"What's the Score?"
Friday, October 28, 2005

Posted by Kerrzy

It’s twenty-five days into the new NHL season and with all the changes in place, it’s a different game out there. Not everything is unfamiliar though, for example, after a quick 3-0-0 start, the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames are sharing the bottom slots of the North West division tables and the Detroit Red Wings are 10-1-0.


A lot of teams have been surprising a lot of people thus far this season though, and it’s making for some intense hockey. The Nashville Predators, for instance, made some smart moves and strong investments during August and are consequently off to an 8-0-1 start in their first nine games, remaining the only team to not-yet lose in regulation time. Now all they’ve got to do is change the name of their home rink from the Gaylord Entertainment Center to…ANYTHING else, and they’ll be a surefire contender.

A few Canadian teams are really thriving in the new style of hockey, at least in the East, as Montreal and Ottawa are first and second in the Eastern Conference. Out west, the Canucks are behind only Detroit in the Western conference but unfortunately for Alberta, the Oilers and the Flames have both been lackluster at best but for small stretches of promise. The Oilers are riding a seven-game losing streak right now, tying them for second last in the conference, while Calgary is only two points the better.

The most entertaining thing to follow as the season progresses will be the insanity that shall be this season’s scoring race. The quality of young players scattered throughout the league right now is at an all-time high, and they’re sniping at a rate that might end up rivaling that of the eighties, or the “glory days” of the open, free-flowing game.

Sidney Crosby has lived up to the hype ten games into the season, although his 14 points is overshadowed somewhat by the fact that it took the Penguins 10 games to earn their first win after going 0-4-5 in their first nine.

Crosby isn’t running away with the Calder just yet though; Alexander Ovechkin has been turning heads every night with his 11 points in 10 games as well and should provide a great rivalry to watch. The rookie class of 2005-2006 is, overall, showing so much potential. In the current top 5 for rookie scoring, there are guys from ten different teams all putting up the big numbers and the second or third year players are sniping as well.

Rick Nash, one of last season’s 41-goal scorers, has been out with a high-ankle sprain for the entirety of the season so far but he’ll be back in action this week, making a late start with a Columbus franchise that desperately needs his scoring touch.

It’s nice to see guys like the once-mulleted Jaromir Jagr lighting the lamp again regularly and other players following suit. Forty-one goals won’t cut it for the Maurice Richard Trophy this year.

A couple of things that are yet to be seen this season: Which coach will be the first to get the axe? Speculation is that it’ll be Bob Hartley, but with Kovalchuk back maybe Atlanta will pick it up. What about the problem that Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock’s claim that players all over the league are starting to take dives too often to draw penalties? This could become a big problem if it becomes how it is in soccer, let’s hope it doesn’t!

Moral of the Story: Was Sheldon Souray’s mind somewhere else when Jason Spezza dangled him in overtime on Thursday night? If my wife, a former Baywatch actress, filed for divorce I think I’d take it pretty hard too! Don’t worry Sheldon, I hear David Hasselhoff is single…