I see very, very, very little excitement. Only the die-hards are excited. The Blackhawks are easily #3 in my Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks fandom, and my excitement level is quite low. If you're in Jersey, then yes, you're probably not seeing much. Teams across the league are drawing thousands to open practices and scrimmages. Tickets are selling well. This has been a blip. Well, I'm currently in Manhattan. The Rangers are a favorite and people don't really care. It's pretty ridiculous to pretend this was just a blip. If MSG is half empty for the opener, or hell, empty at all, I'll buy that.