NHL Update – 2 Weeks In

About two weeks have passed since the start of the 2007-08 season, and most of the teams have played at least five games.  Upon sitting back and watching how the teams started and hoped to meet expectations, some of those teams met them, while most are not doing so well.

The reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Ottawa Senators, are on fire to start the season with an NHL best 6-1-0 record.  With Martin Gerber filling in for the injured Ray Emery, the Senators have not stumbled out of the gate. They’re led by Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, who lead the NHL in goals and assists respectively. 

The New York Rangers are 2-3 as of Sunday after being picked by a lot of experts to be the champions of the East.  Offseason acquisition Chris Drury proved his worth the first game of the year with 1 goal and 2 assists, but he’s fizzled since then with only 1 point in the last four games.  The other big Ranger signing was Scott Gomez and he has just two points in five games.

The Philadelphia Flyers have gotten off to a good start at 3-1-0.  Philly received a lot of harsh criticism for overpaying center Daniel Briere, but for now the critics are quiet, as he’s put up 4 goals and 3 assists in those four games.

One year removed from being Stanley Cup Champions, the Hurricanes look like they are back to being the team that won the Cup.  Six games are in the books and they have put up a 4-1-1 record, good for second place in the conference behind Ottawa.  Goalie Cam Ward is undefeated in regulation so far and has a goals against average of 1.79.  How long can he keep that up?

Other Eastern Conference stories:  Atlanta is 0-5, which is good for last in the NHL.  Perhaps I overrated them a bit.  The Maple Leafs are using a goalie rotation, which has not paid dividends just yet, showing a 2-3-1 record.  The Washington Capitals and those new jerseys of theirs are doing well at 3-2-0, behind solid goaltending by Olaf Kolzig.

In the West, the Sharks were the trendy pick to win the Cup and they are not showing any fire.  Starting off 2-2-1 may be good for some teams, but not San Jose.  I have watched a couple of their games and once again, they lack heart.  It was embarrassing for them to lose to Boston on Saturday 2-1 in their home opener.  Coach Ron Wilson’s seat is getting hotter, if it wasn’t already.

The Red Wings are first in their division.  Who would have thought?  Oh, just about everyone in the world.  Even though they didn’t sellout at home for the first time in what seems a century, they still managed to get off to a 4-1-1 start.  Watch out though, St. Louis looks good.

The Minnesota Wild are surprising me.  I was not quite sure how goaltender Niklas Backstrom would handle the pressure of being the #1 goalie, but he has done an exceptional job.  Backstrom has posted a 1.00 GAA (goals against average) and a .959 save percentage, both are first in the NHL.  He also has 2 shutouts and just last night, the Wild backup goalie, Josh Harding, got a shutout against the Stanley Cup Champion Ducks.

Other Western Conference stories:  A majority of the West teams are starting off mediocre with a lot of the records being 2-2 or 3-2.  If this continues, we will be looking at another excellent playoff chase – but that is a long way away.  After beating the Ducks in the season opener, the Los Angeles Kings have lost 5 straight and allowed a league high 27 goals - all in regulation.