I Know Bulldog Hockey Season Has Started When…

…the leaves start changing in Duluth.

…Biddco and I start making plans for what we need to buy at the balloon sale.

…hockey posters are all over campus and students are wearing their new Penalty Box shirts. (Why isn’t there a shirt for old, paying people? It could say “I’ll stand up when I feel like it, whippersnappers!”)

…my Twitter timeline starts exploding with polls, all of which I ignore.

…the Twins have reached the 90-loss threshhold.

…nonsensical arguments with cherry-picked facts about whose team/player is better than some other team/player, or why women’s hockey sucks, or apparently why Northern Ireland is the ideal spot for the Beanpot, intensify.

…I see one of my favorite fellow Bulldog fans and RWD comrade, Tony.

…Bruce Ciskie is all over the local media.

…my friends and I start strategizing our road tripping plans in great detail.

…UND, UMTC, and SCSU fans’s predictions for their teams become exponentially more outrageous.

…hockey games are being played. Like tonight, when your 5 time national champion Bulldog women’s hockey team takes on the UConn Huskies!