It’s great to have hockey back on again this year, and I apologize to the delay of our Saturday picks column as work has been crazy, and I’m finally in town to throw some numbers together. Last year had its share of ups and downs... let’s face it, more downs than ups, but this is a clean slate so hopefully things can start off hot. There are plenty of surprising teams to start the season, so I won’t be holding my breath this week. Thunder returns for a 3rd season and it’s come to the point that I have to lock my other dog out in order to even get these picks done in time. Hope everyone’s got a cold beer on hand for the 13 games scheduled this Saturday.