NHL -- it's better than crack

Forget crack -- there's enough excitement in the NHL this year to make my heart explode, and it's completely legal. Besides, hockey doesn't cost a dime.\nTo start, for those uninitiated, the NHL has two new teams this year. Professional hockey returns to Minnesota with the expansion team Minnesota Wild, and Columbus, Ohio, finally gets a shot at the pros with the Columbus Blue Jackets. At press time, their combined record was 0-4, but it's still exciting to get some fresh blood on the ice.\nIn contrast, it seems like some guys can't lose. Patrick Roy has consistently been one of those players since before I even started kindergarten. Now the future Hall of Famer is just two wins shy of tying Terry Sawchuk's mark of 447 wins, the most wins by an NHL goalie ever. With four upcoming Avalanche games in the next week, one of which is against the Washington Capitols and two others against the expansion Blue Jackets, Roy is likely to capture the record before mid-terms.\nRoy is not the only living legend in the headlines this week. With a return almost as anticipated as that of any religious figure, Mark Messier stepped onto the ice in Madison Square Garden wearing a Rangers uniform last night for the first time in four seasons. With Messier's return to an already strong roster, New York's playoff hopes are high.\nOne team not so up on its luck this season is the Philadelphia Flyers. The team, which arguably had the best line of the 1990s, has lost former captain Eric Lindros to injury and an inevitable trade. Now left wing John LeClair is out for at least a week with a back injury. Those two combined for almost 130 points last season, and Philadelphia's roster doesn't promise any players likely to step up and fill in those points.\nThe way this year is shaping up, it could easily be anyone's Cup in the end. For my preseason pick, I undoubtedly have to go with Colorado. While the Avs have had trouble getting it done with postseasons past, the talent this year is absolutely undeniable. In addition to the previously mentioned Roy, the Avs have another future Hall of Famer in defenseman Ray Bourque, who will be suiting up for his first full season in Colorado after playing for Boston since the Jurassic period.\nThe team also has strong, capable players in linemen Adam Deadmarsh, Peter Forsberg and Shjon Podein and defenseman Adam Foote, who has completely recovered from his injury in the playoffs last year.\nWith the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings also showing their perennially strong lineups, and several other teams on the rise, it is truly an open field for the Cup this year.\nThat is what makes this sport so exciting. Unlike professional baseball, where it's a domination of big-market teams, and professional basketball, where one injury can derail an entire team's season, hockey is a guessing game from draft time until the last buzzer of the Finals.\nAnd even though the jackals at the networks are convinced that Americans only want to watch basketball or football, the popularity of hockey has been growing by leaps and bounds in the United States during the last decade, even with the retirement of some of the greatest players in the game's history.\nRemember, it's a long way until May. There's going to be a lot of exams and papers assigned to universally depress the student body. Next time that's you, just grab a six-pack, a seat on the couch and a copy of Hockey Digest. That is, if you can find a game. God bless ESPN2.