Hockey’s back! And like pretty much everything else in sports — and the wider world — during COVID-19 times, "normal" has taken a detour onto unrecognizable back roads.
Things that would have seemed inconceivable a year ago suddenly make emergency sense, from the playoff bubbles of last summer to the division-opponents-only, 56-game regular season of 2021.
Which brings us to two local teams that were to open the season against one another on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden and will play seven more times in the regular season.
And who knows, perhaps they will make it an even 15 if they encounter one another during the playoffs, the first two rounds of which also will be intra-divisional.