The NHL returns tonight Tell us how you really feel James Harde

Yesterday morning we mourned the official end of the college football season. This morning? We celebrate the beginning of my favorite season: Hockey season. The NHL officially drops the puck on a brand new season today and there's at least one scheduled hockey game per day for the next 116 days. Holy smokes ... pinch me. I'm telling you this 1) because I'm excited, 2) because this is a newsletter about sports things that you should know, and 3) so you know what's to blame when I start looking more tired and acting more erratic than normal ... which is saying a lot. Unfortunately, my request to make today's newsletter exclusively NHL content was denied, but we will be leading off with some stickypuck prep here in a minute. That'll do for now, but just know that I'm going to work tirele sly to get you as hooked on the NHL as I am so that I have some excellent company on my descent into madne s. What you need to know 1. Welcome to the 2021 NHL season My life once again has purpose this morning because the NHL is BACK, baby. After a strange offseason, the NHL kicks off a Aaron Gordon Jersey unique, condensed 56-game campaign with a handful of intriguing matchups tonight. The only thing better than hockey back in our lives? Me getting the opportunity to plug my own writing here in this space. Self-love is important! If you're trying to get yourself up to speed on how this pandemic-shortened season will work, I've got you covered with an easy little primer right . Don't feel bad if you're a little overwhelmed and feel like you've forgotten everything about hockey and all that's happened since last season. I was in the same boat up until putting together But I've been around long enough to know that , so let's dive into some of those: leads the league in goals: Not super bold prediction considering Matthews finished one goal off the goal lead and tied in even-strength goals (35) last season, but I think Matthews has a career year in a shortened season and becomes one of very few players to even sniff 40 goals A rookie wins Calder: But it's not top overall pick Alexis LaFreniere . With Henrik Lundqvist no longer in between the pipes, is set to become the starter and he's likely going to have the greatest impact of all rookies wins Hart: The safe bet for Hart this year is probably a guy like or , but Petter son is a very sensible dark horse. He developed into a complete player last year and is going to be an undeniable superstar for a long time You can find , some of which will inevitably be wrong because hockey is a stupid, unpredictable sport that is impo sible to predict most years. This year should be even more chaotic than usual thanks to the pandemic, but I'd appreciate it greatly if you came along for the ride with me. If you've got any additional hockey questions or feedback, feel free to hit me up on Twitter or shoot me an email (pete.blackburn@cbsinteractive.com). 2. James Harden is officially fed up in Houston The James Harden drama cooled off for a bit but, boy, was it ever back with a vengeance on Tuesday night. We've sort of been waiting for the James Harden situation to come to a head in Houston, one way or another, and we may have finally reached the point of no return. After the got smoked by the and fell to 3-7 last night, Harden wasn't shy about his stance on the team in his postgame pre s conference ... and . He e sentially quit on the team for everyone to see, and his teammates were not thrilled. Harden: "We're just not good enough. Chemistry, talent-wise, everything. It's clear ... I love this city. I've literally done everything I can. This situation ... it's crazy. I don't think it can be fixed. Thanks." (He abruptly ended his pre ser there) , postgame: "When you have certain guys in the mix that don't want to buy in as one, it's gonna be hard to do anything special as a basketball team ... It hurts. If we can all get on the same page, we can be something good here. We can't dwell down on it because it's only been nine games. Come on, man. You're going to jump off the cliff off of nine games? There's a lot of basketball still to be played." At this point it seems like Harden is doing his best to pre sure the Rockets into getting rid of him, and they may have to bite sooner than later. Despite all his talent on the floor, he's clearly creating a me s within the locker room and the team is just fractured right now. Although, I gotta say, I'm all for the Rockets just straight-up refusing to let Harden win. It doesn't seem like he's got a damn left to give at this point, and I'm VERY curious to see how far he'd be willing to take this trade crusade. 3. Who's up for an NFL mock draft? The end of college football season is a real good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is, obviously, college football is done for a while. The good news? It's officially time for MOCK DRAFT SZN! (Okay, Mock Draft SZN never really ends here at CBS Sports but now is truly the time for those mocks to shine.) As such, there's no better time to bring in our to present . Let's get a look at his top 10 picks: Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson : Penei Sewell, OL, Oregon Dolphins : Devonta Smith, WR, Alabama Falcons : Zach Wilson, QB, BYU Bengals : Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida Eagles : Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU Lions : Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State : Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech Broncos : Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama Cowboys : Rashawn Slater, OL, Northwestern As you'll notice, there are a number of key names not featured in the top 10 -- including 's , 's Trey Lance and Alabama's and -- so feel free to to see where Wilson has them landing. If you don't like what you see, don't worry ... this is only the beginning. Soon enough we'll have so many mock drafts that we'll have to mock draft all the mock drafts. It's a beautiful time of year. 4. A way-too-early look at the CFB 2021 Top 25 If you thought it was too early for a mock draft ... well, you're DEFINITELY going to think that it's too early to look at college football's top 25 for 2021. In fairne s, you're right, that's why we call it the 2021 way-too-early top 25. But that's not going to stop us from giving it to you, of course. Here's who Dennis Dodd's got atop : Clemson Oklahoma Georgia Alabama Ohio State Iowa State Cincinnati LSU North Carolina Texas A&M For the full rankings and analysis, you can head . Also, if you're mad about your team's way-too-early ranking, chill out. Have a Dr. Pepper or something. It's January 13th. Odds & Ends Getty Images Waiting on , and it may have cost them already this offseason Olympic gold medalist swimmer Klete Keller was Augusta Nationa l aims to allow in April The , who broke the NHL's color barrier What to watch today Getty Images , 5:30 p.m. | PHI -115 | TV: NBCSN , 10 p.m. | LAC -6.5 | TV: ESPN , 10:30 p.m. | COL -145| TV: NBCSN Top scores from last night Joel Embiid had 45 points and 16 rebounds in the overtime thriller. Winning wagers: MIA +9, Over (212.5) Cade Cunningham scored 18 points and grabbed seven boards as the Cowboys held off a late rally. Winning wagers: OKST +145, Push (145) Penny Hardaway Jersey