November 30, 2011 :: 10:04pm ET Plenty of action early on
Tab Bamford looks at the first quarter of the NHL season, with an
early prediction on the summer's hardware.
CHICAGO, IL -- The first quarter of the 2011-12 NHL season is in the
rear view mirror, and the second month is quickly coming to a
ferocious close. The changes keep coming in the NHL, and players
continue impressing all over the league. What have we learned, so far?
Teams have no fear of pulling the trigger on change. St. Louis let
Davis Payne go early, and the response has been overwhelming.
Entering Monday's action, the Blues were right on the heels of the Red
Wings and Blackhawks in the Central Division, and their team defense
has been stifling under Ken Hitchcock.
With the way the Blues have responded to their coaching change as the
catalyst for other organizations, Washington and Carolina made their
own changes on Monday. Bruce Boudreau and Paul Maurice filed for
unemployment, while Dale Hunter and Kirk Muller received much-deserved
calls.
Hunter will have to answer two huge questions quickly: Will he keep
Alex Ovechkin's attention? And will Alex Semin appear interested on a
regular basis?
For Muller, he'll try to turn around the luck of the Canes, where Eric
Staal has been one of the most shocking disappointments (on paper) in
the league this year. From a distance, it appears Staal is lost; upon
closer examination, he's one of the most snakebit players in the
league. Getting his captain's swagger back will be the most immediate
charge of the new boss in Carolina.
With some other teams off to underwhelming starts, will the firing
squad stay busy? The buns are getting warm with the Ducks and
Islanders, and the list of top candidates is shrinking with each
subsequent termination. How many coaching changes will happen before
Christmas?
Overall, the League has enjoyed increased scoring. So far, 10 teams
are allowing an average of three goals per game, double the total at
the end of last year. The five-on-five play across the league has
improved, at the expense of goaltenders everywhere; there isn't an
enormous difference around the league in the quality of penalty
killing from last year (six teams under 80 per cent penalty kill to
date, same number as end of last season).
Some individual players around the league that are impacting those
scoring numbers, and some are starting to carve out an argument for
individual hardware next summer in Vegas, as well.
The early leader for the Hart Trophy would have to be Chicago's
Jonathan Toews. Entering Tuesday night's action, Toews is in the NHL's
top 10 with 25 points and 13 goals, both impressive numbers from a
player that's been a notoriously slow starter in the last few years.
Most impressively, Toews continues to take as many faceoffs as anyone
in the game and is winning over 61 per cent of his draws in the
season's first 24 games.
The early leader for the Hart Trophy would have to be Chicago's
Jonathan Toews. Entering Tuesday night's action, Toews is in the NHL's
top 10 with 25 points and 13 goals, both impressive numbers from a
player that's been a notoriously slow starter in the last few years.
Most impressively, Toews continues to take as many faceoffs as anyone
in the game and is winning over 61 per cent of his draws in the
season's first 24 games.
Claude Giroux, Phil Kessel and (of course) Sidney Crosby will be in
the discussion as the season continues. And, if he can continue his
incredible early pace, Florida's Kris Versteeg could be a sleeper for
an invite to Vegas this summer.
The Vezina is wide open right now. The renaissance of journeyman Brian
Elliott in St. Louis has been remarkable, as he leads the League in
goals against and save percentage. Another netminder that was thought
to be washed up, Nikolai Khabibulin, has been fantastic in Edmonton
early on as well.
While Tim Thomas, Marc-Andre Fleury and (before injury) Kari Lehtonen
have been superb, Elliott and Khabibulin are big reasons their teams
are competing in the Western Conference. Could Cory Schneider sneak
into the Vezina discussion... as the "back-up" in Vancouver?
Injuries have impacted the Norris race already. Certainly Mr. Lidstrom
will receive his annual invitation, but what happens from there? The
up-and-down play from defensemen like Duncan Keith has been maddening
to fans early this year, while injuries have slowed the production of
guys like Kris Letang.
In the standings, many projected Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit and
Boston to be near the top, but who had the Florida Panthers and
Minnesota Wild leading a division at the end of November? But, then
again, nobody is running away in either conference. Entering Monday,
five points separated fourth and twelfth in the East and the same five
was the difference between fourth and eleventh in the West.
What hockey fans can look forward to in December is more competitive
hockey, and more questions than answers.
Tam Bamford is a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com and the Chicago
Correspondent for
The Fourth Period Magazine.
