Before the storm

Dry leaves crunching underfoot, a cool breeze threatening to bleed through a thick sweater, the faint shake of powder on top of the mountains; fall is here. For an unlucky majority, that’s all it is. Cozy nights curled up with hot tea and a good book, watching Practical Magic with all the windows shut…Gilmore Girls.

However, for we lucky few, this is the beginning of something else, something better…

Carving crisp ice underfoot, the cold air of the rink pinking the tip of your nose, the shock of snow spraying into your face from a teammate’s blades; hockey season is here.

Now is the time to grab a cold beer or ginger ale, crack it open while watching grown men toddle side-to-side as they listen to the national anthems of Canada and the USA. Now is the time to pull a sweater over head, one with big numbers on the back and an even bigger logo on the front that awkwardly rides up when you sit down on the couch. Now is the time to make sure your volume is turned up. Now, the adventure begins… again.

Inevitably, this will culminate in seeing the Stanley Cup lifted in the heat of June, but the season remains unpredictable. Who will throw an ultra-controversial hit? Who will make the NHL rethink their offside rules? Who will have the best Halloween Costume? These are the important questions I can’t wait to answer alongside you all.

So here we go:

It’s time to lace up our skates, Readers, and prepare for the wild journey the 2024-25 hockey season will take us on.

Good luck, and may the best team win.