A lot can go on in a month of hockey. This post will give a detailed look back at the past month of games, stories, and statistics.
The month of October in the NHL is dying down and it was a busy one. After a shortened season, this month gave us a beautiful streak of hockey where we didn't have to be concerned about falling behind in a quick 48 game schedule. While each game still means a lot, having your team lose 3 straight games this year means a lot less than it did last year, when those three games counted for 6% of the schedule.
Anyway, this month featured a lot of great moments and stories so let's dive in.
STANDINGS
With the conference realignment, we have to get used to a different format of the standings. The top 3 teams in each division get in with the last two spots being a free-for-all in the conference. Confusing? Ya. But we'll get used to it.
EAST
Atlantic
Tampa Bay Lightning- 8-3-0 16 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 8-4-0 16 points
Boston Bruins- 7-3-0 14 points
Metropolitan (gag)
Pittsburgh Penguins- 8-4-0 16 points
New York Islanders- 4-4-3 11 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 4-5-3 11 points
Wild Card
Montreal Canadiens- 7-5-0 14 points
Detroit Red Wings- 6-4-2 14 points
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Columbus Blue Jackets-5-6-0 10 points
Ottawa Senators- 4-5-2 10 points
Washington Capitals- 5-7-0 10 points
New Jersey Devils- 2-5-4 8 points
Florida Panthers- 3-7-2 8 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 3-7-0 6 points
New York Rangers- 3-7-0 6 points
Buffalo Sabres- 2-11-1 5 points
WEST
Central
Colorado Avalanche- 10-1-0 20 points
Chicago Blackhawks- 7-2-3 17 points
Minnesota Wild- 6-4-3 15 points
Pacific
San Jose' Sharks- 10-1-1 21 points
Vancouver Canucks- 9-4-1 19 points
Anaheim Ducks- 9-3-0 18 points
Wild Card
Phoenix Coyotes- 7-3-2 16 points
Los Angeles Kings- 8-4-0 16 points
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St. Louis Blues- 6-1-2 14 points
Nashville Predators- 6-5-1 13 points
Calgary Flames- 5-4-2 12 points
Winnipeg Jets- 5-6-2 12 points
Dallas Stars- 5-5-1 11 points
Edmonton Oilers- 3-8-2 8 points
2 SURPRISE GOOD TEAMS
Sometimes, even the experts don't see things coming. These two teams have shocked the world by getting to a hot start.
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Most people wrote off Colorado as an explosive, young team that just won't have enough to make a real push into the playoffs. Their blue line is mediocre at best and their goaltending duo didn't look too strong either.
Well the Avalanche showed everyone what was up by starting the season 6-0 including an exciting first win of the season (more on that later).
Well here's the thing; the experts who wrote them off at the beginning of the season for weak defence and so-so goaltending, were actually more or less correct.
So what's gotten into these pesky Avs.
First of all, their offense is incredible. There are few teams in the league that are as deep offensively than Colorado. They are a team that possesses 3 lines of incredible skill and speed and they've been tormenting goalies all season long. Matt Duchene has been incredible so far, making things look easy with 9 goals. People perhaps wrote off the Avs because of their youth on offense. People saw Colorado as another Edmonton team, one that might take a few years to finally start seeing results (more on that later). But their youth has stepped up. Rookie, and top pick, Nathan Mackinnon has looked impressive with 7 points in 11 games. So while people assumed their offense might be solid, they perhaps undershot their ability.
As for the defense, the Avalanche have made the best of their no-name squad (Andre Benoit, anyone?) with an interesting, scarcely used tactic; man-to-man defence.
Watch just one game of theirs and you'll see their pesky strategy as they harass, not only the puck carrier, but every man on the ice. While most teams play a defence where they swarm to the puck carrier, these guys are trying to cover everybody to eliminate defencive holes. And so far it's worked.
How well has it worked, you asked?
Well Colorado has the lowest goals against per game. In the league.
So while this has worked wonders so far, they can only keep this up for so long. It's a tiring way to play the game and other teams will find ways to beat it, like they always do. But for now it's been exactly what this team needs.
Now on to the goaltender.
Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere have been providing solid netminding for the Avs for the past few seasons, but never this good.
Since the two united in 2011-2012 season, the team has seen a 2.66 GAA (16th in the league), and a 3.16 GAA (27th). This year they've been lights out, going for a combined 1.46 GAA, tops in the league so far. They've combined for .955 SV% as well which is unbelievable. JS Giguere has allowed just 2 goals in 3 games and Varlamov has proven himself to almost make some reconsider the seemingly-one-sided trade that brought him to Colorado in the first place.
So what's changed for these two that they've suddenly revitalized their careers?
Two names: Patrick Roy and Francois Allaire.
First is the obvious. Patrick Roy, arguably the best goalie of all time, is now the head coach of the squad and indubitably has thrown in a few pointers to Varly and Giguere along the way. But Roy's best move was bringing in goalie coach guru Francois Allaire. Allaire used to be Roy's goalie coach with the Canadiens and won Stanley Cups with him in 1986 and 1993. Then Allaire went to Anaheim where he helped Giguere win the Conn Smythe in 2003 and then win the Cup in 2007. Next stop for Allaire was Toronto where he helped Reimer improve. And now Roy wanted him back, to try to spark confidence in Colorado's duo. And so he has.
Will the Avalanche continue being this good? Probably not. While the SV% is incredible, it is, after all, a percentage. And percentages usually go down as per law of averages. The Avs also have a fine shooting percentage which will also most likely go down.
But watching the Avs has been nice lately because they've been a fun young team and have proved everyone wrong so far.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Last year was a season to forget for the Lightning. They finished second-to-last in the East and was a team everyone beat up on. Anders Lindback wasn't nearly as good as we all thought and, while the team's offense was always fun to watch, it wasn't enough.
The team didn't change much over the offseason, aside from the awesome new Tesla Coils in the arena. They drafted highly-touted junior player Jonathan Drouin but opted to keep him down. They also acquired Valtteri Filppula from the Wings. They made a major trade last year, sending rookie forward Cory Conacher to Ottawa for Ben Bishop, a goalie who's shown potential over the past few years. The only other major change was getting rid of long-time Lightning Vincent Lecavalier, and that was about it for roster changes.
Which is why it's so interesting to see Tampa as top in the East.
What's been going for them is that Stamkos and new captain Martin St. Louis are at the top of their game with more than a point per game so far. Filppula has also contributed to his new squad early on. What's been most impressive, however, is the play of Ben Bishop.
Last year, Tampa got the goals, finishing 3rd in the league. However, it was the goaltending and defence that struggled, finishing 26th in the league with 3.06 GA/G. So now they're still getting the goals while Bishop has won the early goalie competition with Lindback with 7 wins in 8 games. If their play continues then they'll be right there in the playoffs once again.
(P.S. sorry I went crazy long on the Avs. I just had a lot to say.)
2 SURPRISE BAD TEAMS
This goes both ways. Teams that people thought would be good struggling.
NEW YORK RANGERS
This isn't really fair. It's a team that currently has their best forward, captain, and young scorer injured. They've been decimated by injuries so far. But I have to put them in this section because, seriously, you don't go from being expected to be the class of the division to losing games to Flyers. It's a decline in the Rangers that's simply unprecedented.
Yes, Nash, Callahan, and Hagelin have all been hurt but they still have Richards, Kreider, Stepan, and the rest of the offensive corps. Also, they still have Henrik Lundqvist in net and their defense in tact.
So what's going on here?
The Rangers reported that Henrik Lundqvist has been playing injured. But honestly, why would a team start their goalie at the beginning of the season, knowing he was hurt.
So either the Rangers played him injured or he got hurt early on. And with games like the one against San Jose' (4 GA on 26 shots) and Anaheim (6 GA on 31 shots) it could possibly be true.
He simply hasn't looked himself.
The most popular theories were that A) he was injured and B) the new goaltending pads regulations.
I feel as if those two are cop-out answers so I'll give my spin.
If you look at the goals he's been giving up, you can't really say they're because his pads are smaller. But what I know as a former netminder, if your equipment gets changed, you're a different goalie. It's looked like Henrik has been trying to do too much. He's starting to leave his crease and challenge shots way more than he used to and he's been struggling because of it. This can all be attributed to the fact that he's a hair out of his comfort zone.
The bottom line is that the Rangers are a team with a new head coach trying to rid themselves of the old strategies. They're in an interesting transition stage and it's not helping that their goalie is playing terribly and they're missing three of their top offensive weapons.
Now realise that both of those things will change. A world class goalie like Lundqvist will get his game back shortly and their injured players will be back in no time.
EDMONTON OILERS
Yes, they've been terrible for the past half dozen seasons but here's the thing.
Right now, the Avalanche are everything the Oilers should be, but aren't.
Most people looked at the Avs as a team in the midst of a rebuild and it was going to take them a couple of more seasons before we saw anything somewhat good on the ice.
The Oilers have been in a rebuild for several seasons now and yet they're still sitting at the bottom of the conference.
I'm not saying I'm surprised to see the Oilers still in last. I'm not even saying that they won't be very good in a couple of years. All I'm saying is that it's disappointing watching their defense being broken apart and their goaltending struggling while their young forwards aren't producing or maturing fast enough.
This team is simply not built well enough to compete in the newly competitive Pacific Division. No longer are the days when they were able to play mediocre yet randomly still be around because the rest of the Northwest was terrible. They're playing with the big boys now so they have to figure something out this season. Expect some major changes headed their way.
TOP 5 MOMENTS OF THE MONTH
The moments that impressed, humoured, and enriched us.
5) "You Can't Do That"
In a league where the refs can't talk to the media, are no nonsense, and seemingly have no personality, this clip showed the potential of these guys if all of that changed.
4) Patrick Roy Meltdown
Patrick Roy. A man famous for the way he left Montreal, his taunting of opponents, his showboating, and countless other youtube quality moments.
Well he became the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche and let's just say we were all waiting for him to explode like this.
And yes, it was obviously going to happen in his first game.
3) Saku Koivu Last Game in Montreal
Saku Koivu is a legend in Montreal. He served as their captain for 10 seasons and had an emotional return after a battle with cancer after almost an entire year, one of the most emotional nights in the NHL in the past 20 years. Well Koivu, now an Anaheim Duck, returned to Montreal for perhaps his last time. The fans were great, giving him a standing ovation on his last shift (kudos to Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau for getting him out there) and then giving him third star of the game.
2) Joe Thornton's Interview Bomb
It was a great night in San Jose'. The Sharks just routed the Rangers 9-2 and rookie sensation Tomas Hertl scored 4 goals, one of which was a slick between the legs beauty.
After the game, the media was surrounding Shark's forward Patrick Marleau, and when the question came up about Hertl's excessive celebration, Thornton jumped right in.
"I'd have my c*ck out if I scored four goals. I'd have my c*ck out, stroking it."
Wow. That's quite a mouthful. Or should I say handful.
This whole thing blew way out of proportion as a debate opened up if Thornton was right to say that and then the conversation steered to media ethics and what not. But this one quote was easily one of the best in years.
About that Hertl, by the way.
1) Tomas Hertl's Night
Hertl was on fire that night and it was just magical. The puck just kept finding him at the right moments and he was able to find the net. Notice his mom and girl friend after his third and fourth goals, crying with joy as the young Hertl was achieving his dream. Not to mention his adorable, broken-english-filled interview after the game.
This night was incredible. Hertl shocked the world and put himself as the early favourite for the Calder. He has 11 points in 12 games and has been a big help to the Sharks so far this year.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Suspensions Galore
For whatever reason, it just seems that there've been a ton of suspensions early on this season. There've been 9 so far this month and these alleged head shots and boarding calls keep coming. It's come to the point that any hard hit that leads to an injury will automatically be looked at by the league for possibly suspension. While that's a sad statement for a league based on unavoidable violence, there's a reason for it. Shannahan's whole purpose for his videos and explanations were to educate the players on how to hit. But how is he supposed to do that in a fast league where it's almost impossible to deliver a clean, hard hit, or, let's call it, a perfect hit.
Here's the issue. At this point, the NHL is a league filled with fast players who recently haven't been responsible puck carriers. Take a look at this review of Alex Edler's suspension video. Hertl was skating with his head down and tried side jumping Edler to get to the puck. Edler had nowhere else to go so contact happened.
So what can we possibly learn from a suspension with incidental contact to the head brought on because of the forward being careless. And we see this way too often.
A potential solution would be for Shannahan to start calling out the forwards for not being responsible puck carriers. The NHL used to let those players get hit hard and that would educate the players to not be wreckless with the puck.
It's barbaric, but that's the only solution.
4) The Maroons Return to Montreal
The Montreal Maroons were a hockey team through the 30's. They were the rivals of the Canadiens and they won the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935 before becoming extinct.
Their last goal in Montreal was circa 1938.
Until October 24th, 2013.
Yes, a Maroon has scored in Montreal once again.
Patrick Maroon of the Anaheim Ducks, ladies and gentlemen.
While his goal to make it 3-1 in the third against Montreal this past week was more or less insignificant, this cute connection made it all worth it.
3) Garbage Goals
In one month, we've seen eight NHL goalies giving up the craziest, strangest goals possible. In a league where you have to fight for every inch and earn goals, these just seemed odd.
We'll start with the best goalie in the league, Jonathan Quick, giving up the oddest shorthanded goal you'll see all year in the form of a 190 ft wrist shot by Ryan McDonagh.
Just flat out uncharacteristic and odd.
Next comes a terrible turnover by Henrik Lundqvist that led to a goal.
How about a bizarre own goal by Vancouver that left Roberto Luongo looking foolish.
Steve Mason gets a bad bounce.
Jonathan Bernier. You're next.
Marc-Andre Fleury getting handcuffed.
Cory Schneider and Andy Greene misplay the puck right in front.
And perhaps the strangest of them all. An own goal from center ice against Ben Bishop.
So what the hell is going on?
Your guess is as good as mine.
2) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Don't Deserve Nostalgia
Let's get one thing straight. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim don't exist anymore because of the fans of Anaheim.
Yes, the fans voted and the vast majority wanted the word Mighty dropped from the team name due to the mocking of the opposing fans throughout the league. When the Mighty Ducks joined the league, they were a laughing stock. They were legitimately a Disney on Ice performance. Literally.
Their eggplant and jade coloured uniforms were childish. Their owner barely cared about the league. And they were actually named after a kids movie.
So it's understandable why the fans wanted a change. It was to symbolize that the team was no longer some kids team. It was an NHL team and they deserved everyone's respect.
But the fact that Anaheim fans drooled over the Throwback Night a couple of weeks ago, confused me. The fan base that was dying to get rid of that "look" not only went berzerk when they brought that look back for a night, but pleaded with the team to bring it back officially as some alternate third jersey.
Yes, everyone nowadays thinks they're awesome. But if you liked them so much, why did you vote to get rid of them back in the day?
But seriously, if you read that piece by Jen Neale on Yahoo! about the Throwback Night, you can see just how awesome of a night it was. Good for them.
1) The West is Dominating the East
Just take a look at the standings. The fact that the Devils, a team with just 2 wins, is still in playoff contention, shows how weak of a conference the east has been. Five teams in the East have fewer than 10 points and three more teams have 10 points. In the West there's just one team with less than 11 points and that's Edmonton.
The new conference format meant that we were going to see teams playing out of division teams twice a year so the season started out with a lot of inter-conference games.
And at the end?
The West is dominating the East with a 52-19-8 record.
Out of 158 potential points, the West has grabbed 112 of them.
One reason could be that the majority of games occurred on the West coast and we'll see if it evens out when the western teams come East. It could also be that there just happen to be a lot of struggling teams in the East like New Jersey, the Rangers, the Flyers, etc.
But whatever the reason, it's no secret which conference is the superior right now.
BIGGEST STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world.
To Islanders: Thomas Vanek
To Sabres: Matt Moulson, 1st and 2nd Rounder
It was no secret Thomas Vanek was leaving Buffalo sooner rather than later. He's wanted out for a while and with his UFA summer coming up, most assumed he'd be traded off shortly.
Thank you New York Islanders.
Thomas Vanek is an interesting monster. He's an accomplished goal scorer with close to 500 points in nearly 600 games.
But perhaps his greatest feature is the fact that he's able to legitimately carry teams for weeks at a team BY HIMSELF.
We saw this many times in Buffalo where Vanek would just become scorching hot and single-handedly launch the Sabres to a 5 or 6 game win streak. That's the kind of player Vanek is.
Matt Moulson has been a big part of the Islanders organization for the past several years. In a way, he's the reason that John Tavares is the player he is today. Moulson and Tavares had a great connection and Tavares kind of grew alongside Moulson.
What the Sabres are getting is a three time 30 goal scorer.
What the Islanders are losing is a lot more.
There's no question Moulson's impressive statistics are inflated by playing with one of the best players in the league so it should be interesting what he does without Tavares on his side.
But the Sabres got what they wanted. A first, a second, and a top 6 forward. The return that they received is more or less the same they would have gotten by the trade deadline so they should be satisfied.
For the Islanders, it's a little more complicating. At face value, it seems like a pretty good deal. Worst case scenario is that they don't make the playoffs and dish Vanek out at the trade deadline and at least get their first round draft pick back from elsewhere. They want to win this season and getting Vanek shows that. They're risking the draft picks for a good post season push THIS year.
But the question is, what happens next?
Let's say the Islanders hold onto Vanek past the trade deadline. Vanek becomes a UFA this summer, and the whole hockey worldknows assumes he's going to Minnesota next year.
So the question will be, how the hell will the Islanders get Vanek to stick around with the club.
Well, they've done it before. If you remember correctly, Evgeni Nabokov refused to report to the team after being dealt by Detroit. The Islanders eventually convinced him to join the squad although everyone thought it would never happen. Same exact thing with Lubomir Visnovsky who was trying his best to just stay in Russia but, once again, the Islanders got him to come back and stick around.
The big question is can they work their magic again.
But even if they don't, this just shows the hockey world (and more importantly, the free agent world) that they're willing to spend money and that they're trying to win this thing now.
The month of October in the NHL is dying down and it was a busy one. After a shortened season, this month gave us a beautiful streak of hockey where we didn't have to be concerned about falling behind in a quick 48 game schedule. While each game still means a lot, having your team lose 3 straight games this year means a lot less than it did last year, when those three games counted for 6% of the schedule.
Anyway, this month featured a lot of great moments and stories so let's dive in.
STANDINGS
With the conference realignment, we have to get used to a different format of the standings. The top 3 teams in each division get in with the last two spots being a free-for-all in the conference. Confusing? Ya. But we'll get used to it.
EAST
Atlantic
Tampa Bay Lightning- 8-3-0 16 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 8-4-0 16 points
Boston Bruins- 7-3-0 14 points
Metropolitan (gag)
Pittsburgh Penguins- 8-4-0 16 points
New York Islanders- 4-4-3 11 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 4-5-3 11 points
Wild Card
Montreal Canadiens- 7-5-0 14 points
Detroit Red Wings- 6-4-2 14 points
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Columbus Blue Jackets-5-6-0 10 points
Ottawa Senators- 4-5-2 10 points
Washington Capitals- 5-7-0 10 points
New Jersey Devils- 2-5-4 8 points
Florida Panthers- 3-7-2 8 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 3-7-0 6 points
New York Rangers- 3-7-0 6 points
Buffalo Sabres- 2-11-1 5 points
WEST
Central
Colorado Avalanche- 10-1-0 20 points
Chicago Blackhawks- 7-2-3 17 points
Minnesota Wild- 6-4-3 15 points
Pacific
San Jose' Sharks- 10-1-1 21 points
Vancouver Canucks- 9-4-1 19 points
Anaheim Ducks- 9-3-0 18 points
Wild Card
Phoenix Coyotes- 7-3-2 16 points
Los Angeles Kings- 8-4-0 16 points
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St. Louis Blues- 6-1-2 14 points
Nashville Predators- 6-5-1 13 points
Calgary Flames- 5-4-2 12 points
Winnipeg Jets- 5-6-2 12 points
Dallas Stars- 5-5-1 11 points
Edmonton Oilers- 3-8-2 8 points
2 SURPRISE GOOD TEAMS
Sometimes, even the experts don't see things coming. These two teams have shocked the world by getting to a hot start.
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Most people wrote off Colorado as an explosive, young team that just won't have enough to make a real push into the playoffs. Their blue line is mediocre at best and their goaltending duo didn't look too strong either.
Well the Avalanche showed everyone what was up by starting the season 6-0 including an exciting first win of the season (more on that later).
Well here's the thing; the experts who wrote them off at the beginning of the season for weak defence and so-so goaltending, were actually more or less correct.
So what's gotten into these pesky Avs.
First of all, their offense is incredible. There are few teams in the league that are as deep offensively than Colorado. They are a team that possesses 3 lines of incredible skill and speed and they've been tormenting goalies all season long. Matt Duchene has been incredible so far, making things look easy with 9 goals. People perhaps wrote off the Avs because of their youth on offense. People saw Colorado as another Edmonton team, one that might take a few years to finally start seeing results (more on that later). But their youth has stepped up. Rookie, and top pick, Nathan Mackinnon has looked impressive with 7 points in 11 games. So while people assumed their offense might be solid, they perhaps undershot their ability.
As for the defense, the Avalanche have made the best of their no-name squad (Andre Benoit, anyone?) with an interesting, scarcely used tactic; man-to-man defence.
Watch just one game of theirs and you'll see their pesky strategy as they harass, not only the puck carrier, but every man on the ice. While most teams play a defence where they swarm to the puck carrier, these guys are trying to cover everybody to eliminate defencive holes. And so far it's worked.
How well has it worked, you asked?
Well Colorado has the lowest goals against per game. In the league.
So while this has worked wonders so far, they can only keep this up for so long. It's a tiring way to play the game and other teams will find ways to beat it, like they always do. But for now it's been exactly what this team needs.
Now on to the goaltender.
Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere have been providing solid netminding for the Avs for the past few seasons, but never this good.
Since the two united in 2011-2012 season, the team has seen a 2.66 GAA (16th in the league), and a 3.16 GAA (27th). This year they've been lights out, going for a combined 1.46 GAA, tops in the league so far. They've combined for .955 SV% as well which is unbelievable. JS Giguere has allowed just 2 goals in 3 games and Varlamov has proven himself to almost make some reconsider the seemingly-one-sided trade that brought him to Colorado in the first place.
So what's changed for these two that they've suddenly revitalized their careers?
Two names: Patrick Roy and Francois Allaire.
First is the obvious. Patrick Roy, arguably the best goalie of all time, is now the head coach of the squad and indubitably has thrown in a few pointers to Varly and Giguere along the way. But Roy's best move was bringing in goalie coach guru Francois Allaire. Allaire used to be Roy's goalie coach with the Canadiens and won Stanley Cups with him in 1986 and 1993. Then Allaire went to Anaheim where he helped Giguere win the Conn Smythe in 2003 and then win the Cup in 2007. Next stop for Allaire was Toronto where he helped Reimer improve. And now Roy wanted him back, to try to spark confidence in Colorado's duo. And so he has.
Will the Avalanche continue being this good? Probably not. While the SV% is incredible, it is, after all, a percentage. And percentages usually go down as per law of averages. The Avs also have a fine shooting percentage which will also most likely go down.
But watching the Avs has been nice lately because they've been a fun young team and have proved everyone wrong so far.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Last year was a season to forget for the Lightning. They finished second-to-last in the East and was a team everyone beat up on. Anders Lindback wasn't nearly as good as we all thought and, while the team's offense was always fun to watch, it wasn't enough.
The team didn't change much over the offseason, aside from the awesome new Tesla Coils in the arena. They drafted highly-touted junior player Jonathan Drouin but opted to keep him down. They also acquired Valtteri Filppula from the Wings. They made a major trade last year, sending rookie forward Cory Conacher to Ottawa for Ben Bishop, a goalie who's shown potential over the past few years. The only other major change was getting rid of long-time Lightning Vincent Lecavalier, and that was about it for roster changes.
Which is why it's so interesting to see Tampa as top in the East.
What's been going for them is that Stamkos and new captain Martin St. Louis are at the top of their game with more than a point per game so far. Filppula has also contributed to his new squad early on. What's been most impressive, however, is the play of Ben Bishop.
Last year, Tampa got the goals, finishing 3rd in the league. However, it was the goaltending and defence that struggled, finishing 26th in the league with 3.06 GA/G. So now they're still getting the goals while Bishop has won the early goalie competition with Lindback with 7 wins in 8 games. If their play continues then they'll be right there in the playoffs once again.
(P.S. sorry I went crazy long on the Avs. I just had a lot to say.)
2 SURPRISE BAD TEAMS
This goes both ways. Teams that people thought would be good struggling.
NEW YORK RANGERS
This isn't really fair. It's a team that currently has their best forward, captain, and young scorer injured. They've been decimated by injuries so far. But I have to put them in this section because, seriously, you don't go from being expected to be the class of the division to losing games to Flyers. It's a decline in the Rangers that's simply unprecedented.
Yes, Nash, Callahan, and Hagelin have all been hurt but they still have Richards, Kreider, Stepan, and the rest of the offensive corps. Also, they still have Henrik Lundqvist in net and their defense in tact.
So what's going on here?
The Rangers reported that Henrik Lundqvist has been playing injured. But honestly, why would a team start their goalie at the beginning of the season, knowing he was hurt.
So either the Rangers played him injured or he got hurt early on. And with games like the one against San Jose' (4 GA on 26 shots) and Anaheim (6 GA on 31 shots) it could possibly be true.
He simply hasn't looked himself.
The most popular theories were that A) he was injured and B) the new goaltending pads regulations.
I feel as if those two are cop-out answers so I'll give my spin.
If you look at the goals he's been giving up, you can't really say they're because his pads are smaller. But what I know as a former netminder, if your equipment gets changed, you're a different goalie. It's looked like Henrik has been trying to do too much. He's starting to leave his crease and challenge shots way more than he used to and he's been struggling because of it. This can all be attributed to the fact that he's a hair out of his comfort zone.
The bottom line is that the Rangers are a team with a new head coach trying to rid themselves of the old strategies. They're in an interesting transition stage and it's not helping that their goalie is playing terribly and they're missing three of their top offensive weapons.
Now realise that both of those things will change. A world class goalie like Lundqvist will get his game back shortly and their injured players will be back in no time.
EDMONTON OILERS
Yes, they've been terrible for the past half dozen seasons but here's the thing.
Right now, the Avalanche are everything the Oilers should be, but aren't.
Most people looked at the Avs as a team in the midst of a rebuild and it was going to take them a couple of more seasons before we saw anything somewhat good on the ice.
The Oilers have been in a rebuild for several seasons now and yet they're still sitting at the bottom of the conference.
I'm not saying I'm surprised to see the Oilers still in last. I'm not even saying that they won't be very good in a couple of years. All I'm saying is that it's disappointing watching their defense being broken apart and their goaltending struggling while their young forwards aren't producing or maturing fast enough.
This team is simply not built well enough to compete in the newly competitive Pacific Division. No longer are the days when they were able to play mediocre yet randomly still be around because the rest of the Northwest was terrible. They're playing with the big boys now so they have to figure something out this season. Expect some major changes headed their way.
TOP 5 MOMENTS OF THE MONTH
The moments that impressed, humoured, and enriched us.
5) "You Can't Do That"
4) Patrick Roy Meltdown
Well he became the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche and let's just say we were all waiting for him to explode like this.
And yes, it was obviously going to happen in his first game.
3) Saku Koivu Last Game in Montreal
2) Joe Thornton's Interview Bomb
It was a great night in San Jose'. The Sharks just routed the Rangers 9-2 and rookie sensation Tomas Hertl scored 4 goals, one of which was a slick between the legs beauty.
After the game, the media was surrounding Shark's forward Patrick Marleau, and when the question came up about Hertl's excessive celebration, Thornton jumped right in.
"I'd have my c*ck out if I scored four goals. I'd have my c*ck out, stroking it."
Wow. That's quite a mouthful. Or should I say handful.
This whole thing blew way out of proportion as a debate opened up if Thornton was right to say that and then the conversation steered to media ethics and what not. But this one quote was easily one of the best in years.
About that Hertl, by the way.
1) Tomas Hertl's Night
This night was incredible. Hertl shocked the world and put himself as the early favourite for the Calder. He has 11 points in 12 games and has been a big help to the Sharks so far this year.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Suspensions Galore
For whatever reason, it just seems that there've been a ton of suspensions early on this season. There've been 9 so far this month and these alleged head shots and boarding calls keep coming. It's come to the point that any hard hit that leads to an injury will automatically be looked at by the league for possibly suspension. While that's a sad statement for a league based on unavoidable violence, there's a reason for it. Shannahan's whole purpose for his videos and explanations were to educate the players on how to hit. But how is he supposed to do that in a fast league where it's almost impossible to deliver a clean, hard hit, or, let's call it, a perfect hit.
Here's the issue. At this point, the NHL is a league filled with fast players who recently haven't been responsible puck carriers. Take a look at this review of Alex Edler's suspension video. Hertl was skating with his head down and tried side jumping Edler to get to the puck. Edler had nowhere else to go so contact happened.
So what can we possibly learn from a suspension with incidental contact to the head brought on because of the forward being careless. And we see this way too often.
A potential solution would be for Shannahan to start calling out the forwards for not being responsible puck carriers. The NHL used to let those players get hit hard and that would educate the players to not be wreckless with the puck.
It's barbaric, but that's the only solution.
4) The Maroons Return to Montreal
The Montreal Maroons were a hockey team through the 30's. They were the rivals of the Canadiens and they won the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935 before becoming extinct.
Their last goal in Montreal was circa 1938.
Until October 24th, 2013.
Yes, a Maroon has scored in Montreal once again.
While his goal to make it 3-1 in the third against Montreal this past week was more or less insignificant, this cute connection made it all worth it.
3) Garbage Goals
We'll start with the best goalie in the league, Jonathan Quick, giving up the oddest shorthanded goal you'll see all year in the form of a 190 ft wrist shot by Ryan McDonagh.
Next comes a terrible turnover by Henrik Lundqvist that led to a goal.
How about a bizarre own goal by Vancouver that left Roberto Luongo looking foolish.
Steve Mason gets a bad bounce.
Jonathan Bernier. You're next.
Marc-Andre Fleury getting handcuffed.
Cory Schneider and Andy Greene misplay the puck right in front.
And perhaps the strangest of them all. An own goal from center ice against Ben Bishop.
So what the hell is going on?
Your guess is as good as mine.
2) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Don't Deserve Nostalgia
Let's get one thing straight. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim don't exist anymore because of the fans of Anaheim.
Yes, the fans voted and the vast majority wanted the word Mighty dropped from the team name due to the mocking of the opposing fans throughout the league. When the Mighty Ducks joined the league, they were a laughing stock. They were legitimately a Disney on Ice performance. Literally.
Their eggplant and jade coloured uniforms were childish. Their owner barely cared about the league. And they were actually named after a kids movie.
So it's understandable why the fans wanted a change. It was to symbolize that the team was no longer some kids team. It was an NHL team and they deserved everyone's respect.
But the fact that Anaheim fans drooled over the Throwback Night a couple of weeks ago, confused me. The fan base that was dying to get rid of that "look" not only went berzerk when they brought that look back for a night, but pleaded with the team to bring it back officially as some alternate third jersey.
Yes, everyone nowadays thinks they're awesome. But if you liked them so much, why did you vote to get rid of them back in the day?
But seriously, if you read that piece by Jen Neale on Yahoo! about the Throwback Night, you can see just how awesome of a night it was. Good for them.
1) The West is Dominating the East
Just take a look at the standings. The fact that the Devils, a team with just 2 wins, is still in playoff contention, shows how weak of a conference the east has been. Five teams in the East have fewer than 10 points and three more teams have 10 points. In the West there's just one team with less than 11 points and that's Edmonton.
The new conference format meant that we were going to see teams playing out of division teams twice a year so the season started out with a lot of inter-conference games.
And at the end?
The West is dominating the East with a 52-19-8 record.
Out of 158 potential points, the West has grabbed 112 of them.
One reason could be that the majority of games occurred on the West coast and we'll see if it evens out when the western teams come East. It could also be that there just happen to be a lot of struggling teams in the East like New Jersey, the Rangers, the Flyers, etc.
But whatever the reason, it's no secret which conference is the superior right now.
BIGGEST STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world.
To Islanders: Thomas Vanek
To Sabres: Matt Moulson, 1st and 2nd Rounder
It was no secret Thomas Vanek was leaving Buffalo sooner rather than later. He's wanted out for a while and with his UFA summer coming up, most assumed he'd be traded off shortly.
Thank you New York Islanders.
Thomas Vanek is an interesting monster. He's an accomplished goal scorer with close to 500 points in nearly 600 games.
But perhaps his greatest feature is the fact that he's able to legitimately carry teams for weeks at a team BY HIMSELF.
We saw this many times in Buffalo where Vanek would just become scorching hot and single-handedly launch the Sabres to a 5 or 6 game win streak. That's the kind of player Vanek is.
Matt Moulson has been a big part of the Islanders organization for the past several years. In a way, he's the reason that John Tavares is the player he is today. Moulson and Tavares had a great connection and Tavares kind of grew alongside Moulson.
What the Sabres are getting is a three time 30 goal scorer.
What the Islanders are losing is a lot more.
There's no question Moulson's impressive statistics are inflated by playing with one of the best players in the league so it should be interesting what he does without Tavares on his side.
But the Sabres got what they wanted. A first, a second, and a top 6 forward. The return that they received is more or less the same they would have gotten by the trade deadline so they should be satisfied.
For the Islanders, it's a little more complicating. At face value, it seems like a pretty good deal. Worst case scenario is that they don't make the playoffs and dish Vanek out at the trade deadline and at least get their first round draft pick back from elsewhere. They want to win this season and getting Vanek shows that. They're risking the draft picks for a good post season push THIS year.
But the question is, what happens next?
Let's say the Islanders hold onto Vanek past the trade deadline. Vanek becomes a UFA this summer, and the whole hockey world
So the question will be, how the hell will the Islanders get Vanek to stick around with the club.
Well, they've done it before. If you remember correctly, Evgeni Nabokov refused to report to the team after being dealt by Detroit. The Islanders eventually convinced him to join the squad although everyone thought it would never happen. Same exact thing with Lubomir Visnovsky who was trying his best to just stay in Russia but, once again, the Islanders got him to come back and stick around.
The big question is can they work their magic again.
But even if they don't, this just shows the hockey world (and more importantly, the free agent world) that they're willing to spend money and that they're trying to win this thing now.
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