Can somebody please explain to me what is going on? The Eastern Conference standings look nothing like we expected them to be at this point of the season. Of course you have the perennial leaders such as the Penguins, Flyers, and Boston sitting pretty. No shock there. But when bottom dwellers become legitimate contenders for in the playoff hunt and early favorites look like a shell of themselves? We may have a heated end to the regular season.
Let us begin with the teams that were lucky to finish were lucky to finish with a winning record. Toronto, Ottawa, and Florida all finished in the bottom half of the standings last season, yet appear to be worth national attention at this point of the year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs ended last season just above the .500 mark with a lot of questions. The young goalie with a lot of hype from his time overseas looked to be a major question mark, the depth of the team as a whole was debatable, and trading for a young Phil Kessel was being discussed as a completely one sided trade in Boston’s favor. All of those issues seem to have worked themselves out thus far. Their goalie situation has held its own with Gustavsson playing fairly well and the young buck James Reimer posting a goals against average of 2.81 and a save percentage of .906. Adding defenseman John-Michael Liles over the offseason has added some offensive talent to their blue line. Pair that with Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf finding their old form, the team’s depth has vastly improved with both being near the top point getters for the Leafs. But the biggest issue was Phil Kessel, who is finally making GM Brian Burke look like he may have knew what he was doing by trading high end draft picks in order to get the franchise forward. Kessel is leading the Leafs in not only goals, but total points as well. He may be reaching the potential that many experts projected him to have. Doesn’t hurt that Toronto received top prospect Joe Colbourne in the deal as well.
The Ottawa Senators looked bad last year. Losing record and veterans passing their prime is the recipe for success right? Well apparently things changed over the offseason. Jason Spezza leads the team in points, Milan Michalek has 19 goals, and Danny Alfredsson and Sergei Gonchar appear to sipped from the fountain of youth. Whatever is going on in Ottawa, teams may want to take notice. The veterans that may have seemed to have less talent than in years past have become the strength of the team, both statistically and emotionally. Veteran teams with the right young talent can make deep runs come playoff time.
Now how about those Panthers from the great hockey market of Florida. Who saw the worst team in the East last year putting together this kind of season. Apparently taking a chance on mediocre players from winning teams can help you turn a franchise around. Kris Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, and Joe Theodore have all have achieved newfound success with a fresh start. All have played for winning franchises over the past few years. Versteeg and Campbell spending time with Chicago, and Fleischmann and Theodore with Washington. Sure there are more factors that are involved with a turn around of this magnitude, but for argument’s sake I’ll oversimplify it into taking yesterday’s news and offering them a new chance.
All three teams have started out strong and have emerged as legitimate contenders. Could it be the coaching, the chemistry or players coming into their own? Whatever it is, these teams have turned some heads and deserve some much needed recognition.
Let us begin with the teams that were lucky to finish were lucky to finish with a winning record. Toronto, Ottawa, and Florida all finished in the bottom half of the standings last season, yet appear to be worth national attention at this point of the year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs ended last season just above the .500 mark with a lot of questions. The young goalie with a lot of hype from his time overseas looked to be a major question mark, the depth of the team as a whole was debatable, and trading for a young Phil Kessel was being discussed as a completely one sided trade in Boston’s favor. All of those issues seem to have worked themselves out thus far. Their goalie situation has held its own with Gustavsson playing fairly well and the young buck James Reimer posting a goals against average of 2.81 and a save percentage of .906. Adding defenseman John-Michael Liles over the offseason has added some offensive talent to their blue line. Pair that with Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf finding their old form, the team’s depth has vastly improved with both being near the top point getters for the Leafs. But the biggest issue was Phil Kessel, who is finally making GM Brian Burke look like he may have knew what he was doing by trading high end draft picks in order to get the franchise forward. Kessel is leading the Leafs in not only goals, but total points as well. He may be reaching the potential that many experts projected him to have. Doesn’t hurt that Toronto received top prospect Joe Colbourne in the deal as well.
The Ottawa Senators looked bad last year. Losing record and veterans passing their prime is the recipe for success right? Well apparently things changed over the offseason. Jason Spezza leads the team in points, Milan Michalek has 19 goals, and Danny Alfredsson and Sergei Gonchar appear to sipped from the fountain of youth. Whatever is going on in Ottawa, teams may want to take notice. The veterans that may have seemed to have less talent than in years past have become the strength of the team, both statistically and emotionally. Veteran teams with the right young talent can make deep runs come playoff time.
Now how about those Panthers from the great hockey market of Florida. Who saw the worst team in the East last year putting together this kind of season. Apparently taking a chance on mediocre players from winning teams can help you turn a franchise around. Kris Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, and Joe Theodore have all have achieved newfound success with a fresh start. All have played for winning franchises over the past few years. Versteeg and Campbell spending time with Chicago, and Fleischmann and Theodore with Washington. Sure there are more factors that are involved with a turn around of this magnitude, but for argument’s sake I’ll oversimplify it into taking yesterday’s news and offering them a new chance.
All three teams have started out strong and have emerged as legitimate contenders. Could it be the coaching, the chemistry or players coming into their own? Whatever it is, these teams have turned some heads and deserve some much needed recognition.
Mike Bouchard
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