As a fan of NHL players competing in the Olympic games I must now deal with the significant drop in hockey on television. Not that it was overflowing in coverage across the land, but with three weeks before the NHL season resumes, the passionate hockey fan is left to devour the intermittent morsels of puck that are televised from mother Russia at odd hours.
Saturday’s games left the standings frozen in a semi-permanent state that could hold to form when the second half resumes. There really wasn’t a particular team that was tearing up the league recently so there is no positive momentum to be forfeited. On the flip side, the break couldn’t come fast enough for Vancouver, which fell for the seventh consecutive game.
The front-runners in the Eastern and Western Conference have been on cruise control with a few hiccups as they approached the Sochi siesta. Anaheim got back on track with a win over Nashville Saturday night while the Penguins stumbled at home with a shootout loss to division rival New York (Rangers). The season resumes with a bang Tuesday February 25th with a massive fixture featuring Buffalo hosting Carolina. Hey, it’s the NHL what did you expect?
Here are your winners and losers for the first half of the NHL season.
Winners
Anaheim Ducks-Everyone knew that the Ducks were good, but it is fair to say that they have exceeded the expectations of the mightiest of Duck fans. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have re-established themselves as an elite tandem in the league and the Ducks have fortified their stars with an impressive crop of youngsters.
Chicago Blackhawks-The Hawks were too talented to really have a Stanley Cup hangover, but they have been at the top of the league from the first puck drop of the season. Patrick Kane is maturing right in front of us and is becoming even more of an elite player. Duncan Keith is performing like the best defenseman in the league and Jonathan Toews is making a case for the most complete player in all of hockey.
St. Louis Blues-The Ken Hitchcock experiment continues to show great results in the Gateway City as the Blues swiped/share first place with Chicago headed into the break. The formula is always the same for Hitch’s teams, but with expectations in place, the Blues now need postseason results to go with regular season success.
Colorado Avalanche-No one expected the Avalanche to be a playoff contender much less a viable division contender with St. Louis and Chicago. Rookie coach Patrick Roy has terrorized his youngsters into winning. Well, I can’t confirm he has terrorized his team, but they are playing like their coach wants to go a few rounds at center ice like he did in the 1990’s.
Pittsburgh Penguins-No one is surprised that the Penguin’s winning machine keeps on chugging along, but they are doing it with defense. Not only are they doing it with defense, they are doing it with young and inexperienced defense. That is a very bad sign for the rest of the Eastern Conference because the Pens still have the best 1-2 punch in the NHL with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Philadelphia Flyers-After firing their coach and hiring a former goon-turned-coach as their bench boss, how could the Flyers possibly be winners? Well, somehow “The Chief” Craig Berube has taken his club from a laughing stock to the thick of the playoff race. Led by an extremely flammable Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds the Flyers could be a force in the postseason.
Boston Bruins-No shocker here as the Bruins are again out in front of their division. The defending conference champs look every bit as menacing as the 2013 edition and seem destined for a rematch with the Penguins for conference supremacy.
Tampa Bay Lightning-Next to Colorado the shocker of the NHL has to be the Lightning. Playing without their best player, coach John Cooper has Tampa nipping at the heels of the mighty Bruins. Ben Bishop and Martin St. Louis have been amazing so far and with Steven Stamkos set to return after the Olympics, the Lightning could really push Boston.
Losers
New York Islanders-One of the biggest disappointments of the year so far has been the failure of the Isles to even resemble the team that made the playoffs last season. Even with John Tavares’best attempt at a one-man show the Long Islanders have fallen woefully short in every other category. With an eminent move to Brooklyn next season the Nassau faithful deserve better. It would require several deadline blockbuster deals to get coach Jack Capuano’s club to the postseason.
Edmonton Oilers-See above. The Oilers and Isles are virtual reflections of one another with the exception of New York’s playoff berth last year. Edmonton looked to be stocked and ready to make some noise with their endless supply of first-round draft picks. With porous defense and goaltending, ahem Islanders, the Oilers look to be doomed yet again to another early round draft pick.
Buffalo Sabres-The bar was honestly set pretty low in Buffalo so to call them losers feels like piling on. We’ll have to call a spade a, well, a “Spad-bre”? Buffalo has multiple trading pieces that they need to move before they end up with nothing. The clock is ticking on Ryan Miller and you have to figure they’ll get a decent return. However, word is that Buffalo has slapped an extraordinary price tag on pending free agent Matt Moulson which could end up biting them.
Washington Capitals-The Capital’s faithful are convinced that their superstar captain Alexander Ovechkin has another “strap-the-entire-team-to-my-back” playoff run in him. With an intense Olympic break, their favorite sniper might be a little burned out for an encore of his 2013 performance.
Detroit Red Wings-It may not be fair to classify the Red Wings as losers based on a brutal series of injuries. Detroit has yet to play a game this season with a completely healthy roster and it shows with their mediocre standing in the Atlantic Division. With a 22-year playoff streak in serious peril, the Wings needed a three-week recovery period more than any other team in the NHL.
Vancouver Canucks-It has been a season filled with ups and downs for Vancouver and their new coach John Tortorella. When the Canucks are hot, they are truly hot, owning a seven game win streak in the first two weeks of December. However, their streaks can go cold two with two five-game slides and their current seven-game slump. When NHL play resumes after the Sochi break Vancouver will be on the wrong side of the playoff bubble.