Life Is Worth Living

That Sound You Hear? » Hand Of Fate by Sons Of The Desert
Days Until 2005 NHL Entry Draft » 16
Big News » Now nobody is sure just when the shuttle will go up. Wait, that's not news. Damn.

Now, today's story...

It has been killing me that it's taken so long to get to writing about the day of glory that was Wednesday. It's the return of hockey, after 10 long months, during which I was sure I'd die.

Obviously I didn't, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

So, while it's not yet official, the NHL is coming back. Next Thursday the draft lottery will be held. Everybody has a pretty even chance this year since nobody won the Stanley Cup in 2005. But the likelihood of the Lightning getting in the Top 10 is very poor. The 2005 NHL Entry Draft itself will be held on July 30.

I can feel it now. Hockey is coming back.

If Tampa GM Jay Feaster thought building a Cup winner was a challenge, how about keeping one together in the new NHL? The word is ownership wants to keep the finances toward the middle of the cap range, but Feaster remains hopeful he can return the big pieces, Vincent Lecavalier, league MVP Martin St. Louis and defensive star Dan Boyle. Netminder Nikolai Khabibulin seems to have found a home in Tampa. Although he's an unrestricted free agent, he is likely to sign for less to stay with the Bolts. Opponents hoping Tampa Bay is flash in the pan are in for a disappointment. Look for this team to emerge from the lockout darkness pretty much in tact and ready for a solid championship defense. Even creaky, ageless Dave Andreychuk could return for the Cup defense at age 42.

That's how ESPN feels about the Lightning in the upcoming season. I feel the same.

This is pretty exciting. I've been a Lightning fan for 13 years now (that's as long as they've been around) and seeing them win the Stanley Cup (a feat I never imagined I'd see in my lifetime) only to have the NHL go on hiatus right afterwards, you can imagine my paranoia: Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup actually killed hockey.

But we all know that's not true. And like the smart folks at ESPN said, we're not going anywhere. They've spent years creating a team that could compete, a team that won the Cup, no less. Even if we lose a few guys here and there, the sense of who this team is will still be intact.

I heard a sports reporter on TV joke about how the NHL might have trouble getting fans to come back after a fiasco like this that caused the cancellation of an entire season. She said that it's like Tampa Bay will have very little trouble putting asses in seats considering the last time those guys were on the ice they were carrying around a big silver trophy with some pretty impressive names engraved on it.

I'm with her.

So there it is, life is once again worth living. If for no other reason than the return of hockey. I wanted to insert "triumphant" but that remains to be seen. Needless to say, I'll be there on opening night at the Ice Palace (screw the "Forum") when the Bolts raise their first (of what will be many) championship banners.

The Puck Drops: I'm still thinking up a name for my new hockey blog. But rest assured I'll have it by July 21 for that is the day of the first official NHL event of the 2005 season. The draft lottery will be held and I will be right there on the new blog to report on it (in my own special way).