Ice is nice

October means the baseball postseason.
And the NHL season openers.
Ice hockey returns with three games on Versus Thursday. The day starts at noon, since Carolina and Minnesota are among six teams opening the season in Europe. After their game in Helsinki, the action heads to Pennsylvania as the Penguins and Flyers face off at 7 p.m. The day closes with Chicago's visit to Colorado at 10 p.m.
There's three more games from Europe the rest of the weekend. Carolina and Minnesota play again at noon Friday, followed by Columbus against San Jose in Stockholm. Saturday at noon, it's Boston facing Phoenix from Prague.
Enjoy the different dasherboards.
Here in the States, the Capitals open their season Friday in Atlanta against the Thrashers. Saturday is the home opener against the Devils, then they play Ottawa Monday on Comcast.
TBS has the baseball division series coverage, with three games Thursday - Texas at Tampa Bay at 2:30 p.m., followed by the Yankees at Twins and the Game 1 of the Braves-Giants at 9:30 p.m.
Friday, it's game two of both National League series then Saturday it's game three in the American League contests from Texas and New York. Sunday, there will be either two, three or four games, depending on how Saturday's games go.
If various series go the full five games, they will be Tuesday in the American League and Wednesday in the National.
Brett Favre returns to New York, as the Vikings visit the Jets at new Meadowlands Stadium Monday on ESPN. The Eagles' game against the 49ers gets featured on NBC's Sunday night game - will Michael Vick play? Can San Francisco win a game?
The Packers visit Washington Sunday at 1 p.m. on FOX, while CBS has doubleheader coverage most places - except Fishersville. We will get the Titans' trip to Dallas at 4:15 p.m., but the early game gets blacked out. Richmond and the rest of Virginia will be watching the Ravens host the Broncos, and I hope my cable picks up that game.
ESPN starts the college football weekend Thursday with Nebraska heading to Kansas State. Friday, ESPN shows the Big East matchup between Connecticut and Rutgers at 7:30 p.m., while ESPN2 goes with Oklahoma State and Louisiana-Lafayette at 9 p.m.
Saturday's schedule starts at noon on ESPN with Indiana against Ohio State, while ESPN2 shows Illinois-Penn State. In primetime, ESPN has LSU-Florida.
CBS goes with top-ranked Alabama's visit to South Carolina at 3:30 p.m., while Pittsburgh visits Notre Dame on NBC. ABC's regional action includes Clemson at North Carolina in ACC territory, while other areas see a top 20 battle between Michigan State and Michigan or Arkansas vs. Texas A&M from Cowboys Stadium.
In primetime, ABC has the ACC battle of Florida with Florida State facing Miami. Other parts of the country will watch USC-Stanford, while ACC country gets that game on ESPN2.
N.C. State's contest against Boston College gets coverage as the ACC game of the week. Can the Wolfpack hold a lead this week?
MASN shows the Big East game of the week at noon, then West Virginia hosts UNLV at 3:30 p.m. Comcast has a Big 12 game between Texas Tech and Baylor at noon, while Versus goes with Oregon State's visit to Arizona at 7 p.m.
Jimmie Johnson's back on top of the NASCAR Chase for the Cup, with seven of the 10 playoff races to go. Will someone catch him or will his lead balloon? We'll find out Sunday at 3 p.m. as the drivers take the track at Fontana on ESPN.
The Nationwide Series will race Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
In MLS play, D.C. United hosts San Jose Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on Comcast-plus. Thursday on ESPN, Philadelphia takes on the LA. Galaxy.
The NBA preseason has started, and TNT shows it's lone exhibition Sunday night as Dallas plays Phoenix.