We've finally reached Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.
Thank God.
It can be said that hockey fans are more passionate about their favorite sport than anybody else. And as wonderful as baseball can be, everyone's probably a little sick of hearing about the third-place Yankees. Just the same, we've all heard a little too much about Brett Favre this month. Time to move on.
Thankfully, the NHL season isn't all that far away. Well, okay, maybe it is. But training camp isn't far off at all. The Rangers open up their training camp on September 16th, just over two weeks away. The Islanders... well, we don't know when they're going to start their training camp. Their website doesn't say. Because, you know, nobody would want to know when their team opens training camp or anything. Their first pre-season game is September 23rd, so take that as you will.
With every preseason game for both teams airing on TV this year, it'll be easier than ever to catch hockey fever early. It'll also be a good opportunity to see what each team has in store for us. Ranger fans are dreaming about a Cup run, and with good reason. Islander fans are thinking first overall draft pick, and with good reason. At this point, it doesn't really matter how our teams do. We just want our game back.
You can only watch so much NHL Network over the summer. How many first-round games from 2007 can one take? It's almost time for the real sports season to begin, and I could not be more excited.
The Islanders might be a seriously awful team this year. You know what? I don't care. I just want to see them play some games. I want to draft a fantasy hockey team and be utterly disgusted with it immediately afterward. I want to see who's going to get off to a hot start, who's going to get hurt early, and which coach is the first to be canned. And now that September is here, it all seems like it's so much closer than it was just days ago.
Which is a great thing. If I have to hear one more outlandish quote from Hank Steinbrenner, I might kill somebody. As Zach said, bring on the winter. Bring on the NHL.
Thank God.
It can be said that hockey fans are more passionate about their favorite sport than anybody else. And as wonderful as baseball can be, everyone's probably a little sick of hearing about the third-place Yankees. Just the same, we've all heard a little too much about Brett Favre this month. Time to move on.
Thankfully, the NHL season isn't all that far away. Well, okay, maybe it is. But training camp isn't far off at all. The Rangers open up their training camp on September 16th, just over two weeks away. The Islanders... well, we don't know when they're going to start their training camp. Their website doesn't say. Because, you know, nobody would want to know when their team opens training camp or anything. Their first pre-season game is September 23rd, so take that as you will.
With every preseason game for both teams airing on TV this year, it'll be easier than ever to catch hockey fever early. It'll also be a good opportunity to see what each team has in store for us. Ranger fans are dreaming about a Cup run, and with good reason. Islander fans are thinking first overall draft pick, and with good reason. At this point, it doesn't really matter how our teams do. We just want our game back.
You can only watch so much NHL Network over the summer. How many first-round games from 2007 can one take? It's almost time for the real sports season to begin, and I could not be more excited.
The Islanders might be a seriously awful team this year. You know what? I don't care. I just want to see them play some games. I want to draft a fantasy hockey team and be utterly disgusted with it immediately afterward. I want to see who's going to get off to a hot start, who's going to get hurt early, and which coach is the first to be canned. And now that September is here, it all seems like it's so much closer than it was just days ago.
Which is a great thing. If I have to hear one more outlandish quote from Hank Steinbrenner, I might kill somebody. As Zach said, bring on the winter. Bring on the NHL.
The Islanders will definitely not be that bad of a team this year. They'll lose the Atlantic, no question about that. But if DP can somehow stay healthy all year, the Isles won't be worst in the east. You may be forgetting just how terrible the Southeast is. The Isles always play pretty well against our division. I think we'll finish 12th or 13th in the East, but will be in the playoff hunt (relatively) for most of the season...
ReplyDeleteI see the Isles staying afloat for much of the season (as in, around 7th-10th), only to crap out as they unload all their UFAs at the deadline. That's when they'll sink to lottery status. Quite frankly, the best possible scenario for the Islanders is to stay competitive for the early part of the season and then fall apart. This way, the young guys learn AND they still get a shot at Tavares.
ReplyDelete