In the words of the late, great Heath Ledger...

"And...here...we...GO"

Tonight the Flyers finally get to drop the gloves (sorry, puck) for real as they open the season against New York at the CoreStates/First Union/Wachovia/Wells Fargo Center in South Philly. I really have high expectations for this team this year, and it would be nice to start with a win over the Rangers, who already have two games under their belt after their European road trip with Tampa. The Rangers will go with Henrik Lundqvist in goal, while Martin Biron will hopefully improve on last season and establish himself as a true #1 in the NHL.

Most of the talk surrounding this game tonight has been about the makeshift defense John Stevens is putting on the ice tonight. Luca Sbisa, who had a fantastic preseason, will be on the team due to Randy Jones and Ryan Parent's surgeries and subsequent recovery time. As of now, the Flyers have six defensemen dressed for tonight, which makes me wonder if they won't bring back Bryan Berard for insurance. It's a little unsettling since the D is kind of young, but I think they'll get through tonight.

The other big news is that Sarah Palin, self-professed hockey mom and vide-presidential candidate, will be dropping the puck before the game. Gotta be honest, I don't like it. One, it sends the message that the Flyers are endorsing a candidate. Wrong move. Secondly, this is one of the most Democratic, blue-collar, union cities in the nation. Sending out someone who represents the exact opposite of that is a bad move. Plus, there's no way she doesn't get booed, which is something I don't think she's used to hearing. In fact, this may move Santa Claus out of the top three best moments for Philly fans. I was looking forward to hockey to take my mind off of this ridiculous election (no matter who wins, we're heading for hard times), so I'm not on board with this. Play the game and keep your politics out of my rink.

Oh yeah, the Phillies are two games away from the World Series. Two games. This hasn't happened since 1993, but I can't get too excited yet. We have this annoying habit of blowing series leads, so I'm not going to get too jumpy until the Phils close out the Dodgers. And speaking of which, this article in the Los Angeles Times came out prior to Game 1. Pretty much your typical boilerplate "Philly fans are bad" garbage. I will say, there is some irony in a writer hailing from the gang capital of America calling us thugs. Yes, Philadelphians booed Santa. Los Angelenos would have shot him for wearing red in the wrong neighborhood. Phils-Sox in the Series.

Drop...The...Puck.