Thursday NHL Thoughts - 11/02/06 Edition

Hey all!

Before I get on with my thoughts on the NHL, I would like to make a shout-out to Chelsea FC, for a great, come-from-behind tie against Barca in their Champions League match on Tuesday. Frank Lampard scored the goal of the year to tie it at one in the second half, but Chelsea needed a last minute goal by Didier Drogba (who is having a career year) to walk out of Barcelona with the tie. Right now, there is a huge probability that Chelsea will make it to the final 16 and Barca won't. And that would be too sweeeeeeeeet!

Now, onto my NHL thoughts of the week. As I was surfing the sports sites (www.espn.com, www.cnn.sportsillustrated.com, www.thehockeynews.com) I focused on those weekly "power rankings" that they all have. So, I thought I would give you my own Power Rankings, for the top 10 teams in the league, anyway. As you'll see, the balance of power lies in the West..

1. Buffalo Sabres (10-0-1): We are now in November and the Sabres still haven't lost in regulation. That's pretty amazing. What is even more amazing is how they are filling up the opposition's net: Buffalo has scored a whopping 53 goals this year, for a juicy average of 4.81 goals/game. Meanwhile, Ryan Miller is establishing himself as one of the best goalies in the league, and Martin Biron is more than solid as a backup. Stars so far: Maxim Afinogenov, Chris Drury, Ryan Miller, Jaroslav Spacek.
2. Dallas Stars (10-2-0): Right now, everything is going well for the Stars. Mike Modano is playing like he's 24, Eric Lindros is dominating again, Brendan Morrow is playing great and Marty Turco is just solid in net. Even Mike Ribeiro is looking pretty good. You do have to fear a little bit for Dallas, because names like Lindros and Modano don't go hand in hand with words like durability. Still, for now, this is without a doubt the best team in the West. Stars so far: Mike Modano, Marty Turco, Eric Lindros, Philippe Boucher, Brendan Morrow.
3. Minnesota Wild (9-2-0): For the first few games of the year, Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik just lit up opposing teams. But then, Gaborik got hurt. Still, while Minnesota has been pretty much a 1-man team on offense with Brian Rolston carrying the load, they have really cut down on opposing teams' chances. The result is a league-low 1.9 goals allowed per game. As long as Manny Fernandez keeps playing like this, the Wild will be hard to beat. Stars so far: Manny Fernandez, Brian Rolston, Petteri Nummelin, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Pavol Demitra.
4. Anaheim Ducks (9-0-4): Many feel like the Ducks should be higher than this. They haven't lost in regulation yet, some will say. That's true, but the Ducks have also lost 4 times in overtime and the shootout. The Ducks are only 5-4 in games decided by 2 goals or less. In comparison, the Wild are 7-1. So, if I'm the Ducks coach, I do worry that my team is not doing too well in close games. Still, this team is a powerhouse and might have the best talent in the West. Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermeyer are as dominating as they were expected to be, although Pronger has room to get better. Stars so far: Scott Niedermeyer, J-S Giguere, Chris Pronger, Corey Perry, Andy McDonald.
5. San Jose Sharks (9-4-0): Of the top 5 teams in my rankings, the Sharks have probably had the toughest schedule so far. They have responded by coming out of the gates on fire, going 6-1-0 in their first 7 games. Vesa Toskala has played really well, and the starting job seems to be his. On offense, Jonathan Cheechoo has not filled up the net as expected and Joe Thornton has only 2 goals, but that line is still playing really well. Patrick Marleau is also having a great year. Rookie Matt Carle, like Dion Phaneuf last year, is going to make a run at the Calder this year. He is playing as well as almost any defenseman in the league. Stars so far: Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Vesa Toskala, Matt Carle, Milan Michalek.
6. Atlanta Trashers (8-3-3): What a difference a goaltender makes. Last year, the Trashers couldn't buy a win at this time of the year. Of course, their star goalie, Kari Lethonen, was out. This year, with him in net, they stand as the second best team in the East. Lethonen is getting the headlines right now, but the Trashers are also winning with offense: Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Slava Kozlov have a combined 49 points in 14 games. Meanwhile, the Trashers have scored 49 goals as a team, good for 3.5 per game. Getting Vitali Vishnevski was a good move, as he has really solidified a defense that needed it. Stars so far: Kari Lethonen, Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, Scott Mellanby, Slava Kozlov.
7. Nashville Predators (8-3-1): The Predators are really starting to look like last year's team again. After a slow start, Tomas Vokoun is showing why he is considered one of the best goalies in the league. The defense, lead by Kimmo Timonen, Marek Zidlicki and Shea Webber, has been solid in front of Vokoun. The offense has been good, but not spectacular. Paul Karyia leads the team in points, but Steve Sullivan is playing better. Martin Erat, J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott and David Legwand are all having solid years too. Stars so far: Tomas Vokoun, Steve Sullivan, Kimmo Timonen, Paul Karyia, Jason Arnott.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins (7-3-0): After a disastrous 2005-06 season in which the only bright spot was Sidney Crosby, the Penguins are enjoying a revival of sorts this year. Marc-Andre Fleury has been excellent in net, finally living up to his potential. Evgeni Malkin has been even better than expected, scoring 7 goals in 6 games so far. Ryan Whitney is quickly becoming one of the better d-men in the league. Jordan Staal has made the team after scoring 3 shorthanded goals already. But make no mistake: this is Crosby's team. And boy does he look the part of the leader. Stars so far: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Whitney, Sergei Gonchar.
9. Montreal Canadiens (6-2-3): The biggest defeat the Canadiens have suffered has been a 4-12 loss to the no. 1-ranked Sabres. Otherwise, almost all of the other games have been pretty close, and the Canadiens have fared well. They need to learn how to win shootouts, though. It looks like David Aebischer will be the de-facto starter for the team, as he is playing great and Cristobal Huet, well, he isn't. One area on concern for the team is the defense. Here is a list of the +/- of the top 6 defesemen: -2, +2, E, -4, -2, +4. That needs to be better. Stars so far: Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu, David Aebischer, Andrei Markov, Sheldon Souray.
10. Detroit Red wings (7-4-1): Betrayed by a lack of offense, Detroit started the year 3-4-1. Since then, though, they have tightened up defensively, and they have gone 4-0-0 in the last 4 games. The Red Wings have been playing more of a defensive style lately, trying to capitalize on the opposition's mistakes instead of trying to create scoring chances, and it has worked well. They have also been getting pretty goog goaltending from Hasek and Osgood. Stars so far: Nicklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, Dominik Hasek, Pavel Datsyuk, Danny Markov.

Random Thoughts from around the NHL:

• Have you seen Dave Nonis' comments? For those who don't know, Nonis is the Vancouver Canucks' GM. He came out this week and said the free agency was a joke, as was salary arbitration. His reasoning? It is now harder to keep your team together and build a dynasty. Well, Nonis is an idiot. That's the idea of a salary cap and younger free agency. Give an opportunity to the losers to catch up more quickly to the winners. Was he hibernating during the lockout or something? Again, idiot.
• Could we please stop creating rumors about Vinny Lecavalier or Martin St. Louis coming to Montreal? I mean, Lecavalier is not moving. As for St. Louis, it is possible that Tampa will decide to move him, but do you all really want another overpriced french-canadian in Montreal? Remember what happened to the last one, a certain Mr. Theodore.
• Word is going around that Edmonton is looking for a defenseman to be their power-play quarterback. Brad Stuart could be available in Boston, they say. Me, I don't think Kevin Lowe will make any move until after Christmas.

Well, after a short stint in 5th and 4th places in the Pool this week, I am back in the basement. It's very close though, and all positions from 3rd to 6th are subject to be interchanged every night. It's a lot of fun...

This week, my best pick is a combo. I look at Sweet LP's first 2 picks, and I see Jaromir Jagr at 20 points and Marian Hossa at 18 points, for a total of 38. How much are we, the others, getting out of our first 2 picks? Huy and myself are at 32, Veillotron is at 24, Nick the Dick is at 22 and Mat, which is unbelievable since he is sitting comfortably in 1st place, is at a lowly 20. Kudos to you, Sweet LP, for being the only one of us to hit it big with your first 2 picks.

My worst pick, this week, is a tie between 2 goaltenders. After getting Tomas Vokoun as his first goaler, Veillotron took Curtis Jospeh as his 2nd one. I remember applauding this choice, saying Joseph would be in nets for about 70-75 games and thus would get about 5-6 shutouts and about 30-35 wins, making him a very good pick. Well, turns out we were both very wrong. Joseph has so far been in nets 9 games this year, and he has given Veillotron a lowly 4 points. Veillotron did bounce back, though, with a good pick in Vesa Toskala. Now, when we did the draft, my strategy was to load up on fowards and defensemen, and take the best of the rest when it came to goalies. Well, I did really well with Dwayne Roloson and Ryan Miller as my 2nd and 3rd goalies (both have over 15 points so far) , but my first selection was Martin Gerber in Ottawa. Gerber has given me the same amount of points Cujo has given Veillotron, but what might make this pick worse is that Gerber is so bad, they're not even playing him. That's a really bad pick.

See you next week people!

Dwarf out.