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October 25, 2010 :: 12:31pm ET
Opening season eye openers
TORONTO, ON -- What a wacky and wild start
to this NHL season. We’ve already seen a plethora of concussions, a
player get a six game suspension for attacking a fan, and through six
games the Toronto Maple Leafs, basement dwellers for much of last
year, have two regulation losses.
While the season is, like most of today’s
NHL stars, still young, we have already been shown some promising and
some not promising things for this season. Due to all the chaos
revolving around NHL rinks let's take a look at the three biggest
surprises and disappointments that the new season brought with it.
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Surprises:
1. The Tampa Bay Lightning – 5-2-1 through their first eight
games, the Lightning has looked strong and sit atop the Southeast
Division. Led by the league’s leading scorer, Steven Stamkos, the
Lightning has a powerplay clicking at around a 30% success rate and
have averaged close to 35 shots-per-game.
Still, Tampa has to be better defensively
as even though they’ve only lost one game in regulation. Heading into
Sunday’s action, they are posting a +1 goal differential thanks to a
6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Since the Lightning
finished the 2009-10 season 24th in the league, this hot start is
necessary for GM Steve Yzerman’s team to return to the playoffs.
2. The Central Division – It is still early in the season, but
the top-four teams in the Western Conference all call the Central
Division home. With the perennial favorite Detroit Red Wings and
defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks leading the way,
what once was considered one of the worst divisions in hockey, with
constant Red Wings division titles, has become the most competitive
even if it was a year later than most expected.
Nashville has yet to lose in regulation
and St. Louis’ 10 points put them right behind the leaders. Aside from
those four clubs, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ eight points also puts
them in an early playoff spot.
 3.
Nathan Horton – Horton came to the Bruins this off-season, as the
team hoped he would be able to provide some scoring balance that was
lacking last season. Horton has done just that as his nine points in
six games, including at least one-point in each game, leads the way
for the Bruins and this appears to be the year where he finally breaks
out into the player many expected him to be when he was drafted
third-overall by the Florida Panthers.
Disappointments:
1. Ilya Kovalchuk – As if enough
wasn’t written about Ilya during the summer when his contract drama
seemed to be making headlines daily, here we are now nine Devils games
into the season and New Jersey has yet to win a game at home.
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Couple that with the fact that due to
Kovalchuk’s monstrous contract and a few injuries, NJ had to settle
for only dressing three forward lines for a game and the Kovalchuk
contract appears to be quite the albatross in New Jersey. Kovalchuk
started the season on a line with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac and has
since been demoted to second line duty. In a recent game Ilya was told
to stay in the press box as a healthy scratch and his six points and
minus-3 rating through eight games don’t exactly scream Devils hockey.
Kovalchuk a healthy scratch and the Devils dwelling in the basement of
the Atlantic division... is there any bigger disappointment?
2. Empty Arenas – Around the league
there has been another set of issues when it comes to attendance. The
most glaring example has been in Phoenix once again. This is a
disappointment especially after the strong showing by the Coyotes just
a year ago. When will the fans in the desert wake up and start going
to games or when will the league decide it's finally time to pull the
plug on the Phoenix experiment?
 3.
Rick Rypien – Speaking of fans, Rypien's attack of a fan in a
recent game left the whole league and hockey world in shock. Although
no harm was done to the fan, there is no excuse for that kind of
treatment.
Without fans these players don’t make a dime and the league has done a
good job in setting an example that players can not get into
altercations with fans during the day. In a league that finds it hard
to attract fans at the best of times, alienating them by compromising
their safety isn’t exactly the smartest move.
Forward of the Week (Week Ending
Sunday, October 24)
 Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
3GP, 4 G, 4 A, 8 Points, +3
Other than Stamkos being otherworldly as of late in his goal-scoring
prowess, he has also been filling up the stat sheet across the board,
winning more than half of his face-offs over this time as well.
Stamkos’ early play makes it appear that he is poised for a run at not
only the Rocket Richard but, the Art Ross this year, as well.
Close Second: Henrik Zetterberg, W, Detroit Redwings- 2GP, 3G, 3A, 6P
Defenseman of the Week
 Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins
3GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 P, +3
Benefitting from the extra minutes left behind with the departure of
Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang has certainly picked up the slack. In the
past week his offensive numbers speak for themselves and his plus-7
rating over his last five, combined with the 25+ minutes a game that he
is playing routinely give him the no brainer nod for Defenseman of the
Week honors.
Goalie of the Week
 Tim Thomas, G, Boston Bruins
2GP, 2W, .971 SV%, 1.00 GAA
Coming into the season, Thomas was in some sort of goalie limbo, not
quite sure if he was a starter in Boston, yet immovable because of his
high money contract. Last week’s play showed that Thomas is still on
top of his game, for the time being at least, and he isn’t ready to
give up the Bruin crease quite yet. Thomas hasn’t allowed more than
one
goal in any of his four starts.
Tweet of the Week
I have a feeling the Tweet of the Week will be largely dominated by
BizNasty2point0
BizNasty2point0 (aka Paul Bissonnette)
“morning folks. Guess we actually had more then 5000 fans for our
game. Didn't realize it was dress like a seat night. Close to a sell
out.”
MVP Watch
I know it’s early but as this column goes on we will be able to gauge
the changing landscape of the NHL’s MVP Race.
1. Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
Hey Tampa, we’ve seen Stamkos. If there has been a better NHLer this
year than Stamkos, please let me know who. He is a big reason why the
Bolts are 5-2-1 through eight.
2. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
A slow start by Sid has been overcome in the past week, as his stat
line above proves. As Crosby goes, so does Pittsburgh.
3. Marian Hossa, W, Chicago Blackhawks
Dominated the first week of the season, scoreless in the last two, has
packed much of Blackhawk punch, however.
4. Brad Richards, C, Dallas Stars
A return to MVP form for Richards would see a re-emergence of a Stars
team who has fallen off quickly in recent years. So far, Richards and
his first line have dominated.
Michael
Grossi is the Features Editor of The Fourth Period Magazine.
His columns [The G-Spot] appear every Monday on TFP. |
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