With the season fast approaching BMR will be rolling out our obligatory season previews division-by-division over the coming week. Today, we'll be taking a look at the Atlantic division.

To continue with the east coast bias, I'm going to preview the division that I know the most about. We're going letter by letter through the Atlantic Division to give you everything you need to know about it this year. Well, some of the things you need to know. Actually, to be honest, it's really just free association. It should be entertaining, though.

A is for arrogant, which is what my friend who is a diehard Rangers fan is after they signed Marian Gaborik. We'll see how he feels in two months when Marian either A) gets hurt B) stops trying C) gets hurt or D) turns into the latest free agent bust for the Rangers by getting hurt.

B is for bragging rights. You can't really argue with the Stanley Cup.

C is for Combos. Cause they taste really good and they're always advertised on here.

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With the season fast approaching BMR will be rolling out our obligatory season previews division-by-division over the coming week. Today, we'll be taking a look at the Northeast division.

Today, I'm going to start things off with a look at the Northeast Division.  (what East Coast Bias?) Since I'm not much of a numbers and predictions person, I'm going to preview this division in haiku form.

After this part, there's only one more part to this saga!

Part one

Part  Two

Part Three

Reason 6: Live game atmosphere

As you all probably know by now, I'm numero uno on the John Tavares Lover's Bangwagon. I've been groveling at his feet for nearly a year now, well before the Islanders ever had the first round pick. So, when I'm telling someone they're giving Tavares a little too much of a BJ, you know they're crazy.

Here's the background. The Islanders have that lovely exhibition game in Kansas City today -- you know, the town in the midwest that thinks it is America's version of Hamilton, Ontario except that, well, they're not -- and one Mr. John Tavares is not going to be in attendance. He's supposedly being protected from Dion Phaneuf who may be in the stands with a machete/saved for Wednesday's home preseason game on Long Island. And with all of 5,000 expected to attend tonight, they're heartbroken that the love child of Gretzky and Crosby (their words, not mine) won't be in attendance. Per the Kansas City Star:

Unfortunately for Kansas City, Tavares, a forward expected to be the next Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby rolled into one, won’t be part of a split squad when the Islanders face the AEG-owned Los Angeles Kings at 7 tonight at the Sprint Center.

Yeah, that's... Um... Whew. OK.

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Part one

Part two

5: The amount of skill

I like to imagine the thought process of making hockey went a little like this:

Remember my first section of my 5 Reasons I love Hockey? Well, here's part 2

3: It’s not basketball

I remember P.E. class as a youngster, which I never liked all that much anyway. Considering I was a youngster in central Vermont, gym class from about mid-November to almost April was indoors. This meant that for the majority of the time, we ended up “playing basketball”. I put “playing basketball” in quotes since most of the time wasn’t spent actually playing the game, but instead we were practicing the skills, such as sprints and dribbling drills. I never was all that enthralled by the game to start with, and after spending what seemed like forever trying (and failing) to get my arm at the precise angle for a correctly done lay-up, I hated the game. I still don’t like it at all to this day. Now, I don’t mean to insult anyone who likes the game—it’s just not my thing, to say the least.

But for about two glorious weeks, the janitor would concede that he’d have to wax the floor again anyway, so the gym teacher might as well break out the crappy plastic hockey sticks and let kids scuff the hell out of his floor. Sure, we had to split up into teams and spend most of the class waiting for the teacher to call one team out so I could go in. And yes, we spent more time “practicing skills” than actual game play, but it wasn’t trying to do “the Spider” drill with a basket ball.

4: You can hit people and sometimes get away with it.

This ties into reason #3 a bit. Over my floor hockey career, let’s just say I got more than one penalty. Usually it was high-sticking, because the teacher would insist on no sticks above the knee. But that’s not the point.

Another thing that annoys me in other sports (especially basketball, I find) is how some players can get knocked around and there is no penalty, but other players get breathed on and there is a penalty. Hockey is relatively equal in this respect—everyone’s getting knocked around to some degree.

It takes a level of tenacity and yes, truculence to be a hockey player. Players get throats slit with skate blades, (links not for the faint of heart) teeth get knocked out, players get bruised and broken, and so on. And yet they still come out.  These players still come out for more. You have to have some serious guts to play hockey. That or a team of some serious personal nurses and a crapton of Vicodin.

Yes, there will be a part 3 (at least, since some of the other reasons get a bit lengthy. I can be rather verbose at times.)