Hockey's back...

Well, the NHL managed to make it back... and people seem excited... and early signs are that they didn't lose that many fans in the majority of the markets due to the NFL-like restrictions, making all teams pretty competitive. Heck, I've even entered a head-to-head keeper hockey pool for the first time this year.

I think they're really going to have to market the game based on the teams, because I would be surprised if any casual to semi-serious fan would even know a quarter of the players playing out there. So many unknown names... let's take a look at the NHL scoring race as at October 9th...

- Marc Savard - 8 points
- Peter Bondra - 6 points
- Jason Arnott - 5 points
- Peter Cajanek - 5 points
- Sidney Crosby - 5 points
- Brent Seabrook - 5 points
- Marian Hossa - 5 points
- Glen Murray - 5 points
- Markus Naslund - 5 points

Who are these guys? Anyone know what teams they play for? I thought Bondra & Arnott were like 50 and 3rd or 4th-liners? Sidney Crosby, ok, every who knows anything about hockey, knows about this guy... The rest? Hossa and Naslund are supposed "super-stars", and yet I'd doubt that too many people even know who they are...

Well, anyways... I'll be interested to see how the new game is going to be marketed. The age of the Gretzkys, Lemieuxs, Sakics, Yzermans & Hulls are coming to a close... it's a whole new game. Frankly, I can't tell any players apart any more, and the players I do know, I wouldn't even be able to tell you what team they play for, so I'll probably stop watching due to the effort level you need just to keep up. Too much change since the last time this game was played... I don't know this game or its players any more.