This is a great time of year to be a sports fan.

Baseball is heading into the playoffs with tight races. The NFL is underway and after the first two weeks it seems as though the league's talent is spread throughout its teams once again. College football is in full swing and seems to have a large group of solid teams.

Then there is the sport that was missed last year. Some might say they didn't miss it at all and if it never came back they would not care at all. For others, though, it was a year that they wish never happened.

I am talking about hockey and the NHL.

A league that was almost forgotten last year when the Boston Red Sox made the improbable comeback against the New York Yankees. For those of you that don't remember, the Yankees were up 3-0 in the American League Championship Series before the Red Sox came back to win the series and eventually the World Series.

The NFL saw the New England Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years making a case that the team is a dynasty.

And of course basketball fans here in Detroit had a new team make a second straight trip to a championship series, when the Pistons made back-to-back trips to the finals before falling to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

And who can forget about the steroid scandal in the MLB. Big name players were being put on trial to try and convince just about everyone that they were not using illegal substances while playing baseball.

Some notables were Rafael Palmeiro who was suspended during the year for using steroids.

Mark McGwire basically pleaded the fifth because he didn't know what to say.

Sammy Sosa said he never used steroids and then magically he has a horrific year at the plate and couldn't stay healthy at all this season.

The bottom line is, while some sports were prospering this past year and some were kicking themselves where it counts, hockey was missed.

I do understand that before hockey got locked out there were some major issues, but the game was still fun to watch.

I can watch just about anybody play hockey. I have my favorite team and I try my best to catch as many games as I can, but if I can't watch them, I watch whatever game is on TV at the time.

For those of you that haven't heard or maybe just don't care, hockey has started once again.

Preseason games are underway and if I have noticed one thing so far with just the first few games, it is that goals are up.

I love seeing goal scorers do their thing. I have seen the scores of quite a few games and let me tell you it seems as though the puck is finding the back of the net at a rapid pace. While I do realize that not all of the elite players have been playing so far, the numbers don't lie.

Let me give you a few examples here. On Saturday, Philadelphia defeated Atlanta 8-6. Minnesota beat Phoenix 7-0. The first preseason game of the year was a 6-0 win by Carolina over Washington.

These goal totals were not seen in previous years before the lockout happened. Not even in preseason.

The NHL has a lot of making up to do with the fans. They undoubtedly lost a lot of fans after the season was canceled last year. Deep down inside though, I think the NHL will be able to win most of them back with the rule changes that were made and just by making an effort to get out into the various communities and make its presence felt.

If there is one last thing about the NHL this year that gets me excited, it is the fact that the talent is spread out through the league and not just with the big market teams.

There are players in cities that I forgot existed. I look at the rosters of some teams and I am shocked that I see certain names there because that is not where they belong.

But, then I sit back and think about how much better it is going to make the game and I can't help but wonder who will be in the Stanley Cup Finals this year.

My pick: Calgary Flames over the Boston Bruins in six games.

Chris Barsotti is the State News' sports editor and can be reached at barsott1@msu.edu.