Hockey season is here, and there is a lot to look forward to, with new teams, old faces in new places and many new rookies.

Perhaps the biggest news of the year in the league expansion, making Las Vegas the home of the 31st team in the league, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The league had an expansion draft, each team gave a list of “saved” players, and “unsaved” players, the the Knights got to choose their team off the players on the unsaved player list. The Blues lost David Perron to Las Vegas.

“I love hockey. I can’t wait to go to some Blues games this season; it’ll be fun.” sophomore Austin Fouse said.

As for the rest of the league, the standout teams do not show much change from the end of last season. The Pittsburgh Penguins, last year’s Stanley Cup champions, are left atop as the best team of the preseason, followed by the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, and Minnesota Wild. The Penguins have been a favorite for a while though, and that does not seem like it’s going to change very drastically now. Though, the bad things for Blues fans is that the Penguins are in the same division as the Blues, so it will be a tough road to the Cup if Pittsburgh lives up to the hype.

“The Blues seem to be very good this season; it’ll be exciting to see what they do in 2018,” freshman Grant Ponzar said.

Lots of new faces around the league could go on to have very solid seasons. Clayton Keller of the Coyotes, Charlie McAvoy of the Bruins, and Nico Hischier, of the Devils, all showed promise in their first pre seasons, and before they were drafted, all three being high draft picks. As for the Blues, in the draft, they drafted center Robert Thomas out of Canada. As of October 6, the Blues are 1-0 on the season, beating the Penguins in the first game of the season, 5-4, decided in overtime.

As for the Scottrade Arena, the Blues have announced some renovations. Face value type additions, adding a 40 by 40 foot video scoreboard above the ice, new wheelchair lifts, a curtain system for when the arena holds smaller events, a new sound system, and renovations to bathroom . The Blues said they, “want to keep the arena fan friendly,” to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

As for the Blues, their next game is tonight, against the Florida Panthers.