Finally thawing out

Woohoo! It seems that this darn NHL lockout finally has an end in sight, as the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a deal (pending official ratification by both sides). I can't speak for other hockey fans, but I'll be back. Minor league and college hockey held me over somewhat this past year, but their exposure was limited, and team loyalty just wasn't there for me like it is for the Avs.

So what to expect? Well, I'm not sure exactly what rule changes will be made, but any (and I'm guessing they'll be more conservative) will be designed to open up offense. In any event, with the salary restructuring and free agent frenzy that is due to begin, each team will probably look radically different, including my beloved Avs.

The Avs main problem here is they have a bunch of money tied up in Joe Sakic and Rob Blake, need to sign a few key guys like Adam Foote, Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay, and David Aebischer, and still (hopefully) need to be able to afford Peter Forsberg. Their core group of superstars in Sakic, Blake, and Forsberg is aging, so a good draft is also a plus. They will have 1/48 chance of landing the 1st overall pick (the inevitable Crosby pick) while a few teams, Columbus, Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburg, will have the best chance at 1/16. We can always hope, can't we?

I'm excited.