Holy Moly! Hockey is Back! Time for the Kings to Defend their Championship!

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't get excited once news was announced that the NHL lock-out has ended, but I just can't help myself.

WOO HOO!!!  Hockey is back!!!!

This winter has been very depressing without hockey.  After witnessing the glory of a Stanley Cup Championship last season, I had hoped this season would be the Kings chance to defend and prove they are not one-hit wonders.  So, knowing that we'll have a short season to mount a defense has me giddy with excitement.

I know, I know.  I had written on a couple of occasions that the league should just wrap it up and cancel the entire season, but with the reality that we will indeed get some hockey this year has forced me to quickly change my mind.

Yeah, I'm one of those fans the league said would instantly come back, and I ain't proud of myself.

Who cares, though?  I will soon have the opportunity to watch my beloved Kings on the ice.

Via Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy blog, a final deal was reached after 16 hours of talks.

It took 16 hours of talks in New York on Saturday, with concessions from both sides. It took 113 days. A total of 625 regular-season games were sacrificed, or over half the 2012-13 season. It took months of bitter sniping, petty politics, false hope and broken hearts.

But at around 5 a.m. on Jan. 6, the word finally spread around the hockey world: The NHL and the NHLPA had reached a verbal agreement on a tentative framework for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Drop the puck. The NHL will be finally back, with a 10-year CBA solidified between union chief Donald Fehr and Commissioner Gary Bettman. As Fehr said, via Sportsnet: "Any process like this is difficult; it can be long...we have the framework of a deal."

A schedule for a short season has yet to be announced, but it is expected to begin on January 19, or as soon as the 15th.  More news can be found at the Sporting News, and the Hockey News.

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