So were about 5 or 6 games into the season (depending on your team).
You know, forget about the wins and losses, goals, assists, points, goals against average and save percentage!
There is something else that always brings me in about the NHL: The storylines!
Already there are plenty, and if this continues, this just might be the most talked about 48 game regular season since 94/95!
So right out of the gate, you have Florida, Philly and Washington struggling. All three teams made the playoffs last year, Philly and Washington each won a playoff round, Florida didn't, but finished in first place in the Southeast.
Ovie isn't scoring, at least until his last game, Bryz isn't consistent, Florida, well, are we going to write last season off as a fluke?
Buffalo and Toronto meet tomorrow. Both started out fast, but have since faded, a game each below .500. The Leafs are young, and much of this season, I suspect is going to focus on Mr. Kadri. Depending on your source, he's either amazing or just a AHLer disguised as an NHL. We will see this year. In goal, Scivens has played well, but the Leafs are hoping that James Reimer, a good (but inconsistent) goalie can be Mr. #1!
Buffalo has some scoring, but just some. And it's like back in the Hasek era: It's just not enough support for the goalie, Miller in this case, whose numbers are excellent. Now granted, they have Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville off to tremendous starts, (and even Cody Hodgson, too) but other than that? Not much. And once these guys come down to earth, who picks up the slack?
Carolina (otherwise known as Team Staal) and New York are a little sub par, as the play of Jordan Staal and Rick Nash will be closely followed by everyone.
The Islanders are actually at .500 exactly, but can they go (and stay) above it. It's kinda sad, knowing that they will be leaving in a few seasons. But at least it's not much of a move. Still, they need to make the playoffs, or they will not have fans no matter where they play!
Pittsburgh is doing a little less than what I'm sure is expected. You know, so many have said that the Pens, with a healthy Sid, should do well, at least in the regular season. You know, with Sid there for just 22 games last year, the Pens won 51 games. But with Sid there in the playoffs, they won only two.
See, problem here is, the Flyers exposed in last year (a long time ago!) what is apparent about Pittsburgh: when they lack discipline, they are a very beatable team, no matter who you have in there. I watched the Pens two losses this year to Toronto and Winnipeg. They were right in the game, 2-2 vs Toronto, 2-0 vs Winny, and they started playing dumb hockey: givaways and penalties galore!
Three Canadian team, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal, are rolling right along behind some great goaltending. Anderson is proving that last year was no fluke, Price keeps reminding you that he is light years older than his apparent 25 years. Pavelec is also 25 years old, off to one of his best starts, maybe his best start, of any season.
So, aside from Price's goaltending, Michel Therrien (he's come full circle, now) back behind the World'.s Toughest Job, anything else in Hab country.
Oh.
Yeah.
P.
K.
Okay, how is this going to play out. Well, it's an unecessary distraction, like Luongo in Vancouver. Thing about the Habs is, never put yourself above the team. Granted, it's been 20 years since the Habs have won the Cup, and more than 30 years since the Habs OWNED the Cup, but Montreal still has that tradition. You play for the team, you care about Montreal. Somehow, I think some of the guys there are going to think that PK doesn't really want to be here, thus leading to his ouster.
I'm not sure about that, but the longer this thing goes, the harder it's going to be for PK if he returns to Montreal. Were he a vetran, or had a proven track record of exceptional play, maybe. But he doesn't, so don't be surprised if we see a trade.
Marty Brodeur is 40 years years old, and will be 41 on May 6th. And I will continue to hear how overrated he is, how he faces easy shots, how he wasn't even close to the best of his time.
And I will continue to see him win, win, win.
And shutout, shutout, shutout.
So keep up whatever you have to say about him. He's winning, he's got another shutout.
And did I mention his GAA is 1.69? Heeeeeeeere's Marty!
Now, is Tampa Bay a surprise? They've got Stamper, Lecavalier, and St. Louis. But they also have Conacher and Purcell! Add that up and they are first in the league in goals for with 24. Plus Anders Lindback in playing well enough, Mathieu Garon played excellent in his first game. Only 4 teams in the East have allowed fewer goals, and 3 of them have played 1 fewer game. Lightning could strike them!
References
"Official Site of the National Hockey League.” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 1 28 Jan. 2013.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 1 28 Jan. 2013.
You know, forget about the wins and losses, goals, assists, points, goals against average and save percentage!
There is something else that always brings me in about the NHL: The storylines!
Already there are plenty, and if this continues, this just might be the most talked about 48 game regular season since 94/95!
So right out of the gate, you have Florida, Philly and Washington struggling. All three teams made the playoffs last year, Philly and Washington each won a playoff round, Florida didn't, but finished in first place in the Southeast.
Ovie isn't scoring, at least until his last game, Bryz isn't consistent, Florida, well, are we going to write last season off as a fluke?
Buffalo and Toronto meet tomorrow. Both started out fast, but have since faded, a game each below .500. The Leafs are young, and much of this season, I suspect is going to focus on Mr. Kadri. Depending on your source, he's either amazing or just a AHLer disguised as an NHL. We will see this year. In goal, Scivens has played well, but the Leafs are hoping that James Reimer, a good (but inconsistent) goalie can be Mr. #1!
Buffalo has some scoring, but just some. And it's like back in the Hasek era: It's just not enough support for the goalie, Miller in this case, whose numbers are excellent. Now granted, they have Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville off to tremendous starts, (and even Cody Hodgson, too) but other than that? Not much. And once these guys come down to earth, who picks up the slack?
Carolina (otherwise known as Team Staal) and New York are a little sub par, as the play of Jordan Staal and Rick Nash will be closely followed by everyone.
The Islanders are actually at .500 exactly, but can they go (and stay) above it. It's kinda sad, knowing that they will be leaving in a few seasons. But at least it's not much of a move. Still, they need to make the playoffs, or they will not have fans no matter where they play!
Pittsburgh is doing a little less than what I'm sure is expected. You know, so many have said that the Pens, with a healthy Sid, should do well, at least in the regular season. You know, with Sid there for just 22 games last year, the Pens won 51 games. But with Sid there in the playoffs, they won only two.
See, problem here is, the Flyers exposed in last year (a long time ago!) what is apparent about Pittsburgh: when they lack discipline, they are a very beatable team, no matter who you have in there. I watched the Pens two losses this year to Toronto and Winnipeg. They were right in the game, 2-2 vs Toronto, 2-0 vs Winny, and they started playing dumb hockey: givaways and penalties galore!
Three Canadian team, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal, are rolling right along behind some great goaltending. Anderson is proving that last year was no fluke, Price keeps reminding you that he is light years older than his apparent 25 years. Pavelec is also 25 years old, off to one of his best starts, maybe his best start, of any season.
So, aside from Price's goaltending, Michel Therrien (he's come full circle, now) back behind the World'.s Toughest Job, anything else in Hab country.
Oh.
Yeah.
P.
K.
Okay, how is this going to play out. Well, it's an unecessary distraction, like Luongo in Vancouver. Thing about the Habs is, never put yourself above the team. Granted, it's been 20 years since the Habs have won the Cup, and more than 30 years since the Habs OWNED the Cup, but Montreal still has that tradition. You play for the team, you care about Montreal. Somehow, I think some of the guys there are going to think that PK doesn't really want to be here, thus leading to his ouster.
I'm not sure about that, but the longer this thing goes, the harder it's going to be for PK if he returns to Montreal. Were he a vetran, or had a proven track record of exceptional play, maybe. But he doesn't, so don't be surprised if we see a trade.
Marty Brodeur is 40 years years old, and will be 41 on May 6th. And I will continue to hear how overrated he is, how he faces easy shots, how he wasn't even close to the best of his time.
And I will continue to see him win, win, win.
And shutout, shutout, shutout.
So keep up whatever you have to say about him. He's winning, he's got another shutout.
And did I mention his GAA is 1.69? Heeeeeeeere's Marty!
Now, is Tampa Bay a surprise? They've got Stamper, Lecavalier, and St. Louis. But they also have Conacher and Purcell! Add that up and they are first in the league in goals for with 24. Plus Anders Lindback in playing well enough, Mathieu Garon played excellent in his first game. Only 4 teams in the East have allowed fewer goals, and 3 of them have played 1 fewer game. Lightning could strike them!
References
"Official Site of the National Hockey League.” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 1 28 Jan. 2013.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 1 28 Jan. 2013.
