Ahh, the preseason: fantasies & fears.

Welcome back to the wild and wonderful world of NHL hockey, where fans rev up the hype machine right from the start of the preseason and other fans slam them on Twitter for being too excited. So much to discuss: all the possibilities of forward line combinations, the gray hole that is our defence, how Paul MacLean will perform relative to his Jack Adams-standard and whether this site will actually stick with its current theme for at least the first forty-one games. The preseason is built for speculation. What with training camp providing almost hourly fodder in regards to roster updates and line combinations, it's a breeding ground for a hockey fan's fervent fantasies and sprouting hopes that this next season will be the one to take their team to the top.

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Losses are losses; are words just words?

Coaches don't say what they're thinking. Paul MacLean seems to have perfected the art of sounding sincere and earnest while also not giving away exactly what he means, using a blend of clichés, long, detailed sentences and well-placed I'm-a-fisherman-from-Antigonish-NS humour. It's almost a certain guarantee that what he says to the media is not precisely what he says to the team. Under this presumption, do the words he gives to the media even matter?

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