year's NHL work stoppage they won't be airing the event. That said, NHL.com will be streaming it live (notice the carefully placed links in those last two sentences).

I'll be watching it for sure. And as soon as it is over, I'll be writing up my first official blog post. I call it "official" because if you go there now, there's already one post. It's a short write-up about the point of the site and, well, an explanation of the title. You'll see what I mean.

Anyway, it looks like it's really gonna happen. It's pretty exciting knowing that within the next three months I'll get to see the Lightning raise their first Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters. (Yes, I said "first.")

It all starts tomorrow. In my head, the Draft Lottery will be the official end of that horrible lockout and the official beginning of the "new" NHL and the 2005-06 season.

Next Saturday is the draft. It is also (if you're that interested in my life) the day of my USPS typing exam. Yeah, that job I've been trying to get for months now. Turns out the post office is just as slow as you think they are. Maybe slower.

Yet I digress. The point is as soon as the draft is over, I imagine players are going to be changing teams like mad. With a year of no hockey, contracts all over the league have been screwed up and there will be a ton of free agents. But I have no doubt the Lightning will get their top Stanley Cup performers back.

Then when September rolls around, it'll be training camp time. I can't wait.

RinkWorks SKL: That is the title of my new hockey blog to be launched tomorrow (though technically it's available for your reading pleasure at this very moment). RinkWorks SKL. I explain it in the first post. So go read it.