Praise the Lord and pass the pucks

I know some of you, and I'm not going to name names but one of you is rialtus, don't care that the NHL is back in business. Obviously I care quite a bit, and the interesting thing is that while everyone expects that fans may have found something else to do during the lockout, this actually increased my passion for hockey. Maybe it's because the Lightning were so terrible up until three years ago and now they're defending the Stanley Cup, or maybe I just took the games for granted, or maybe it's because minor-league games were so unsatisfying. Regardless, it will be nice to have the game back. My own fan experience isn't going to change much because I couldn't afford season tickets to begin with, the Lightning weren't on national TV much anyway, and the Stars will still have almost every game televised.

Amusing sidenote: Cristina found this story about the league's puck-making company recalling all its workers. It reminded her of that Simpsons episode with the power plant strike, and after the electricity is turned back on, the machine at Fake Vomit Inc. starts spitting out globs of puke again while the workers cheer.

If you'd like to see how your favorite team looks going into the wild free-agency period, click here for more reading. A lot of the Daddy Warbucks teams of the past, including Dallas, are in trouble.