The NHL So Far….
With many apologies for such a long delay, here’s a look at how things are going in the NHL after the first month of the season.
The LA Kings are proving that last season was no fluke as they sit atop the Western Conference. Their inability to add Ilya Kovalchuk doesn’t seem like much of a problem as they are in the eigth in the league for goals per game and they are currently undefeated at home after 8 games. They are also first in the league in goals against and first on the penalty kill. A great offensive group of Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Ryan Smith, Anze Kopitar, and Jarret Stoll lead the way up front and defenseman Jack Johnson is anchoring down the blue line. Goaltender Jonathon Quick is an impressive third overall in the league with a 1.53 Goals Against Average.
Detroit and Vancouver are also playing well atop the conference. Some surprises include the St. Louis Blues, Anaheim ducks, and Coloumbus Blue Jackets who are all currently in the top 8. Phoenix is also hanging in there after last year’s playoff birth. Colorado, Nashville, and Dallas are all still struggling to find their way and the defending champion Blackhawks are struggling through injuries and the fact that they lost many people for last year’s team due to salary cap issues. The West is proving to be highly competitive and by the way things look now it will be difficult to grab a playoff spot without a very good record.
Out east, Ovechkin and the boys in the Washington are atop the standings but Philly is only a point behind backing up their finals appearance from last season. The Montreal Canadiens are surprisingly right there, just a point behind Philly and two behind Washington. Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin are third and fourth in the league in points leading the offensive charge for the Capitals. Philly’s scoring has been spread out but Claude Giroux leads the team with 9 goals which is good for a tie for eighth in the league. After the top three teams there is a bit of a drop off with Ottowa and Pittsburgh tied for fourth six points back from the Caps. After that is the surprise team of the conference, Tampa Bay, under new leadership from former Red Wing Steve Yzerman. Steven Stamkos, now in his third year, leads the NHL in goals with 15 and is tied with Sidney Crosby for the league lead in points with 27.
Sabres VS Devils Shootout 11/10/10
The biggest disappointment in the east has to be the New Jersey Devils. The team that signed sniper Ilya Kovalchuk for 15 years is last in the league in scoring, averaging only 1.9 goals/game. Through 17 games Kovalchuk only has 4 goals and 5 assists, including a multi-game scoring drought he ended with the OT winner over Edmonton. Martin Brodeur has been mediocre and suffered an elbow injury. He’s save percentage is only at .903 and is goals against is a disappointing 2.71. Star player Zach Parise is out for a few months after having his knee scoped and the Devils are looking for consistency. First year coach and former Devils player John Maclean could be on a very short leash if things continue.
It’s been an exciting NHL season so far. There’s no clear cut dominating team but the usual suspects are up front in both conferences with the exception of New Jersey in the east and Chicago in the west. It’s a little too early for any sort of legitimate predictions as we are just short of a quarter of the way through the season, but it looks as though LA, Detroit, Washington, and Philly are the class of the league.
