The long awaited fantasy of ending the NHL lockout has finally become a reality for “Puck-heads” around the world. The season will now feature 48 regular season games plus the playoffs, and will return on January 19, 2013.
In a normal NHL season there are 82 regular season games played by a single team. This year unfortunately, there will only be 48 games played due to the lockout between the league and the union over a new collective bargaining agreement. When the lockout began, many players decided to sign contracts to leagues in other countries such as the Kontinental Hockey League which is based out of Russia. Superstars such as Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk decided to play in the KHL in order to stay in shape and keep up their skills.
Many are comparing this lockout to the NBA lockout of 2011-2012. With little notice for the players, teams are is scrambling to put together their training camps in order to see what players are in shape. Unfortunately for the players they have only six days to pull their acts together before the first games of the season. It is unknown what caliber of hockey is going to be displayed on opening night, but either way it is sure to be interesting. Many are expecting the play to be sloppy, similar to what happened after the NBA lockout, but with many players training and practicing elsewhere, high quality play is likely.
Despite the struggles for the players, fans are sure to get the most out of this long-awaited season. More games will have to be played in a shorter period of time, meaning there will almost always be at least one game on TV each night leading up to playoffs, which will take place as scheduled. With the individual team schedules and rosters set, all that’s left to do is drop the puck.
Top 5 Young Stars to Watch After the Lockout
5. Jordan Eberle-Edmonton Oilers : Eberle is a prospect player at the young age of 22 and delivered in the 2011-2012 season with 34 goals and 42 assists
4. Max Pacioretty-Montreal Canadiens: Pacioretty, age 24 with a big frame and plenty of skillproved himself in the 2011-2012 season scoring 33 goals to bring the last place Canadiens into contention for the playoffs
3. Derek Stepan- New York Rangers: Stepan is 22 years of age and helped the Rangers in their playoff run contributing with 9 points before losing to the Devils in the Eastern Conference. Stepan is an extremely unselfish player and is always looking to pass first. What puzzles many is that he has a terrific wrist shot, but rarely uses it. If Stepan begins to shoot more, his numbers should see a dramatic jump
2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Edmonton Oilers: The youngest player on this list at the age of 19 is simply an all-around player. He has it all, from stick-handling, speed, size, strength and finally vision. Many people look solely at how many goals a player scores to judge their skill. What makes Nugent-Hopkins different is that he not only scores goals but also assists his teammates, which adds a complete other dimension to his game when you realize just how smart he is on and off the ice. Nugent-Hopkins put up 18 goals and 34 assists in his rookie season so expect him to have a breakout season this year.
1. Mikael Granlund- Minnesota Wild:Granlund, a 20 year old prodigy of Finnish decent has played in the SM-liiga since the age of 17, playing with men twice his age. At only 5’10 he has to rely heavily on his speed and superior stick handling. Expect big things from this young super athlete in the 2013 season.