For Hockey Fans, Christmas Coming Soon

The days of summer wane as the harvest moon nears and the Northern Ontario night air begins to nip at noses, hockey will soon be here!

It's been a long time for any hockey fan trudging through this over-extended baseball season and real lack of anything substantial in the NHL to bite into.

Yeah, if you're into the Ilya Kovalchuk saga it has been of partial interest, but still, meh!

Waiting on Tomas Kaberle to be traded seems like a never ending wall of paint drying and with the salary cap as it is the Chicago Blackhawks are a shadow of their former selves (though they still have quite a core group of guys).

Donald Fehr becoming the PA's main guy might be the most interesting occurrence, truly. Round one Gary Bettman vs Fehr should be fun as neither seem to ever lose when they take a stand, fourth of July here we come!

But the games will begin soon!

The power has shifted from the dominant Western Conference to the East, at least in my humble opinion.

Teams like the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightening are going to compete with the powerhouse teams of East, Washington and Pittsburgh, might wanna add Philly in there after their great run to the finals last year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have their fans excited again with a bunch of new faces and youth that have been acquired or added throughout last season and the offseason.

Look for the Leafs to play a low-scoring tight checking style of hockey, and if you're a betting man, look for the under to be prominent with the Buds.

The Western Conference should be exciting as there are a bunch of upcoming teams with youth on their side, Colorado, Los Angles, and perhaps the Columbus Blue Jackets may make some noise. The perennial playoff teams: Detroit, San Jose, and Vancouver will have their work cut out for them.

The preseason is less than a month away and I am getting pumped as I'm sure all you PuckHeads out there are as well.

Looking forward to something real to write about!

Catch ya all soon!

All the best!