On Thursday the wait will finally be over. Training camps will be over, the final cuts will have been made, the skates will be sharpened, the sticks will be taped and the 2010-'11 NHL season will get underway.
Since Patrick Kane snuck the puck behind Michael Leighton to give the Chicago Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup since 1961, hockey fans everywhere have been anxiously awaiting this week.
The offseason had its story lines: the exodus of players from the Stanley Cup-champion Blackhawks, Taylor or Tyler for the Oilers at the 2010 NHL Draft, and of course the Ilya Kovalchuk contract fiasco.
But nothing compares to the excitement of a new hockey season.
Hockey has been a big part of my life. Growing up in western New York I developed a lifelong love affair with the hometown Buffalo Sabres. Watching players like Jason Woolley, Alexei Zhitnik, Rob Ray, Stu Barnes and the legendary Dominik Hasek helped my love for the game grow.
Nowadays, those players are long gone in Buffalo, but a new generation is filling in. Tyler Myers, Patrick Kaleta, Thomas Vanek and goaltender/American hero Ryan Miller now rule in Buffalo, but the goal remains the same: win the franchises first Stanley Cup.
So, is this the year my Sabres break through and hoist hockey's holy grail? To do so they will have to build off of last year's division title and fight off some stiff competition in the Eastern Conference.
If the Sabres hope to compete in the East, they are first going to have to staive off the other teams in the ultra competitive Northeast Division.
The Northeast is often overlooked, but last year the division produced four of the eight teams that made the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. And if it wasn't for Boston's epic choke job in the Eastern semi's against Philadelphia, we would have had an all-Northeast Division conference finals.
With Boston, Montreal, Ottawa and even Toronto improving their teams in the offseason, the Sabres are going to have to fight to repeat as division champs.
Elsewhere in the East it looks like business as usual. In Washington the highflying Capitals, led by Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin, will be looking to finally convert their regular season success into a deep playoff run.
The Penguins will also look to have a big year after their early exit from last year's playoffs. They will have some competition from division rival New Jersey, who look to unleash a potent offensive attack led by potential 50-goal scorer Zach Parise and the newly re-signed Ilya Kovalchuk, and you can never count out a team with Martin Brodeur in net.
If the Sabres can navigate the Eastern Conference and reach the Stanley Cup Finals, they will run into a team from the loaded Western Conference. Many would argue that the West is the stronger of the two conferences.
One contender out West is the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have seemingly been on the verge of a Cup for a while now, but they have gotten a reputation for flopping come playoffs.
This year could be different. They have an offensive attack that could be very hard to match, with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and former Badger Joe Pavelski. Playoff hero Antti Niemi comes in to replace the KHL-bound Evgeni Nabokov in goal as well.
I must say, though, the team I really like to come out of the West this year is the Vancouver Canucks. They have a potent offense led by reigning league MVP Henrik Sedin and his twin brother Daniel to go along with a solid defensive core and an all-star goalie in Roberto Luongo.
Maybe the biggest question mark in the West is the Chicago Blackhawks. Not often would you classify the reigning Stanley Cup champions as a question mark, but the Blackhawks are going to have to answer questions about their team after their salary cap-induced fire sale forced them to replace a lot of key players from last year's team.
However, as this year shapes up for the Sabres and other teams around the league, this NHL season is sure to lead hockey fans on an exciting ride throughout. And who knows, maybe my Sabres will be the ones celebrating come June.
Are you as excited for NHL hockey as Ryan? E-mail him at rmevans2@wisc.edu.
