The NHL left, hockey played on.

Okay so hockey never really left, just the NHL on it’s getting close to semi annual hiatus; maybe this time someone in the NHL higher ups has learned something from the lockouts so that they won’t happen again.

Hockey Returns to Joe Louis Arena only it’s not the Red Wings.

Now that hockey is back the league and teams will be looking for ways to keep gaining new fans and to also gain back those that they dismissed with the lockout. Jason Kirk took the time to do the work for the Nashville Predators with his piece over at Predlines by taking a look at Three Ways The Predators Can Seize This Nashville Moment.

As we all know the US Juniors team won the GOLD MEDAL in Ufa, Russia (Sweden took Silver while the host took Bronze and Canada… well Canada cried which was glorified by their talking head Grapes ).

Now that USA Hockey’s development program is gaining success the question is Why do we send millions to USA Hockey?

The 2013 season is going to be a crap shoot to try and predict with so many players out of shape and not in ready to play form; however, we still have some 2013 Central Division Predictions for you.

Taking a look at Team Heartthrob (have you seen the Cosmo version of a Hockey Hotties list? No? Good. It was pointless; however, the Canes by far have the best looking team in the NHL). Anyway! Stephanni Phillips takes a look at what the Carolina Hurricanes have in store this season.

The Northwest Division should be the easiest of them all having the Canucks and Wild with their now one line two goalies, and half a top defense pain leading the pack.

Further west the prodigal son has retuned. Scott Niedermayer.

It was announced Friday that Niedermayer would return to the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach; looks like he is as comfortable with retirement as Nicklas Lidstrom.

With the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom it brings many questions about the Detroit Red Wings defense and how will the Dynamic Duo of Howard and Gustavsson hold up; and how will the new CBA will effect the Red Wings.

Speaking of The Monster – he came to the Red Wings after his contract was up in Toronto and though Brian Burke’s contract isn’t up in the GTA his time as GM is. Tony Notarianni takes a look as to how the timing is not as strange as it may have seemed at first.

With Burke out as GM what are the chances Morgan Rielly makes the Leafs?

Burke out in Toronto may be a key piece in what happens next with the NHL. The new CBA has rules with it to allow for a salary dump, and of course there are the Roberto Luongo rumors tied to his firing with the Leafs. Leave it to Toronto to be the ones to start what could be a butterfly effect throughout the NHL – and hockey history; but could the San Jose Sharks benefit from the Maple Leafs shakeup?

The happy side consists of the NHL Players, the owners in the NHL, and the coaches. The happiest isn’t any of these selections. The un-happy people are going to be saved until the last section, and for the side that is disappointed, the teams overseas that hosted NHL players during the lockout, I’ll start with them.

April 5, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk (13) skates with the puck as New Jersey Devils left wing Ilya Kovalchuk (17) defends in the second period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The foreign teams, like Dynamo Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg, are sad to see their stars go back to North America and their NHL teams. Players like Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings), Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils), and Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) all played on teams in the KHL during the lockout. They have tried their best to preserve the NHL stars even though the NHL will resume shortly. There are many rumors that Ilya Kovalchuk will stay in the KHL, and Ovechkin has been known to feel strongly about staying, whether the lockout ended or not. Now that a new CBA has been reached, the players might have a different feeling about coming back home.

The NHL players are excited to say the least. They get to go back to their respected cities and play for their own teams. They have been waiting well over 100 days to play with their own jerseys on. The players have tweeted to their countless number of followers how happy they were to be back in the NHL. Tweeters include Sam Gagner (Edmonton Oilers), Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers), and Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche). Not only are the players happy, but every group involved in the NHL are glad to see the players hit the ice again.

The NHL owners only have one reason to be glad the lockout is over. They are getting back to making money. That is why they proposed to take in 56 percent of the hockey-related profits in the new CBA. After they realized that they wouldn’t earn more than the players, they settled for the 50-50 split. Then again, what is an NHL owner without the money that they make from their players? They are nothing but people in suits, trying to find a way to make  money. Granted, without the owners, there wouldn’t be players around to make the fans enjoy the game and appreciate the sport. With this in mind, the owners definitely deserve some of the profits that are made from tickets, memorabilia, and merchandise. Do they need to make as much money as the players do? It’s an unanswerable question. Both sides have decent grounds to debate with. But these groups aren’t the happiest of them all, not by a long shot. It’s not the players, the coaches, or even the fans. You may be surprised to find out who likes the new CBA the best.

The AHL has to be the happiest group in the deal. Not the league itself, but the players. For some time now, the stars of the AHL have been set to the second, third, and

June 22, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Malcolm Subban (right) puts on his team jersey after being selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2012 NHL Draft at CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

fourth line so that the best of their NHL team could have a job during the duration of the lockout. The teams like the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) and the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) held players, and even prospects, while the lockout robbed part of the NHL season. While the NHL players get back to their regular routines, the AHL players will get the chance to get back to their routines. They will have the second half of their season to get back into the groove of things to help make sure they can get ready for the playoffs.

Even though there is one factor of the NHL Lockout is angry that it is resolved, everyone can find at least a little happiness in the resolution of the CBA. Fans will get back to watching their favorite teams and players on the ice and will be back to buying their jerseys and tee-shirts. Everything is ready to be back the way it was, and everyone is happy again. Follow @TooManyMenOTS for the best hockey news and follow me @NardoneDylan.

A handful of Edmonton Oilers host an informal practice. Mandatory Credit: The Japan Times and Associated Press

The NHL Board of Governors are set to meet today and vote on the new collective bargaining agreement that was tentatively agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA. A majority vote is required for the CBA to pass and it’s expected to pass without a problem. If/when it does pass the NHL will be one step closer to getting its regular season started and it’s product back on the ice, where it belongs.

The NHLPA is still typing up their “memorandum of understanding” and they are planning to have more than 700 players vote on the new CBA once the memorandum is finished and the agreement can be easily explained to every player. Like the BOG the players must also vote in favor of the new CBA in order for the deal to be ratified and made official. That is also not expected to be a problem.

Many players have started to return from Europe to their respective rinks, cities and towns. In fact, many teams and players have already started to hold informal practices and scrimmages as training camps can’t open just yet and the season can’t officially start until the new CBA is ratified.

With the CBA expected to be agreed upon and the ratification process complete by Saturday, the NHL and NHLPA hope to open training camps on Sunday and begin the season the following Saturday, January 19th.

As reported earlier in the week the NHL is expected to play a 48-game schedule with all games being within conference games. Kind of a bummer but should make the playoff race that much more interesting.

It’s kind of funny actually, the lockout lasted over 100+ days. Now, with NHL hockey only 10 days away, this next week is going to feel like an eternity.Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.