The NHL season is approximately one quarter completed and there have been many surprises and disappointments league-wide. Below, I will highlight three surprises and three disappointments that have transpired to date.
Surprises
Under the Radar Rookies
Heading into the 2010/11 season, the only talk regarding NHL rookies focused on 'Taylor vs. Tyler', or for those of you who don’t regularly follow hockey - Oilers’ Taylor Hall and Bruins’ Tyler Seguin. Both of these players have had slow starts in their professional careers. On the other hand, two other rookies have come out of nowhere and have shined for their respective teams.
Jeff Skinner was the seventh overall selection in this past June's draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. I can't really comprehend why teams ahead of the Hurricanes overlooked this impressive player. In 84 games for the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) last season, he had 70 goals and 53 assists. A former national level figure skater has shown that he is dynamic both on his feet and when he fires the puck. The Markham ON native leads all rookies with 19 points in 23 games this season.
The Philadelphia Flyers were coming off a surprise run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were backstopped by journeymen Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton. When Leighton went down with a seemingly innocent back injury in the pre-season, no one knew who the Flyers would rely on in net. Their answer? Sergei Bobrovsky, a no-name Russian training camp invite. The teammate they call ‘Bob’ doesn't speak much English, but his lateral movement more than compensates. The former Novokuznetsk Metallburg starter in the KHL has been a revelation for Philadelphia. He currently boasts a 12-3-2 record with 2.19 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Bobrovsky has been an integral reason that the Flyers are in 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
Netminders with Something to Prove
Tim Thomas was the Vezina Trophy winner in 2009. Many expected that he would lead the Boston Bruins to the promised land in 2010. However, Tuukka Rask achieved a 1.97 goals against average and substantially outplayed Thomas, who dealt with a hip injury throughout last season. The 2010/11 season has been a whole different story. Thomas underwent surgery to correct the problem in the offseason and it has made a huge difference. He has been absolutely lights out this year to date with his healthy hip, as evidenced by his 11-2-1 record with 1.56 goals against average, a .950 save percentage and four shutouts. The Flint, Michigan native is definitely back to his old Vezina form.
In the offseason, the Montreal Canadiens decided to trade Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues, thus putting all their faith in Carey Price. Price has proven to all of his doubters that he isn’t ‘past his prime’ (even though he’s only 23). The Anaheim Lake, BC native leads the league with 14 wins and is tied with Thomas with four shutouts. He has been the Montreal Canadiens’ MVP to date and undoubtedly a key factor contributing to the Habs’ third place ranking in the Eastern Conference.
Upstart Teams
The Atlanta Thrashers made a flurry of deals in the offseason. They acquired what seemed to be half of the Chicago Blackhawks’ championship roster, and goalie Chris Mason, who twice represented Canada at the World Championship. Dustin Byfugilen and Ondrej Pavelec have become the two best Thrasher players. In fact, last week they were the #1 and #2 ‘NHL Stars of the Week.’ The Atlanta Thrashers are 7th in the Eastern Conference, four points clear of the 9th spot. I guess it really was a good idea to trade Ilya Kovalchuk!
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made enormous strides from last season. Their main offseason moves were on the bench, where they hired Scott Arneil as head coach and former NHLer Bob Boughner as his assistant. Boughner coached the Windsor Spitfires to back-to-back Memorial Cup championships, so winning is in his blood. Steve Mason has been a revelation this year and Mathieu Garon has been sharp when called upon. Columbus is in 5th in the Western Conference and is poised to become the Phoenix Coyotes of last season.
Disappointments
Superstar Struggling
When thinking back to the free agency period in the summer, Ilya Kovalchuk is likely to be the single player that dominates one’s mind. The NHL rejected his original 17 year $102 contract with the Devils. The two sides finally agreed to a 15 year $100 million deal. Was it all worth it? The Devils gave up Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, four first round picks (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 or 2014), a 2011 third round choice and the $3 million dollar fine for the contract being rejected. Kovalchuk hasn’t been really impressive so far. He has only 10 points in 23 games. He’s been a healthy scratch and completely ‘whiffed’ on a game-deciding shootout attempt. I guess he’ll have 14 more years to improve his record.
Mainstay Teams on the Downfall
Two teams expected to be division leaders have been the complete opposite to date.
I’ve already mentioned Ilya Kovalchuk’s struggles, but his performance parallels that of the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey is having a very difficult time scoring goals and a hard time keeping pucks out of their net. This is the ideal recipe for failure. The Devils have made the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons. They will need to ‘hike up their socks’ if they want to make it to the dance floor again this year.
The Buffalo Sabres finished with 100 points last season, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. However, they were easily beaten in six games by the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. That kind of performance has continued into this season. Ryan Miller has not been himself and has been hampered by injury. Tyler ‘Zdeno Chara Jr.’ Myers has had a harsh case of the sophomore slump. He has a -10 rating thus far this season. Buffalo is currently 10th in the conference and 10 points behind the division leading Montreal Canadiens.
Attendance
Is it just me, or does it seem that NHL arenas are noticeably vacant this year? Eight teams have experienced significant drops in attendance, with Atlanta (36.2%), Columbus (31.9%) and Dallas (26.5%) leading the descent. All three of these teams are performing much better than last year, which makes this whole situation quite odd. Even the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks (1.9%) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (0.3%) have noted decreased attendance. Come on fans, it’s not ‘dress up as an empty seat day’ every time you go to games!
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