Yay!!!!! Hockey's back! As you can guess, I am giddy to see the boys back on the ice. And let that serve as a warning that this game wrap runs a bit long as I took notes while I was watching this parade to the penalty box in Ottawa. The good news is that the Rangers' pk was solid, even if the team went on to lose 3-2.

But before I get to the game, I want to wish John Dellapina the best of luck. Dellapina is leaving the Daily News to join Bettman's staff at the league as the Director of Media Relations. His writing has always been exceptional and I, for one, will miss reading his work. Now onto my work:

*For all of the initial joy to see the initial opening animation to the game, seeing Joe Micheletti back when they first came on camera bummed me out. If you missed the broadcast, don't worry, Joe is still the same annoying, obnoxious dolt who has no idea on how to properly do colour commentary. And they came out of the first break with technical difficulties, what a way to start a season. They also lost a minute or two of the third period but luckily didn't miss much action.

*I find it remarkable that these professional athletes get tired after a 30 second shift. The Rangers took a bad penalty, got pinned in their own zone and stood around as the Sens scored a gimme goal by Ferrari fanatic Dany Heatley to go up 1-0. It was the same laziness that hurt the Rangers during Game 3 against the Pens last season, but at least then there was some understanding because it was late in a game in April. This is the first game after training camp. I just don't get it; these guys play scrimmages for hours and stop skating after 30 seconds in a game.

*We got out first peak at Mike "Pie F-er" Del Zotto in this one and I can't say I was impressed. He panicked and threw the puck out of the zone on his first shift, and took a silly penalty his second. He settled down later on but certainly is a year or three away from the NHL.

*Michal Roszival returned from surgery and looked to be in the same defensively-lacking form he was in before going under the knife. His ridiculous giveaway at the point on the power play gave Jason Spezza a breakaway and you just can't give Spezza a breakaway. 2-0 Sens.

*As they say, it's preseason for the officials, too. This game was a throwback to the games right after the lockout where they called most EVERYTHING. Nineteen power plays. 19! Painful!

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