It’s been almost eighteen months since the last time a professional hockey game was played in Washington. Tonight, that streak ends, as the Capitals take to the ice to play their preseason home opener against the Buffalo Sabres.

A lot has changed during the labor dispute. The NHL has been busy drafting rule changes aimed at encouraging offensive production. More significant, no doubt, will be the roster changes. Teams throughout the NHL have been paring down their payrolls, and the Caps are no exception. Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar and Robert Lang are all gone. Don’t worry though, there’ll still be some familiar faces for fans to cheer. Brendan Witt is still around; Olie Kolzig will still be in front of the goal; and Potomac, Md.’s own Jeff Halpern is still playing center.

But there’s no doubt that fans will have a lot of new names and faces to learn. The Caps have some learning to do too. Players cited a lack of familiarity with rule changes as a factor in their 6-0 loss to the Hurricanes last Friday. But we wouldn’t read too much into the lopsided score — hockey may have the most meaningless preseason in sports. Right now we’re just focusing on grabbing a beer, grabbing a seat and basking in hockey’s return. If you feel like joining us, tickets to tonight’s 7 p.m. game can be had for as little as $9.

Photo by Flickr user digitaldefection