Hockey is officially back in town tonight! We’re going, and I almost forgot.

I’ve got to dig up the jersey.

Blues Face Capitals In Home Opener Tonight At 7 p.m.
J. Buck’s Restaurants Team Calendar night.
St. Louis, MO, Oct. 17, 2003 – Tonight’s game marks the 2003-04 home opener for St. Louis at the Savvis Center and all paid fans in attendance will receive the 2003-04 Blues Team Calendar, courtesy of J. Buck’s Restaurants.

The Blues are 19-15-2-0 all-time in home openers. This will be the first time in franchise history the Blues will play Washington in their home opener. The Blues defeated the Capitals 5-3 in Washington in the teams only meeting last season. St. Louis holds a 34-33-12-0 all-time advantage over Washington, including a 19-13-8-0 edge on home ice.

St. Louis completed a three-game road to begin the season, recording 1-1-0-1 record. The Blues will play four of their next five games on the road, while playing Western Conference teams in their next eight contests.

I missed hockey. The pace of the game is fast and exciting; there is no other sport I’d rather see. It’s so much more interesting than the baseball season.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article like many I’ve seen today on Rafael Furcal’s unassisted triple play against the Cardinals. It’s a very rare occurrence – this was only the 12th time it’s happened in baseball history.

So, is it notable for the record books? Sure.

Exciting? Not really.

I was at the game and had a good time, but baseball is a slow game, does not often hold my attention, and the “news” about it the following day isn’t particularly interesting. What grabbed me was that many of these articles don’t bother mentioning that instead of Furcal and his Braves, the Cardinals won the game. And why should they talk about the game and the win? Answer: The unassisted triple play is far more significant.

This leads me to think the interest in baseball isn’t necessarily the outcome, or even the plays that enable the outcome, but all the statistics behind the plays, players, and teams.

And that’s boring too.

I like hockey.