If you’ve been wandering around in a “Hunt for October” induced daze (I have), wondering why you feel like you’re forgetting something — scratch your confused head no more. What’s been nagging so persistently at your baseball-and-football-suffused conscious is exciting, especially for dejected Mets fans who have nothing to look forward to as far as October baseball is concerned (uh-oh). The best part is, you’re going to kick yourself when I tell you…

It’s hockey season … DUH.

That’s right, after about three weeks of preseason games that went unnoticed by many “hockey fans,” the season began yesterday, overshadowed by the thrilling quest for the postseason in the National League and the start of postseason as a whole.