And it begins...

... except this year, it began in London.

"Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins... LONDON."

Which brings me to my first question upstairs right now, Why London? Not only did it trample up a bunch of useless talk about NHL expanding to Europe, to which I say, "Throw me a freakin bone here, Scott" (Hi, did we forget they are on the other side of the world?). but it provided their "fans", that don't even like hockey in the first place, a taste of something they don't deserve. How disappointed do you think the Kings and Ducks season ticket holders were to hear that the opening season would start in London? Dirty Bettman, very dirty.

The argument being, "Well, 30% of the players in the NHL are from Europe." Wow, really? That's awesome! Why wasn't the game in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Russia, Finland... you get the point! How many players do YOU know in the NHL that hail (with bad teeth and all) from the UK? That's right folks, ZERO.

To be honest, I would be a little upset if I were apart of the LA Kings or Anaheim Ducks establishments. Not only starting your season off in front of a bunch of Polo fans, but having to fly 12 hours to get to that point. If this happened in Kentucky (ooo-lala...) Oh well, go home the same day. Having to fly back 12 hours, and in the case of Anaheim, play 48 hours later takes a toll on you physically and mentally (the Kings lucked out and don't have to play again until Saturday).

The highlight of both games weren't the amazing skill sets that Europeans never get to see live, it wasn't the amazing display of goal tending by the rookie goalies... no, it was the useless fight between Scott Thornton and George Parros. Bettman, tell the truth, how much did you pay these guys to brawl AT CENTER ICE (wow, that's a shocker)?

As I come to the conclusion of my long winded rant, I just want to make one request for next season... Can the Sharks please travel to the other plague of Europe, France, to face their National team. I will even suit up as an enforcer for the Sharks, but I'm sure the outcome would end like France's war record with another loss, except this time Britain won't be there to bail you out!

Deuces Out.