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EASTERN CONFERENCE
By
Trevor Burroughs
Once month into
the NHL season and some teams seem to want to make a liar of me,
while other teams are performing pretty much as expected. I just
wish the Capitals were a team that was making me a liar! Well, I
knew I was in for a long season. So, let’s look around the
divisions.
Atlantic:
Both the Islanders and Rangers are off to better starts than I was
expecting this season. Rick DiPietro must have read my comments
on him, as he has been playing well in goal, posting an impressive
1.66 GAA so far this season, and Mike Dunham is not far behind
with a 1.85. The season is still young however, but I really am
surprised to see both goalies off to such a good start. It would
be nice to have some US born goalies doing well. The Rangers
offense, however, needs Dunham to play well, as the Rangers are
near the bottom of the Eastern Conference in goals scored. With
Lindross out, the Rangers will look to the return of Brian Leetch
to pick their scoring up. Thankfully for the Islanders, Marius
Czerkawski is on quite a scoring tear this year, and Alexi Yashin
is starting to score more for them. As expected, the Flyers and
Devils are doing well. The Devils had a slow start, but they are
starting to find their game again. The Devils, as usual, are not
experiencing a huge offensive output this year, but thankfully for
the Flyers, Mark Recchi is playing very well, and maybe Tony
Amonte will find his stride with the Flyers this season.
Meanwhile, the Penguins are doing respectable, all things
considered. Lemieux, however, is not tearing up the scoring race
like he did last year. With his lack of output, the Penguins will
probably do even worse than I had predicted.
Northeast:
Well, it is amusing to look at the standings and see Ottawa in
last place in their division. Then you look and realize they have
only played 9 games, about 3 less than other teams. If you factor
those games in, they could easily be at the top of the division.
Marian Hossa and Radek Bonk are both playing very well this year
already, and Patrick Lalime is posting a very high 1.60 GAA. It’s
certainly a recipe for success for the Senators. Boston is on a
tear at the start of this season. Andrew Raycroft is posting some
great numbers for the Bruins, and seems to be splitting time in
net with Felix Potvin. The two of them could prove to be a power
tandem, much like the Wild used last year. And with Joe Thornton
scoring like he did last year, the Bruins could have a much better
season that I had thought they would. Toronto is not doing as well
as I had thought they would, though they are not playing terrible
hockey. However, no one on the team is really stepping up to score
a lot for them, which needs to be fixed. Montreal cannot make up
their mind on how they want to play. Some games they play
wonderful hockey, serving up shutouts, then they lose a game you
would expect them to win. Buffalo, however, is thankfully doing
well, as I had hoped. Chris Drury is scoring well for them, which
is a big help to Miroslav Satan. I hope they continue to do well.
Southeast:
The biggest surprise, to me, is the success of the Thrashers this
year. Ilya Kovalchuk is scoring at a great pace this year, and
Marc Savard is not far behind him. Surprising also has been the
goaltending of Pasi Nurminen. I never thought he could turn the
kinds of numbers he has been doing. Tampa Bay is doing well, as
expected. Of course, they have also played the fewest games in the
NHL, but it says something when they have, but are still in first
place. It really does mean they could go far this year. I hope the
fans down there appreciate it! Meanwhile, Florida is doing
slightly better than I had expected, as is Carolina. Carolina has
Kevin Weeks carrying them on his back so far this season, since
they do not seem to have any scoring to back them up. Florida is
fortunate that Robert Luongo. Thankfully too, Viktor Kozlov is
scoring for Florida to help them out some. Then of course, there
are the pathetic Capitals, who are still last in the entire NHL.
With the useless trading of team captain Steve Konowalchuk, the
team loses key leadership. So much so, that the team doesn’t plan
to name a captain for the rest of the year. I’ll try not to be too
bitter, and point out that at least Robert Lang is scoring well
this year. I guess I need to find the positive somewhere.
That’s it this
time around. See you in two weeks. |
WESTERN CONFERENCE
By Chuck Hagel
It's the Hockey Show with our very special guest star,
Marian Gaborik....yea!!!
OK, we’ll it’s
not exactly Kermit the Frog announcing the Muppet Show, however
this writer is happy to report the signing of Marian Gabork to the
Minnesota Wild. He had held out for months finally signed and
then played with the Wild this past week. As the local hometown
rep, I can say that I’m happy that he’s on board; however one
player never makes a whole team.
Here’s a little
update about some of what’s been happening out in the West. The
good the bad and the (bi)-curious. Read on to see what I mean.
Vancouver
Canucks: So far so good they have an eight-game unbeaten
streak (6-0-2). What’s so bad? Only two goals from Todd Bertuzzi.
What I’m curious about...The Canucks, who mostly relied on goals
from two players last season, have goals from 17 different
players. Sounds like the diversity training went well in the off
season.
St. Louis:
Goin’ good...after each of their four losses (one in OT) the Blues
have allowed just one goal in their next game and won all four,
three of them by a 2-1 score. Bad boys..An extensive injury list
(talk about black and blues *groan*) . Curious George...five
rookies are among the team’s top ten scorers.
Colorado:
On the good side:...A nine-game point scoring streak for Alex
Tanguay is tied (Radek Bonk) for the longest in the league this
season. The streak ended in a 4-4 tie with Minnesota. (A happy
yea, from this writer) Kinda Bad...only .500 at home where they’ve
had a winning record for 11 straight seasons. Curious
about...Steve Moore, teammates with his brother Dominic in Tier II
Junior and college at Harvard, played against his brother for the
first time when the Avalanche faced the Rangers.
Minnesota:
Goodie, Goodie Marian Gaborik is back. Naughty boys...blew a 4-2
third period lead in a 4-4 tie with Colorado. Curiosity killed the
Wild cat...the Wild’s 4-4 tie in Colorado extended their regular
season winless streak there to nine games (0-7-2) since joining
the league.
Ducks: 25.
Good Goose... beginning November 9, the Might Ducks play six of
their next eight at home. Fowl...J-S Giguere has a 1-7 record.
Duck Suprise...The Ducks have scored one of zero goals in eight of
their 14 games.
We’ll be cycling
another line here pretty soon, we’ll see what’s going to come down
towards the end of the first quarter of the NHL season!
How I wish they
had a "Playmakers" for hockey! |
