NHL season starts to take shape

With just over a quarter of the 2011-12 season in the books, the NHL is starting to take shape and teams are establishing themselves in their respective league positions. The league continues to provide thrilling entertainment and is still producing some surprises to fans. I will look at both the Eastern and Western conferences, picking out some of my favourite teams of the year so far and evaluating their chances.

The Pittsburgh Penguins top the East with 32 points, but the East has also thrown up a few surprises so far this year as predicted strugglers the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers occupy two of the top three spots. At the other end of the league, with a talented roster, the Carolina Hurricanes have had a very tough first part of the season, which resulted in coach Paul Maurice being sacked and replaced by Kirk Muller, a former all-star. Washington Capitals also wanted a change in direction as Bruce Boudreau was relived of his duties earlier than many people expected as the Caps have stuttered recently after a flying start.

A special mention for me must go to the Toronto Maple Leafs who top the Northeast division and currently sit second in the East with 14 wins and 30 points. In my pre-season predictions, I said the Leafs would seriously struggle this season and not score enough goals to compete in the league, but they currently have the second most goals in the NHL with 79. A thriving Leafs offense has to be credited partly to Phil Kessel who tops the league in both goals and points, with 16 and 31 respectively which is a very impressive start from the 24 year old American. The Leafs will definitely be a threat in the league this year but they definitely need to work on the defensive side of things, conceding 75 goals already.

The top eight who currently have playoff spots early in the year are Pittsburgh, Toronto, Florida, Boston, Philadelphia, NY Rangers, Buffalo and Washington. Tampa Bay, who made the Eastern finals last year, have struggled for consistency to start the season, but you wouldn’t rule out a move up the table in the near future and into the playoff picture. The Islanders bring up the rear of the East with 16 points after getting off to a relatively bright start. The East is definitely one to keep an eye on throughout the year, as it is always changing and providing many shocks and surprises.

Moving onto the West now where we continue to be surprised, as Chicago, Minnesota and Dallas hold the top three spots and the 2010-11 Stanley Cup finalists Canucks are surprisingly in ninth. The Pacific division continues to be a very strong division, with four of the five teams in the playoff spots. The current top eight are Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, St.Louis, LA, San Jose and Phoenix, with the Canucks, Predators and Oilers all hot on the Coyote’s heels in eighth. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks are the early strugglers with just six wins apiece.

For the West I will focus on the Minnesota Wild as they, like Toronto, have got off to a superb start. The Wild haven’t qualified for a post season since 2008, where they crashed out in the first round but their fans will be very optimistic that they can reach the playoffs this time around. Having a solid goaltender can lead to confidence throughout the team and Nicklas Backstrom, playing in his sixth season in Minnesota, has had a great start to the season with a .932 save % and two shutouts so far. Minnesota don’t have any stand-out points scorers early in the season but it has been a good team effort so far to score the goals needed to win matches. Their defence has been great early on though, conceding just 53 goals so far which has been a big reason why they are doing so well. As newly acquired Danny Heatley develops game by game with his new line mates, the Wild will be more potent up top whilst looking to keep their position safe towards the top of the West.

It will be interesting the see how the West develops; will the Canucks force themselves up the table and will the very talented Ducks be able to turn their season around? A great season is in store with many more twists and turns to come!