Pekka Rinne appears to be the Predators goalie of the future.
The Nashville Predators will reportedly announce late Wednesday afternoon that they have agreed to an extension with goalie Pekka Rinne. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. UPDATE: TSN is reporting Rinne’s extension is for two years and $6.8 million ($3.4 million each).
Nashville, like Montreal, was one of the teams that could become active in the trade market before the March 3 deadine because they had two netminders facing free agency this summer. The Preds were reportedly going to make a choice, based on both the on-ice performances of Rinne and Dan Ellis and the progress of contract negotiations, and then open up trade talks regarding the one they didn’t extend.
Which means Ellis is now trade bait.
The Blackhawks have been rumored to be close to a deal with Florida, upgrading their situation between the pipes to include Tomas Vokoun. If Vokoun is indeed available in a trade, however, there would be many potential suitors. The Philadelphia Flyers were one team that was allegedly looking for a new face to put at the top of their depth chart in goal, and they would likely have interest in Vokoun.
Nashville had also reportedly received offers for 26-year old defenseman Dan Hamuis, who will also become a free agent this summer.
The likelihood that a trade would go down inside the Central Division, either between the Blackhawks and Blues or Predators, is doubtful. But the potential of Ellis and Hamhuis being packaged could impact the trade market competing with the Blackhawks for Vokoun, if the Hawks aren’t interested in making an offer to Nashville along the lines that they had discussed with Florida.
The Predators are currently in second place in the Central, 16 points behind the Blackhawks, and are sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference.
We’ll see where the trade winds blow as the Olympic tournament continues, but Nashville might become a major player in both rumors and player movement in the coming weeks.
Patrick Sharp makes music in Nashville, scoring the Hawks' fourth goal on Saturday.
On consecutive days following the break for Christmas, the Blackhawks are playing their final two games of the season against the Nashville Predators. These two games could play a large role in determining the winner of the Central Division this year, and with the first coming on the road, it was important for the Hawks to get off to a good start.
I’m not sure I would call the first period of Saturday night’s game great, or the final stat sheet predictable, but the outcome of the contest was fantastic.
Nashville came out of the gates hitting and skating hard, and it took some time for the Hawks to get their legs under them. It wasn’t until Dustin Byfuglien found the back of the net in the middle of the first period on the power play that the Hawks appeared to ready to handle their business.
In the second period, they controlled the action and might have taken away Nashville’s hopes for the division.
After Martin Erat turned a Brent Seabrook turnover into a tying goal, it was Patrick Kane starting a cascade of goals that brought the second period to an end with a 4-1 score in favor of the Hawks. Andrew Ladd followed Kane’s tally only 70 second later with what appeared to be a back breaking goal, and Patrick Sharp crushed the Predator’s hopes, and the excitement in the crowd, with a nice putback to finish the scoring in the period, and the game.
Cristobal Huet, who wasn’t his best while losing his last start to San Jose on Tuesday night, was back to being special. He stopped 25 of 26 shots in the game, with only Erat beating him. The defense in front of him was exceptional as always, killing all three of Nashville’s power play chances and again blocking a lot of shots.
Where the game became unpredictable, though, was when the dust settled the box score for the night.
Coming into Saturday night’s game, Tomas Kopecky had three points as a member of the Blackhawks this season. He scored his only goal against Nashville, but that was more than two months ago. In fact, he hadn’t scored a point since Nov. 19 in Calgary. His minutes have dropped, he’s been a healthy scratch in favor of Jordan Hendry for a number of recent games, and his minus-eight rating is the worst on the team. Frankly, he had been bad and wasn’t showing many signs of coming out of his funk.
Then Saturday happened.
Kopecky was the third star of the game, chosen over Sharp, Byfuglien, Ladd, and other more likely candidates. Why? Because Kopecky had, by far, his best night in a Chicago sweater. He had two points, both assists, and was plus-two for the night despite not playing nine minutes in the game.
Maybe it was Kris Versteeg being a late scratch because of illness, or perhaps he left his offense in his stocking last Christmas and found it when opening gifts on Friday, but either way the game was an enormous lift and will hopefully lead to better play moving forward from Kopecky.
Speaking of Versteeg, both he and Niklas Hjalmarsson were scratched due to illness. The Blackhawks did, however, get both Cam Barker and Ben Eager back from a recent stretch of absences. Eager, as he tends to do, get into a scrap and found himself in the box on Saturday, while Barker had an assist in over 14 minutes of action.
Memorable moments usually come when all the marbles are on the table at the end of the season.
This year, the Central Division could have its defining games played within 48 hours of Christmas. On Saturday and Sunday, the Blackhawks will play a crucial home-and-home back-to-back series with the second place Nashville Predators.
What makes these two games critical so early in the season is that Dec. 27 is the last time these two teams will face each other this season. The Hawks and Preds have already split four games this season, with the Hawks winning the first two and Nashville battling back with consecutive victories to square the season series.
The Hawks come in just four points ahead in the standings, so a weekend sweep could put Chicago in the drivers’ seat. A sweep for Nashville, though, would tie the teams in the standings and give the head-to-head edge to the Predators. A split will keep both cities watching the scoreboard for a few more months.
Through the four games already played this year, the games have been won by the defenses. The Predators struggled early in the season, and the Hawks caught them while they were down on Oct. 15 in Nashville. The Hawks won that first meeting 3-1, but the Hawks defense only allowed 13 shots to reach Cristobal Huet. What was most memorable in that first meeting was that Tomas Kopecky scored a goal; he hasn’t put the puck in the net since.
The second meeting, on Oct. 24, was Huet’s first shutout of the season. Dustin Byfuglien scored a goal in each of the first two games between the two teams, and Huet stopped 39 of 40 shots on net as the Hawks handled their business against a struggling opponent.
The Predators played the Blackhawks three times, half the season series, in October this year, and a stunning Pekka Rinne shutout in Nashville on Oct. 29 could be looked back upon as the turning point in the season for the Predators. Nashville came into that game 4-6-1 on the season, having lost seven out of nine before Rinne turned away 28 Chicago shots. Since that game, the Predators have been 17-6-2; the Blackhawks have been 17-5-2 in the same span of time.
The fourth matchup between the two teams didn’t happen until Dec. 4, and this time it was Dan Ellis slamming the door at the United Center. Ellis stoned 34 of 35 shots, allowing only a highlight-reel Jonathan Toews goal just under 12 minutes into the game, and the Predators stole a rare road win in Chicago. Huet struggled, allowing four goals on only 23 shots. This was the first game the Blackhawks played after Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith signed their extensions.
Coming into the weekend, the Blackhawks are led offensively by Kane, who leads the Hawks in scoring with 38 points (12 G, 26 A), including 12 points in his last nine games. Kane has only one point, an assist, in the four games against Nashville this season, though. Toews also comes into the game playing well, with six points in his last six games. Marian Hossa, who has only been active for one of the first four meetings, has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in only 14 games so far.
Defensively, the story continues to be Keith for the Hawks. Not only has he played exceptionally well almost every night (he and Brent Seabrook weren’t their best against San Jose), but he has six points in the Hawks’ last four games. As we get closer to Jan. 1, when the final Olympic rosters are set, watch for more solid play from Keith and Seabrook as they both try to ensure their tickets to Vancouver in February.
Also playing well lately on the blue line for the Hawks has been Brian Campbell. Campbell has points in four of the Hawks last five games, and is plus-five in that span. His minutes have been increased, especially in the recent absence of Cam Barker, and he has rewarded the coaches with strong play on both ends.
Special teams could be a major factor this weekend. The Hawks defense has been great on the PK against Nashville so far this season, killing 12 of 13 advantages for the Predators. In December, the Blackhawks have successfully killed 31 of 32 power plays, a ridiculous 96.9 kill percentage. For the season, the Hawks are second in the NHL overall, killing 87 percent of opponents’ power plays. Nashville ranks 26th in the NHL, scoring on only 16.1 percent of their power play opportunities to date.
A major concern for the Hawks has been their own power play offense, which has disappeared in December. The Blackhawks have scored on only four of 39 power plays since going 2-4 against Columbus on Dec. 1. Despite their recent struggles, the Hawks are still 14th overall in the NHL with a 18.8 percent success rate on the power play. Nashville, on the other hand, is killing only 75.8 pecent of opponents’ power plays, ranking 28th in the NHL. This problem has been maginified for Nashville in December, as they have allowed a power play goal in nine of their 11 games; of course one of the two games in which they didn’t allow a goal was when they killed only one Blackhawks’ power play earlier this month.
Obviously, perhaps the biggest headline-grabber in Chicago has been the tandem of Huet and Antti Niemi in goal. Niemi shut out the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday, and Huet was the NHL’s top star for the previous week after posting consecutive shut outs of his own. Huet struggled against San Jose, but look to rebound in at least one of the games this weekend.
Nashville comes into the weekend with a 6-1-1 record in their last eight games, split evenly between Ellis and Rinne. Martin Erat has been hot, scoring six points in his last five games. He is tied for the team lead with 24 points, and leads the Preds with 12 goals. Despite missing the third game against Chicago at the end of October, Erat has been solid against the Hawks with two goals and an assist in three games this year.
If the Hawks leaders can stay hot and take advantage of the mediocre Nashville special teams, this weekend could open the road for the Blackhawks to own the division the rest of the way. Especially after consecutive shut outs of Detroit, this weekend could be a launching point to a great 2010 for the Blackhawks.
In the last couple weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks have had three amazing goals that were Sportscenter-caliber plays. After Wednesday night’s breakaway game-winner in overtime, it sparked the question: which was the best? You tell us which you think was the top.
A) Jonathan Toews vs. Nashville – video
B) Kris Versteeg vs. Columbus – video
C) Dustin Byfuglien vs. NY Rangers – video
Jonathan Toews watches his incredible first period goal from the air.
Time to earn that money, boys.
On the day after the Blackhawks announced they had signed extensions with Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the second place Predators came into the United Center and ended the Hawks’ eight-game home winning streak with a 4-1 road victory.
Though the shot totals overwhelmingly favor the Blackhawks (35-23), from the 300 level it didn’t appear the Hawks had many quality opportunities against an exceptional Dan Ellis. In the first period, Toews scored a highlight-reel goal, embarrassing Dan Hamhuis and Ellis with a wonderful display of puck handling and agility. The effort from Toews was wasted, though, as that would be the Hawks’ only goal of the night.
Indeed, Hamhuis would overcome the education he received from Toews to score a goal and assist on another as the Predators scored four unanswered goals, two of which came within 35 seconds of each other in the third period.
The Blackhawks won 36 of 60 faceoffs, but gave the puck away 15 times (against just one for the Preds). Joining Hamhuis with goals for Nashville were Martin Erat, Jordin Tootoo and Joel Ward. Hamhuis, Erat and Tootoo had two points each for the visitors.
In what could develop into a trade rumor-driving situation, it appears Dustin Byfuglien could be working his way into coach Joel Quenneville’s doghouse. Byfuglien started the game on a like with Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg, but after Byfuglien took a stupid boarding penalty at 11:09 in the third, Quenneville rotated his lines. Troy Brouwer suddenly replaced Patrick Sharp with Toews and Marian Hossa, and Sharp skated with Kane and Kris Versteeg. Byfuglien played 15:10, but was minus-two for the night.
Another developing area of concern is the Hawks’ unproductive fourth line. Colin Fraser, Tomas Kopecky and Ben Eager each skated under eight minutes of mediocre ice time on Friday night, and each ended up minus-one for the night.
As the season progresses, something to watch is how the Blackhawks players involved in trade rumors, or with expiring contracts, produce. Fraser and Eager have expiring contracts, while Byfuglien, Sharp, Cam Barker and Brent Sopel have been mentioned in trade rumors already this year. Kopecky signed a two-year deal with Hossa in July, and could be a summer waiver candidate if his play continues to be poor.
Troy Brouwer and the Hawks host Nashville on Friday night.
On Friday night the Nashville Predators invade the United Center for the first of three December games between these two Central Division rivals. With the streaking Predators sitting in second place, tonight’s two points are crucial for the Blackhawks.
In October, the Hawks split two games in Nashville and defeated the Preds in Chicago, outscoring Nashville only 5-3 in the three games. However, Nashville has been red-hot since then, going 9-4-0 in November. Their 15-10-2 record, after an overtime loss in Minnesota and regulation loss to Calgary on Monday, have the Preds five points behind the Blackhawks and just one above Columbus, who are in third.
After a month of solid work in the net, Pekka Rinne has struggled this week. In the Preds’ two losses, Rinne has allowed 10 goals on 57 shots (82.4 save percentage). Rinne did shut out the Hawks on Oct. 29, however, in a game that started the hot streak that carried Nashville through November. Steve Sullivan comes in with 11 points in his last 10 games, as the Preds offense has been solid for four weeks.
UPDATE: Dan Ellis will start in goal for Nashville Friday to give Rinne, who has struggled in his last two games, a break.
The Blackhawks were also great in November, going 8-2-2 in the month including a 4-1-1 Circus Trip. The Hawks lost the last two games of the trip, the finale in a shootout to Los Angeles, but got back on the winning track in the 11-round marathon shoot out on Tuesday night against Columbus.
Marian Hossa has four points (2 G, 2 A) in the four games he’s played with the Hawks since entering the lineup for the first time in San Jose. Cristobal Huet, who is 8-1-1 with a 1.95 goals against average in his last ten games, shut out Nashville on Oct 24, less than a week before Rinne returned the favor. Dustin Byfuglien has scored a goal in two of the three games between the two teams.
Patrick Kane has been good lately for the Hawks as well, with three multi-point games in his last five and consecutive two-point efforts coming into Friday night’s action. Jonathan Toews comes in having been +1 in four straight games and seven of the last nine, and has been great in the faceoff circle as well. Duncan Keith, the third of the newly-extended Hawks stars, enters Friday’s action ranking fourth among NHL defensemen with 23 points (5 G, 18 A).
As the Blackhawks prepare to host the Nashville Predators Friday night, there’s an awkward silence coming from Chicago.
Yesterday, obviously, was one of the most important days in Blackhawks’ history, as the team announced contract extensions for Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kand and Duncan Keith. The excitement leading up to that announcement, and the anticipation of the potential the future could bring with these three young stars locked up, was something the Hawks fans have been begging for since 1962.
But the other side of the excitement was the rumors that the Blackhawks had to make a deal to make the three contracts happen during the season. The “tagging” rule was an issue the Blackhawks allegedly had to deal with, and it was reportedly going to force GM Stan Bowman to move at least one, if not two players before the ink was dry.
Reports on Friday morning, however, are that Bowman and others from the Blackhawks’ front office met with NHL officials to review the Hawks salary obligations in 2009-10 and beyond, and received league clearance to finalize the three new contracts without being obligated to cut payroll.
That means the trade rumors swirling around Cam Barker, Patrick Sharp and, especially, Brent Sopel should die down for at least a little while.
However, just because the league was OK with the Hawks new deals happening new without a deal doesn’t mean the Hawks are in a financial position without issue moving forward. Adding the three new deals puts the Blackhawks’ salary cap number at $60.6 million heading to next year before addressing the pending free agencies of players like Niklas Hjalmarsson, Andrew Ladd, Antti Niemi, Colin Fraser, Ben Eager, John Madden and Adam Burish. Expectations are that the NHL will lower the salary cap for 2010-11 from the current $56.8 million.
Which means the Hawks will need to move salary just to put a complete roster on the ice next year, much less have any depth.
There’s no doubt that rumors will continue to swirl around a number of Blackhawks, including Barker, Sharp, Sopel, Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg, all of whom are signed through next season. Realistic expectations should be that two players from this list are not with the team next year because of salary constraints, and those players might still be moved during this season.
But what’s important now is that, if the Hawks opt to keep the current roster together through the playoffs, they can do so. The way these Hawks are playing, that’s a relief.
December begins with the Chicago Blackhawks in first place in the Central Division. Life is good.
After a spectacular November that saw the team handle most, if not all, of the Western Conference powers both at home and on the road, the Hawks come on in December for a month highlighted by games against some of the top talent from the Eastern Conference. Thankfully for the fans, though, most of December is played in Chicago.
The fun begins on December 5, when the Hawks make their lone trip to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. This game could not only be a showcase of some of the best young players in the NHL, but might be a trendy pick to serve as a 2010 Stanley Cup Finals preview. After the Pittsburgh trip, the Hawks return home for New York Rangers before heading to Buffalo to take on the red-hot Sabres on December 11.
This stretch of three games could serve as a good gauge of how the Blackhawks stack up against the stronger teams in the East. But the schedule doesn’t get easy after just that one week.
After the Sabres game, the Hawks have a five-game homestand during which Original Six foes Boston and Detroit come to the United Center. It will be the only trip for the Bruins to Chicago this year, and the first time the Hawks will face the Red Wings since their third game of the season; that loss also happened to be the Wings home opener and the first game either team had played on American soil this season.
Marian Hossa will play the last two teams with whom he advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The Red Wings should be getting some of their injured players back during December, but the losses on their roster have kept them from playing consistent hockey this year.
Following the Red Wings could be a dangerous game for the Blackhawks. The final game of the homestand is against the San Jose Sharks… the same Sharks that have lost both games against the Hawks this year and who got their doors blown out in their building during the Circus Trip. If there’s one team on the December schedule that has a score to settle, it’s the Sharks.
The Hawks will leave town for a couple tough games after facing the Sharks, travelling to Detroit and Nashville, before returning home for Nashville again.
The Predators started the season in a funk but have come on strong lately and fall in a couple spots on the December schedule that could present an opportunity for a good team to take advantage of a team playing a lot of games against premier Eastern Conference teams. The back-to-back home and home series on the two days immediately following Christmas could be a great test for both teams.
The final day of 2009 will also present a potential Finals preview when the New Jersey Devils come to Chicago. It will be the first time John Madden faces his former team, and will absolutely serve as a test of the potent Hawks offense against Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. Both teams are elite defensively, so that could be a bell ringer to end a special calendar year in the history of the Blackhawks.
It seems like just yesterday that many Blackhawks fans, including yours truly, were calling for the Hawks to make a permanent change at the top of their goalie depth chart.
Cristobal Huet went through a terrible stretch in the middle of October, and many of the issues that lost him the starting goalie job to Nikolai Khabibulin became glaring holes teams were taking advantage of regularly. Huet did not play very well in the Hawks loss in Detroit, and then infamously was pulled early in the first period of the Calgary game in which the Hawks climbed out of a 5-0 first period deficit to win 6-5 in overtime.
When the Calgary game felt like the bottom for Huet, the Dallas game five days later was perhaps his low point as a professional. After Antti Niemi started winning the fans’ favor, and played well enough for wins the Calgary and Edmonton games, Huet allowed four goals, at least two of which were embarassing, to the Stars in a tough home loss.
The fans were booing, and the rumor mill was swirling with questions about the Hawks willingness to continue giving the $5 million Frenchman chances when he had disappointed out of the gates for a team that was supposed to contend for the conference championship.
Names like Jaroslav Halak, Carey Price and Jean-Sebastian Giguere floated around the Blackhawks all over the web, and it was generally at the expense of Huet.
Then, on October 21, the Blackhawks collectively came out flat. They took the banged up Vancouver Canucks for granted, lost a game, and lost both Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews to concussions.
It was on that night, after suffering a 3-2 loss, that something clicked for Huet.
Perhaps it was the lost leadership of Seabrook and Toews forcing Huet to step up his game, or maybe it was the reality that he was on such thin ice, but Huet became every bit the goalie the Hawks paid the king’s ransom last summer.
Since that Vancouver game, Huet has started seven of eight games and has stopped 166 of 177 shots (93.7%). He has allowed more than two goals in a game only once in that stretch, and has lowered his goals against average to 2.21 for the season.
Once a goalie nobody wanted to see in the United Center, Huet just a couple weeks later ranks sixth in goals against average in the entire NHL and can be held personally responsible for the Hawks staying in a couple games when the offense didn’t show up for 40 minutes.
The two home games to begin this week-long four-game homestand have been great tests of Huet and the defense in front of him, and both have responded with exceptional performances.
Monday, the Los Angeles Kings came to town among the top five scoring offenses in the league, averaging over 3.30 goals per game. They were also averaging nearly 30 shots on goal per night.
The Blackhawks and Huet dominated the Kings, though. Huet stopped 17 of only 18 shots he faced in the game, and the offense responded to Toews’ return from injury to blow out the first place Kings 4-1 at the United Center. Even though there weren’t a lot of shots, there were tough chances from the Kings and Anze Kopitar, the league’s leading scorer, that Huet shut down well.
Wednesday, the Colorado Avalanche played the Hawks for the third time already this year and all three have been tight contests. The first two saw 17 shooters from each team give their best in the shootout before the two games were settled, with the two teams splitting the games.
Whenever a competitor faces another athlete performing at a high level, it’s interesting to see how he steps up his
game. For Colorado, Craig Anderson has been among the best goalies in all of hockey this season and was nothing short of spectacular on Wednesday night. Anderson allowed only two goals in regulation and the overtime period despite facing 39 shots. Huet needed to answer.
And he did.
Huet faced 24 shots through only two periods, more shots than the league-leading Hawks allow on average for an entire game (22.6). But to Huet’s credit, despite a number of hot rushes at the Hawks net and a number of opportunities in traffic for a shot to understandably slip past him, he didn’t fold.
Only two slid past him in the first two periods, and he shut out the Avalanche in the third and overtime. He was also superb in the shootout for a third time against Colorado, allowing only one of the three shooters to score.
Huet is now being cheered, not jeered, at the United Center. He has been as good over the last couple weeks as he was bad in the early part of the season, and has gained the favor of his coaches and the Blackhawks fans back.
October’s in the books, and now November begins with even more questions than answers in the NHL’s Western Conference. So many injuries have hit the rosters that it’s beginning to raise concerns that some teams, like Vancouver, might not be able to withstand the losses of players and games early in the year.
Other teams, like Colorado and Los Angeles, have jumped out of the gates with a stronger showing than expected. Anze Kopitar leads the league in scoring, and Craig Anderson in Denver has been phenomenal (former Hawks prospect, too).
So let’s put it on paper. How do the teams in the West stack up after one month of the season, and how do they project moving forward.
15. Minnesota (5-9-0 10 pts)
The Wild thought adding injury plagued players like Martin Havlat would help them compete for a playoff spot this year, but the chance they took with those checkered pasts has come to haunt them. They’ve been outscored 42-31 through 14 games. Injuries and sloppy play have left Minnesota the lowest scoring team in the league.
14. Anaheim (4-6-2 10 pts)
The Ducks aren’t so mighty right now, and have fallen well behind the Kings in their annual competition to be southern California’s best insignificant team. Ryan Getzlaf has only scored one goal in 12 games, and the team’s third leading scorer is James Wisniewski. If not for Corey Perry and Getzlaf, the team’s 34-42 point differential would look a lot worse.
13. St. Louis (5-6-1 11 pts)
They definitely have the Blues in St. Louis right now, as they’ve only been able to muster a 2-5-0 record at home so far. Their offense has disappeared, climaxing with consecutive shutouts to end the month of October. Not a single Blues player has reached double digits in points yet, and Chris Mason is allowing 2.74 goals per game.
12. Nashville (6-6-1 13 points)
Until their last three games, the Predators weren’t living up to their name. They’ve been outscored 38-28, the worst differential in the Western Conference, and have had issues settling on a goalie. Their last three games, though, have been exceptional and they may have not only found a goalie, but their offense has come alive. Pekka Rinne appears to have established himself as the top goalie, benefiting from a 10-5 scoring differential in those three games (including a shutout of the Blackhawks).
11. Detroit Red Wings (5-4-3 13 pts)
They’ve struggled to stay healthy so far this year, already missing key components from last year’s conference championship team from free agency. With two of their top three centers out for between eight weeks and four months, the Wings are desperately seeking defense. They’ve come out of the gate averaging 3.50 goals per game, but are allowing nearly four. If there’s anything to the rumors that Detroit’s going to make a strong play to add Peter Forsberg, they could be a dangerous team.
10. Edmonton (7-7-1 15 pts)
The Oilers paid a lot of money for the 2008-09 Nikolai Khabibulin, but have seen the goalie that was regularly booed in Chicago the two previous seasons. The Bulin Wall has allowed 3.12 goals per game so far, and the offense has skated hard to keep pace. They’re very much an average team that will struggle to break into the top eight spots this spring for the playoffs without a trade.
9. Vancouver (8-7-0 16 pts)
What happens when you take Daniel Sedin, Sami Salo, Pavol Demitra and Roberto Luongo out of multiple games? That’s just to mention a few of the Canucks’ injury concerns to start this season, and they’re understandably struggling to stay above .500 through a tough early schedule. Sedin and Salo are both expected to miss most of November, so the ice will stay thin for the Canucks.
8. Dallas (6-3-5 17 pts)
If only they faced Cristobal Huet every night! Their inability to get it done in regulation has killed a team trying to get much-needed early wins without Mike Modano. They’re only converting 17.7 percent of their power play opportunities, perhaps the biggest impact of Modano’s absence. If they can get healthy and play defense (3.25 goals against per game), they could be a playoff team.
7. Columbus (7-5-1 15 pts)
The Jackets are in second place in the Central behind a strong start from Rick Nash, but are being outscored after a month of action (42-46). They’re going to need to step up their defense to allow their strong offense to shine. Obviously, getting Jan Hejda back off injured reserve should improve their defense, and that could happen as soon as Wednesday. They just lost Andrew Murray for four weeks, though. Like many teams, health is an ongoing issue.
6. Calgary (7-4-1 15 pts)
The Flames have the best converting power play in the conference (27.8 percent), but they’re allowing 3.5 goals per game. They’re an older, veteran squad that hasn’t received what they had hoped for from Mikka Kiprusoff in goal, but have been pleasantly surprised by former Blackhawks wing Rene Borque, who leads Calgary in scoring to date.
5. Phoenix (9-5-0 18 pts)
The Coyotes, unlike Edmonton, haven’t missed Wayne Gretzky for one second and have admirably played through their off-ice distractions to have a solid start. They’re third in the Pacific Division, and have held opponents to just over two goals per game. The NHL might have bought the best goalie in hockey in bankruptcy court, too, in Ilya Bryzgalov; he’s allowing only 1.78 goals per night and has sprinted out to an 8-3-0 record.
4. Los Angeles (9-4-2 20 pts)
Their offense, led by Kopitar, is as good as it gets in the league (51 goals through 15 games), but they’re not doing a lot of the little things right to jump into the top spot in the Pacific. The Kings are only killing 74.1 percent of power plays, and are only 5-3-2 in their last ten games. They’ll need to allow fewer than their current three goals per game to win their division, much less the conference.
3. Chicago (8-4-1 17 pts)
The Blackhawks are certainly talented enough to end the regular season in the top spot in the West, but haven’t jumped to that spot yet. Missing Jonathan Toews for two weeks hasn’t help a strikingly unproductive power play (17.3 percent), but their defense has been good around Cristobal Huet’s roller coaster season. Once they get Toews, Eager and Hossa back, watch out.
2. Colorado (10-3-2 22 pts)
The Avalanche have followed Anderson’s lead between the pipes and sprinted to an early lead in the Northwest, and could expand their six-point lead on a banged up Vancouver team. The perfect storm might have landed in Denver to begin this season, as the Avalanche are playing well while the rest of their division gets hurt and plays poorly. They could run away with their division before the Olympics.
1. San Jose (10-4-1 21 pts)
They took the huge gamble this summer in adding Dany Heatley to their roster, and it’s payed off on paper so far. They’ve scored almost a full goal per game more than their opponents, have the second ranked power play in the conference (25 percent) and third-best power play killing unit in the conference (85 percent). Chemistry will be a theme to watch as this season progresses, though… Heatley has never been known for making friends.
