Who You Got?

The NHL Regular Season is back. Everyone’s optimism of becoming the next Stanley Cup champion is still high, well, maybe not Sabre and Senator fans. For literally the rest of the league, almost anyone can find themselves holding onto glory at the end of the season. Can Tampa three-peat? Will the Leafs finally break through? Will the Redwings have a Cinderella run? No one knows, and the best thing about the NHL, it is so unpredictable.

Over the summer we saw a shuffling of the decks. Many teams saw staple players leave through free agency or trades. Those same teams also saw new big names as well as outstanding prospects, and players looking to keep their NHL dreams alive vying for roster positions under a new banner. Not everything is about the boys though.

Girls and Women’s hockey is one of the worlds fastest growing sports segments. Now more than ever, you are seeing massive turnouts for girls’ hockey tournaments. Their idols have been fighting incredibly hard to create an equitable league of their own (no pun intended). The former National Women’s Hockey League, or NWHL, is now the Premier Hockey Federation. The original 4 members from the NWHL have been joined by teams from Minneapolis and Toronto.

We are also seeing the return of NHL player competing in the Olympics. Canada looks to remain the world powerhouse while professionals are allowed to compete, and other frontrunners like the USA, Russia, Sweden, and Finland all duke it out for hardware as well. Upcoming countries like Germany and the Swiss may try and play spoiler to the big names as it will certainly be difficult just to get out of the opening rounds.

At the top levels of the sport, we may be in for one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory.