With baseball winding down and the cold days in the near future, ice hockey fans gear up for what should be an exciting and eventful season of rough and tough ice hockey.

Ryan and Bryan debate if they are ready for this year’s hockey season.

Ryan:

I personally am excited for hockey season to start, with the lockout delaying the start of last season its time that hockey gets going again.

I am not a huge hockey fan and actually just experienced my first hockey game last year with a few friends and it was really something to see. The atmosphere in a hockey arena is just astonishing, and it is something everyone should experience in his or her life.

I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan and everyone knows that Flyers fans are always behind their team no matter how good or bad a season they have.

The game itself is another story. The speed of the game is incredible and how hard the players play is awesome.

Those players put their bodies on the line every time they touch the ice. They know they can get seriously injured but they play the game no differently.

Not to mention it is the only sport besides mixed martial arts and boxing where fighting is allowed. Seeing those guys go toe-to-toe on skates is great.

Bare-knuckle brawling in the middle of the arena just gets the crowd so pumped up.

For a game that is not native to the United States it is treated like it has been here forever.

It is a game that kids play in the cold and the snow and one that many fans including myself are glad to have back.

Once the preseason is over and skates are laced up, real hockey fans across the world will have smiles on their faces and will be ready for a long brutal year.

Bryan:

I am definitely not ready for the NHL to start yet. I like to hold on to the spring and summer as long as possible, but when the NHL season begins, it brings the realization that the coldweather is here to stay.

Even though I may not be as excited as some for the start of the hockey season, I do realize that this is an exciting year because it will be a full season instead of a lockout-shortened season.

The season starting on time has created more excitement that usual.

One part of the NHL season that I do look forward to is the Winter Classic. It is always interesting to watch the game played outdoors. This year, the Winter Classic is being played at the University of Michigan.

The stadium at Michigan has fit more than 100,000 people in the stadium for past events, and it would be no surprise if this game reached that number.

I’m sure as the winter months move on, I will become more excited about watching hockey, but right now it is a bit of a harsh reality check. Baseball is entering into the playoffs and will be over in no time.

Hockey is the symbol of cold weather and it looks like it is rapidly approaching, but it is hard to not get caught up in the level of fanaticism toward hockey.