Eastern Conference
First impressions after a week or so:
The Bruins seem to be the team to beat- Boston is one of the most physical teams in the league, and they have shown it. Milan Lucic is a man-beast on the ice with an unparalleled balance of physicality and skill, and with guys like Shawn Thornton, Nathan Horton, Zdeno Chara, and even the 19-year-old Dougie Hamilton added to the mix, the Bruins have the size to not only match up with any team, but outmatch them. Even their smallest guys like Brad Marchand fearlessly throw their weight around. Their size and skill in front of underrated goaltender Tuukka Rask make them the frontrunner, in my mind, to recapture the East.
Yeah, I wouldn't exactly be jumping at this chance to stare Lucic down.
The Devils don't seem to be missing Zach Parise too much- My beloved Devils are off to a 3-0-1 start and their defense, paired with the tremendous play of ageless wonder Marty Brodeur in net, is their biggest strength. The Devils return their entire defensive unit from last year's Stanley Cup Final team, something that Brodeur has said he feels greatly comforted by. The team should have last year's rookie sensation and playoff hero Adam Henrique back by the end of the week, adding to a group of forwards that have already featured strong play from David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Travis Zajac. While the Devils are in a nice position 4 games in, they need to address their slow first period starts if they want to keep it that way. Right now they look like a contender, but they clearly can't relax in what is probably the best division in hockey.
The old man's still got it.
Tampa Bay's offense is a force to be reckoned with- You already know what Steven Stamkos, Marty St. Louis, and Vinny Lecavalier bring to the table (although the latter two may be a bit of surprise with their high levels of play as they continue to age), but there has also been a surprise with the addition of the AHL's reigning MVP in Cory Conacher. Conacher looks to be a potential Calder Cup frontrunner as the league's top rookie, as he has contributed 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in the club's first 5 games. The smaller rookie (listed at 5'8" 179 lbs) has seemed to have no trouble transitioning to the next level. They'll need goalie Anders Lindback to step up at times to balance out the attack, but the Lighning have struck early.
The Rangers and Flyers need to pick it up- These two division foes handed in quite an entertaining affair in their first meeting, a game the Flyers won 2-1, but their slow starts have them looking up within the division (even behind the Islanders, bleh). While the Rangers' 2-3 and the Flyers' 2-4 starts may have produced a little bit of panic amongst fans, these teams are built well enough to make the playoffs, which is all a team needs to do in a shortened season. The Rangers have arguably the best goalie in the NHL in Henrik Lundqvist and one of the best top lines in the league with Rick Nash, Brad Richards, and Marian Gaborik. The Flyers took a hit with the loss of Scott Hartnell for a month, but the return of Danny Briere helps along with one of the best young players in the game in Claude Giroux. Philadelphia's defense remains suspect and they'll ask more out of Ilya Bryzgalov in net this season, but I think they're a good enough team to make the playoffs.
Hartnell is a big loss, although I'm not convinced this isn't Hagrid.
Washington fans should be panicking- Something is wrong in the nation's capital. The Caps don't look quite right; Alexander Ovechkin doesn't look quite right. Ovechkin seems to be missing something. He has moved from left wing to right wind, but that can't be what's wrong. Whether it's that he's trying to do too much or whatever, the Caps can't contend with their star performing like he has. Their goalie play has struggled as well, although their defense isn't helping. Last year's playoff surprise, Braden Holtby has struggled mightily allowing 10 goals in his two games. Michael Neurvirth has been slightly better for Washington, but the goalie play in total needs to be better and that begins with the defense, which has allowed the two goaltenders to be peppered with shots, something that can't continue. Unless the team turns it around quick, they're in trouble with each game that much more important in a shortened season.
Western Conference
Chicago has regained its Stanley Cup swagger- There hasn't been a better team in the early going so far than the Chicago Blackhawks. Their offensive attack, led by Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews has been stellar, and goaltender Corey Crawford, who struggled at times last season, has been tremendous. Chicago is 6-0-0 and is showing no signs of slowing down. The best way to put it is simply: the 'Hawks are back, back to their ways that brought the Stanley Cup back to Chicago in 2010.
Patty Kane, ladies and gents.
The Kings are off to a "slow start"- There has been a bit of a hubbub about Los Angeles' "slow start", but I'm not one of those worriers. The team is 2-2-1 and currently sitting in what is now 8th place in the West, which is a playoff spot in case you needed reminding. This is a team that won the Stanley Cup last year from the 8 seed. Anze Kopitar is just getting his sea-legs back after suffering an injury while playing overseas, and while the injury to Matt Greene puts a damper on the defense, they still have a tremendous goaltender in the reigning Conn Smythe winner, Jonathan Quick in net and most of the same team that won Lord Stanley's Cup a mere 7 months ago.
This could be Edmonton's breakthrough year- The Oilers have now been bad for what seems like decades. However, after amassing top pick after top pick in the draft, Edmonton has started 3-2 and while it is respectable, it's a vast improvement from where the team has been, which is in the basement. Their young talent is starting to come together with guys like this year's top pick Nail Yakupov, with former top picks Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers have gotten solid goaltending from Devan Dubnyk and the early signs point to Edmonton perhaps being a playoff team as early as this year.
For many other teams it's been business as usual, which can be good (in the cases of San Jose and St. Louis) or bad (in the cases of Calgary and Toronto). While we've all been deprived of our hockey for the better part of 4 months, it is back and as strong as ever. Record ticket sales and viewership have been reported in the opening week, meaning the boost the NHL received last year through the playoffs has not only not receded, but has continued to grow. We have less hockey now in our 48-game season, but we have more meaningful hockey and more hockey in a typical week. The NHL knew we'd be back and we knew it too, regardless of how much apathy we pretended to have through the whole lockout. However you felt and whoever you blamed is not deemed irrelevant and the indignant nature and feelings have calmed. Hockey is back and beginning to regain its glory days of the 1980s and 1990s when Gretzky and Lemieux ruled the ice.
It's an exciting year for the NHL, even if it will carry an asterisk in the record books. We have a jam-packed season on our hands and I, for one, am beyond excited. So hockey fans, and those who are just reading this because they like me (even though I'd have no idea how you made it this far), enjoy it, because it will be a hell of a ride.
-TA
