Locked out no more!

Today is a good day to be a hockey fan. We have suffered for months at the hands of negotiations, but now all our patience to see the game we love so much has paid off.

Early last Sunday it was announced that the league and the players had agreed to a tentative CBA, and the lockout was finally over. Well not quite. The Board of Governors had to approve the plan, which they did last Wednesday and the NHLPA also had to approve the vote.

The NHLPA took their sweet time to vote but it ended last night. So that means hockey’s back right? Nope they first had to sign the Memorandum of understanding. This happened late last night and schedules went out almost immediately. Training camps are set to start today when means we’ll have hockey back next weekend.

Some teams are already starting trades. Del Zotto and the Rangers have signed a tentative deal, the Flyers have traded a prospect to reacquire Brian Boucher and signed free agent Kurtis Foster. Expect some more trades and signings before the day’s end.

The new season starts January 19th. Who else is excited?

I am a recent graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where I hold a BA in English with a minor in creative writing. My career aspirations lie mostly in novel writing, but I also have an interest in sports journalism. I wrote soccer and hockey articles for my University's student newspaper and I currently write for two other sports blogs in addition to Ballhyped. I am the NHL beat writer for Ballhyped, and pretty much live and breathe for the sport of ice hockey.