New York Puck looks to continue that trend and beyond as we prepare for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. While it’s anyone’s guess when that will be, there should be hockey this year. If it doesn’t start on time, so be it. I believe that would be a mistake. Unfortunately, the owners want to have their cake and eat it. The players are once again backed in a corner, forced to make more concessions to save owners from themselves. What must happen is a joint partnership with revenue sharing so all 30 teams can not only survive but flourish.

Gary Bettman represents the owners. He really has no choice and must do what they want the NHL commissioner to do. He is right that hockey fans are the greatest and likely will return even if there’s another lockout. It’s the league that’s put a September 15 stipulation, leaving little wiggle room. With Donald Fehr representing the NHLPA who are holding firm, there is little chance that the season will begin on time. It’s not fun for anyone. Especially when training camps are scheduled to open up in less than a month. Already fun prospect tournaments such as Traverse City have been canceled due to the current situation.

While we’re all patiently waiting for puck to return, we’ll do the best we can to look forward. Who improved this summer and who took steps back that could doom 2012-13? Along with outstanding Devils blogger Hasan and Buffalo extraordinaire Brian, we’ll look into the future. I also will be doing some features on past players, etc to keep things light.

Looking forward to some new followers and hopefully hockey sooner than later.