The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) did what hockey fans thought they wouldn’t be able to do—come to an agreement. After 510 regular-season games, including the Winter Classic and the NHL All-Star game, were cancelled due to labor disagreements, hope looked lost for the season. So, when hockey officially kicked off this Saturday with 15 games, fans rejoiced… for the most part.

For some people though, the lockout left a bitter taste in their mouth. They see the lockout as a battle between the rich and the richer, brought about solely by greed. They see the abbreviated season, 48 regular-season games per team, as an insult to fans and season ticket holders. They see this whole thing as something that had hurt and will continue hurt teams with smaller fan-bases as well as the sport of hockey in general.

All lockout-drama aside, Dan Effinger, defenseman for the Oregon Ducks hockey team, is excited to finally have the season back.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Effinger said. “It’s going to make the playoffs so much more interesting. [This year’s Stanley Cup champion] is literally going to be whoever can get momentum in those first 20 games, whoever keeps that momentum going, and then whoever keeps it going through the playoffs. It’ll definitely be some fun hockey to watch. Everyone’s going to be so excited to get back out there. It’s going to be: ‘Hey we have 48 games, let’s lay it out all on the line every single shift.’ […] It will just be fun to watch and see who gels with the team right away. I mean, they only had a week of training camp and now they’re playing games.”

The end of the lockout isn’t only bringing fans back to their sport or players back on the ice. It also has had an effect on the local level. With the Ducks having the majority of their home games taking place before the lockout ended, the team has seen an increase in fans from the last season.

“We only have [two] more home games and then we’re done,” Effinger said. “Actually, [the lockout] works well for us because our best games at home were during the lockout, so we promoted those a lot and we had our fans out there.”

As for how attendance is going to change now that the NHL season has started back up, the team can’t quite say.

“I feel like all of fans here are pretty loyal,” said defenseman Michael Luke. “You see them at a lot of games.”

“Yeah, we get a lot of regulars,” continued goalie Kyle Adamson. “I don’t think there will be any big change.”

[Originally published in January 2013 by Lane Today, now disbanded]