About Last Night: Welcome Back, Hockey

Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty ImagesHockey made its long-awaited return Saturday afternoon in Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, as the NHL’s season resumed with the newly formed qualifying rounds leading into the playoffs.

The sixth-seeded Carolina Hurricanes faced off with the 11th-seeded New York Rangers to kick things off, with the Canes winning 3-2 to take a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-five qualifying round.

This is playoff hockey, with or without the fans

Any questions about what the intensity of playoff hockey without fans would look like coming into the game were put to rest in mere minutes early Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Though the building was empty of the roaring fans that…