The hot and the not of the NHL
November 24, 2005
John Adams
Almost a quarter of the way through the NHL season the storylines are beginning to fall into place. A few months ago, everyone believed the NHL’s new buzzword—parity—was going to level the playing field. But what has been learned in the first 20 games is that there is no such a thing as an even slate. Here are some of the biggest surprises, disappointments and performers of the new season.
Best Team:
Ottawa Senators - Big-time talent Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Daniel Alfredsonn and Dominik Hasek have delivered all that was expected of them.
Worst Team:
St. Louis Blues - Ugh.
Biggest Surprises:
Montreal Canadiens - They live and die with their freewheeling offence.
Carolina Hurricanes - Surprisingly good goaltending has complemented their sudden scoring punch.
New York Rangers - Playing well behind rejuvenated Jaromir Jagr and budding star Henrik Lundqvist.
Los Angeles Kings - First place in the pacific division. Surprise!
Reality Bites:
Pittsburgh Penguins - Finding out it doesn’t matter how much you score if your opponent scores more.
Atlanta Thrashers - It is hard to win games with your starting and back-up goalies out with injuries.
Turning the Corner (Slow Starts but Promising Results):
Calgary Flames - Back-to-back wins against the northwest division leading Canucks show the Flames are getting hot again.
San Jose Sharks - Recovering from a slow start, Cheechoo is meeting expectations and Nabakov is back from injury.
Todd Bertuzzi - Starting to get his hands and skating back. Was dominant against Calgary.
So Hot Right Now:
Fast starts for Joe Thornton, Eric Staal and Brian McCabe have Wayne Gretzky and company paying attention regarding a trip to Turin.
So Not Right Now:
Brendan Morrison, Mike Peca and Nikolai Khabibulin haven’t met the expectations that came with the new season.
Best Duo’s:
It’s hard to miss the damage that Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne have done to opposing teams. Don’t forget about the league’s best youth movement, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza.
Rookie Watch:
Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin have been great, but look out for standouts Dion Phaneuf, Mike Richards, Brent Seabrook, Marek Svatos, Pavel Vorobiev, Alex Steen, and goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Jason Labarbera.
Now you go...
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