Greg Wyshynski from Yahoo’s hockey blog Puck Daddy joins the show to preview the NHL season. Let’s preface this by saying a few things.

Greg and I are both from New Jersey. Well, actually, that’s all we need to say, really.

Oh, and he roots for the Devils and I root for the Flyers. But we’re oddly civil when together. Strange.

We talk about his offseason writing at Puck Daddy, which spills right into a conversation about Twitter and has Greg ripping those people who

live-tweet NHL preseason games. He does mention that Twitter was quite beneficial when covering the goings on in Phoenix. Greg explains a pretty fascinating situation where Jim Balsillie, the head of Blackberry, is actively trying to make sure the Phoenix Coyotes are bankrupt in order to take over the team and move it to Ontario. The NHL doesn’t want this, and has even bid on its own team from the current owners, in order to block it. It seems the fans -- whatever fans there are -- in Phoenix don’t want this to happen, and clearly the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t want this to happen.

But it might happen. And it might happen in the middle of the season. Yes, there’s a chance (shoot, the Nets might have this problem too) that the Coyotes could be playing the regular season in two different cities.

We talk about how if this were a football or baseball team, it’d be the biggest story in sports. And Greg brings up the fact that Balsillie has been getting the Canadian media behind him, trying to rally people in Canada to push for another team north of the border. It’s created quite a bit of tension. It also leads to talk about the 90‘s-era expansion of the NHL and if some cities were ever right for a franchise.

Again, how is this not a bigger story in America?

The biggest story of the offseason for the NHL here was probably Patrick Kane vs. Cabbie. And while that’s old news now, we talk about it

because EA Sports recently released their NHL 10 video game with Kane on the cover. Would this happen in another sport? Would the NFL let a player who was arrested in the offseason get on the cover of Madden? Maybe, but hockey could use all the good press it can get. Bad press doesn’t help the league. But is there bad press? Where is the outrage?

Speaking of outrage, it’s outrageous that the NHL is starting their season with some of the top teams playing in Sweden and Finland. That’s insane...almost as insane as the Stanley Cup champions starting their season on a Friday night in a game that’s not on national TV in America. With most of the teams in America, but most of the top players from other countries, does the NHL care more about branding in Canada and overseas than here?

And if that answer is yes, why, then will the NHL fight players from their league taking part in the 2014 Olympics in Russia. Alex Ovechkin already said he’s going to play no matter what, and on Monday, Puck Daddy had an interview with Evgeni Malkin who said the same thing, going so far as to tell them:

“Those who don't want to go are those who only want to make money and don't love hockey. I don't know any player who doesn't want to participate in World Championships or the Olympics.”

How is that going to play out in the locker room if Sidney Crosby picks ‘hos before bros,’ as it were? The NHL will have to decide about 2014 by February, or that story will dominate the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver this coming February.

And speaking of the Olympics, we get into a whole thing about whether or not athletic events like figure skating and diving and anything with subjective rulings are or are not sports.

There is so much more to cover, but there’s only so long a show can be, right? We briefly talk about some breakout players for this season, and some teams that could surprise people. And we discuss if the Flyers signing Chris Pronger will finally be the move that gets them the Cup, or if their cheapskating on goalies year after year will come back to haunt them yet again. Or...is Ray Emery the comeback story of the year in sports?

Last, because we can, we talk about Curb Your Enthusiasm and how we both love the show so much, it probably makes us a little sociopathic.

Thanks for listening. Go check out more hockey stuff -- actual hockey talk, even -- at Puck Daddy.

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