Game On Fools!!!!!!

From NHL.com:

82 reasons to rejoice in hockey's return:

1. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby taking the next step on his journey to greatness. Can he reach 147 points this season, which would mean he accomplished the same 27-point increase Wayne Gretzky had from his second season to his third?

2. Dallas’ Mike Modano breaking the all-time record for points by an American-born player. Modano has been a standard bearer for USA Hockey for so long that he is often taken for granted. This record will assure his legacy is properly recorded for future generations.

3. The Patrick Kane show kicking off in Chicago. Is he ready? Can he follow in Crosby’s footsteps? Can he be the next American icon? We start to find out this week.

4. Anaheim’s defense of the Stanley Cup. GM Brian Burke has already said that he will not stand for the slow start that has plagued so many recent teams that have played into June.
Things could get interesting quickly at the Duck Pond.

5. Speaking of Anaheim, the return of Scott Niedermayer. It looks bleaker by the day that the smooth-skating, soft-spoken defender will return, instead announcing the retirement he has been mulling all summer. If he leaves, it will be far too early and he will be missed.

6. The start of the Brent Sutter era in New Jersey. Have a team and a coach ever been more suited for each other? Sutter is the consummate disciplinarian, and the Devils seem to play best when the whip is being applied. Could this be the year that the aging Devils find a way to win a fourth Stanley Cup since 1995?

7. The Mike Keenan show in Calgary. “Iron Mike” is always good for a headline, an inflammatory quote or a bubbling sideshow. Hockey needs personality like that in the game. And Calgary, it seems, needs his autocratic ways.

8. The outdoor game in Buffalo on New Year’s Day. It sold out in mere minutes and features Crosby against goalie Ryan Miller of the Sabres. What better way to kick off a new year?

9. Speaking of winter, here’s to the World Junior Championships, perhaps the best international tournament of them all. Contested around the Christmas holidays, this year’s affair should be even better than last year’s thrilling show.

10. Young defenseman Jack Johnson playing a full season in Los Angeles. His five-game audition at the end of last season has certainly whetted the appetite.

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