I expected this to be a reloading year for the Hawks because they were going to be evaluating rookies to fill in roster stops. The fact that they're atop the league after passing the quarter pole is a pleasant surprise. I'm not convinced that it will last though. I don't think they will miss the playoffs but I still think they'll fall back a bit and that's based on seeing all the other contending team play a few times.
San Jose has really impressed me and although they took their annual November nose dive, they got Burns back now and they seem to be hitting their stride again. The uptick in team speed is a large part of their success - they were loaded, now they're loaded and fast. Hertl looks like the early Calder leader and if they can reincarnate the ghost of Havlat they will be scary good.
Phoenix - wait, what? Phoenix and offensive were two words rarely seen in the same sentence unless the word "no" appeared before the word "offense". But they look to be real playa's this year. Joy.
And not to be forgotten - what happened to the "meat head" part of the meat head Blues. Now they're playing well without the bad penalties and mental midget breakdowns we could always count on from them before. Alex who? Steen? Did he start taking vitamins or something? They've won both games against the Hawks so far and it looks like they've gotten over their self-destructive tendencies.
Then there s still LA who can't seem to score but somehow win low scoring games with Quick on the shelf and some other guy out of the blue playing the "Bob" role thisseason. Minnie is playing out of their minds, and maybe depth, and then there is still Vancouver lurking around in the shadows like some creepy Sedin twin. I gotta figure Torts will somehow navigate that ship of fools into the playoffs somehow someway.
And then the biggest surprise of all is Colorado with all that young speedy talent and their mercurial pud behind the bench. Can their goaltending and defense keep them in the race? So far they have.
The top 8 teams in the West all within a few points of each other and Vancouver only a couple wins away from being right in the middle of it too. It looks like it's a nine team race for the eight playoff spots. Musical chairs anyone?
Yeah, San Jose does look good early in the season. But I'm pretty sure I've seen that movie before, and I think I know how it ends.
I don't believe Phoenix has the ability to score all season long at the current rate with which they're putting pucks in the net. They've still got good team defense and a pretty good goalie (although still a fucking asshole) in Mike Smith.
I think St. Louis will still take plenty of stupid penalties considering Jackman, Reaves, Backes, etc. are still on the team. But the offensive punch they're getting from Steen makes them a real, real good team. The road to another potential Stanley Cup will certainly go through them. Much like San Jose, though, I've seen the Blues play this well before at this point of the season.
And Colorado? Oh, they're going to plummet. Did you know that there's a Colorado law which states that, if an immigrant is convicted of domestic violence, they're deported? I'm not kidding, read page 5 of this:
http://www.graflaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DV-Penalties-Colorado-attachment.pdf
We'll see how good Colorado is without Varly, should it reach that point.
The Blackhawks are certainly not without their warts, either. While I still think the Hawks are going to fall short of a Cup run because I think they're going to hit a wall in the 2nd/3rd round of the playoffs, I don't think they're not going to be among the league's best at the end of the regular season. Just too much talent, again.
