I have to admit myself that i'm enjoying the heck out of it, good to hear other people are too. The tempo is way up, no more clutching and grabbing. It's amazing how some of these small highly skilled players who dissapeared the past few years and are back with a vengeance - Paul Kariya, the Sedins, etc
I am happy with all of the rule changes save for 2 - the limits on goalie puck handling and the no line change after an icing (it does keep the teams from icing the puck, but that is more of a strategy thing if you are willing to give up the faceoff in the defensive end, that's your issue to deal with).
I must say i'm more impressed with the shootout than i originally thought i would be. Heck doesn't hurt to have an actual winner in the hockey game does it? It is amazing though how many games are ending in OT now, teams are almost afraid to go to a shootout so are going all out in OT.
Bruce, i hope you are right, so far the US fans are staying away, but Canadian fans are out in droves.
Simboticus, Sharks should be just fine this year if Nabokov gets rolling. I suspect they are missing Rathje a lot though. Sharks were my pick to finish 2nd in the west behind Vancouver.
Jack, you must be really happy about the Wings performance this year! Their young kids are lighting it up big time and a 9-1 start must be getting people excited. And to boot they seem to have finally gotten the average player age below "senior discount" eligibility.
