Frozen soul, frozen down to the core

As two of the wisest men ever to grace the silver screen once said: "GAME ON!"

I'm just now coming off a hockey-induced brain overload, and damn damn DAMN am I a happy Stew once again. Right now, I'm so stoked, I don't even mind the idiotic return of shootouts.

Case in point - if you missed the Stars opener against the Kings, you missed a special night of hockey. After going down 4-0 in the first period, it looked like the start of a lizzong year on the ice for Mr. Di & company... but as Sergei Zubov put it "[It's the] New NHL, man. Special teams are... special." You said it, Z.
The Stars came back to win 5-4, with Zubov scoring twice. Jason Arnott had a four-point game as well, adding a goal and three assists... and it's just the first game.

Obviously, this year's incarnation of the game has been opened way the hell up. We should be seeing a metric fuckton of scoring once teams get used to the new rules. To be honest, I'd say that defenses have been cut back too much, but then I enjoy watching a play develop and spend half the game watching defensemen do their magic. But I digress, before I geek the fuck out over here, and run both you readers off.

Anyway, with the new salary cap, marquee players and their expensive salaries have scattered to the corners of the earth like a hand of 52-pickup. It'll take time to figure out who's good and who's crap... except in Detroit. Those fuckers must be sacrificing virgins on an altar or something, because they pasted St. Louis two nights in a row. Fear not, you octopus-throwing bastards, you'll make the playoffs.

About the only thing I really feel like complaining about today is that I'm concerned that with the Gretz coaching in Phoenix, that Brett Hull won't get enough time with reporters to say as much crazy-assed shit as fans are used to hearing.
I'll have plenty of time this season for more in-depth bitching. Right now, I'm enjoying this time hockey and I have together. These are the salad days, before it all goes horribly wrong, like a Frasier episode. There's plenty of time left for slashing hockey's tires and sleeping with all it's friends... let's just enjoy today.

Game On, you guys. Game On.