So here it is, Monday, October 1^st, and when I looked in Newsday there’s that little box with the sports teams schedules and … THERE’S HOCKEY ON THERE!!! FINALLY!!! THERE’S HOCKEY!!  Starting Thursday, all hell breaks lose as the season officially kicks off.  I’m not even going to care that the Rangers are playing first on Thursday.  I’m just really happy that once again, WE (yep… WE…. Islander fans) get a SATURDAY night as our home opener.  That means a full day to enjoy the beginning of the season without work interfering in either direction.

Of course, other family obligations may interfere, but at least, I’m not leaving work at noon to try to get a jump of enjoying the excitement with my friends.  So while the rest of Islander Country is wondering WHO is making the final cut, I am wondering… Will my new Orange heels get here before Saturday?   They better!

There won’t be the same 3-outfit changes that IQ and I opted for last home opener.  We seem to have lost our Marriot changing area this time around.  As a matter of fact, there may not even be a jersey in my possession for the first game.  Not that I’m BITTER or anything.  I’ll be in Islander colors, of course, but a little more subdued than in previous seasons.  You may not even recognize me…. Except for the shoes. 

I’m just still waiting to be impressed, but I’m not as worried as all the columnists are saying I should be as a fan.  I love how everyone seems to have a crystal ball and can predict and prognosticate the standings for this coming April.  The way they talk, they think we should be on suicide watch.  (Or is that just the Met’s fans… Sorry…)

OK!!! So we don’t have Blake.  We don’t have Poti.  We never really had Ryan, so he doesn’t count.  We don’t have Kozlov, so my mother-in-law is depressed.  (I told her about Tank’s rosy Russian cheeks, she’ll forget Victor in a heartbeat.)  And Asham cam up with some sort of spin on his staying in the East when the West offered him more to a reporter that ended up on the NHL.com site.  Uh… right… sure.  But we STILL have a team that will be skating in brand new jerseys with a great big Islander logo on them.  So…Can we play for a few months and then you can start yapping at us?  Can we? 

New Islander season starts on Friday.  Let’s take this one game at a time and get used to everything we’ve got going for us.  No listening to pundits from far away places with editorial space to fill and a penchant for beating us like a red-headed step child.  Anything else is counter productive to the enjoyment.