5 Things You'll Miss Saying Thanks To The Cancelled NHL Preseason

With the NHL preseason officially cancelled, it's a sad time for hockey fans as the preseason is actually kind of fun to watch. Not only was it NHL hockey after three months of offseason, but the preseason provided some foreplay before the NHL campaign truly started. With daily cuts from camps and plenty of webcam quality highlights, it was always a sign of NHL hockey saying "Hey buddy, I'm almost back I just gotta shake the rust off."

Preseason may not be the greatest hockey played, but it's hockey after a long-term absence. Here are five things you'll miss saying thanks to the NHL 2012-13 preseason being cancelled:

"[Prospect] looks pretty good"

Preseason hockey always gives a good glimpse of your favourite NHL team's future as many new draft picks and AHL prospects get a chance to wear an NHL jersey and show off their skills against their peers and NHL regulars. They often wear obscure numbers and even if they do light up the scoresheet as an 18 or 19-year-old, there's a good chance they get sent back to junior and a year of their contract saved. Regardless of where they end up, the preseason is their showcase and it's fun to see the prospects shine. 

"Did you see that [Career AHLer you never heard of]/[prospect you've maybe heard of] fight last night?"

Preseason hockey fights are insane. It's like every punch thrown is a matter of hockey life and death. For those on tryouts trying to earn a contract or a 6th round draft pick's last shot with a team it can be and they fight like their NHL career depends on it. Guys are so desperate to show their worth to the team that they'll drop the gloves if anybody touches one of their teammates. Line brawls in preseason hockey are essentially a form of team bonding before the regular season.

"So what do you think the lines will be?"

Discussing line combinations for the regular is always a hot topic with friends. Preseason teases you with a little look at the chemistry players might have together as they might play together like the Sedin's out there in the preseason, but appear more like Chris and Peter Ferraro during the regular season. It's always fun to piss off friends that think highly of a role player on their favourite team and think they deserve more playing time. "That guy getting second line minutes? Fuck that."

"I think we're a solid team this year."

After a convincing win in which your favourite team dressed many NHL regulars against a team dressing AHLers and prospects to try and get a final look at them before cuts. The preseason is not a good time to jump to conclusions on how you're team will perform during the regular season, but it sure is fun to watch your team dominate an AHL team. It also shows you just how good NHLers are.

And if you're a Toronto Maple Leafs fan...

"Fuck, Leafs TV is the worst."

The Maple Leafs have tons of money yet still for some reason have a low budget TV crew and never enough content to make it worth having the channel as part of your cable package. Bob McGill can barely string three sentences together and Greg Millen was a brutal goalie back in the 1980's, yet somehow he is even worse at talking about other goalies. Any time there is a goal scored he says his trademark, "well he wishes he had that one back." No shit, he just let in a goal you idiot.