Each year when the NHL is about to open up the season I get the same feeling inside, it's like I'm a little kid. I get all excited and locate my little good luck items. Like baseball fans who can't wait for that first hotdog of spring training, we hockey fans can't wait for that crisp air that signals the beginning of the new season.

The hard core hockey fans have been pouring over the summer's news and updates on personnel moves for their favorite team. Few fans if any will admit that their team has no shot in hell at a playoff birth. It's a new season....a new hope and anything can happen over the 82 game schedule.

Personally, I have spent less time thinking about the game during the off season over the last few years. Perhaps it's because I now have kids and I endure few nights with nothing to keep me occupied. One's priorities change when you have kids. Remember my list of the three most important things in life....Family, Health and Hockey. You may change the order if you wish but all three are an important part of my life.

The biggest change for me regarding opening night is the change that takes place here on Hockeybird. We have always been a site that does it's best work talking about games played. It's fun for me to write about what I have seen. I get little satisfaction discussing lines or trades two months before camp. During the season we look forward to the Rocha report card and the Rodent's chalk board diagrams dissecting a play. I enjoy dissecting the coach's moves and complaining about the refs. Most of all I live for the drop of the puck. All the talk, all the websites or newspapers are great....but it's the games I live for.

It's been a few years since I laced up the skates for a game but I can still get that feeling. That feeling is enhanced for opening night. I can almost smell the ice. I even get a little nervous....as if I was playing. It's a great feeling. Some of us will prepare special meals....fill the fridge with special beer (or other adult beverage of choice) while others make plans to attend the game in person. This can mean selecting special clothing and meeting friends before or after the game. No matter how you go about enjoying opening night the one constant is that you do enjoy it.

As a player, you have already been on skates for weeks now and even played a few games. However, on opening night it's for real. The quest for the Cup begins....and make no mistake, each player wants desperately to win a Cup. The adrenaline flow is greatly increased when the game counts. You want to perform well and help your team win......and you want to please the fans but it's a Cup that you really want and you are about to embark on a long trip to try and get there.....the Stanley Cup Finals. It's hard, long and it will at some point hurt. But you wouldn't have it any other way.

Yeppers......opening night in the NHL is indeed a declared "Holy Night" at my house and I'm sure yours as well. In what will become our 10th anniversary in January, this will be a fun season at Hockeybird and I'm sure glad you've decided to join us. You can expect a few "Free Stuff" deals and anything else I can think of to help make this a season to remember.

Oops....gotta go. I need to fill the fridge with Hockeybird Stout.

Beer me.

----}- Bird

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