The third installment looking at the "Circle The Date" landmarks laid out in my NHL Predictions.
Anaheim - Nov 5 at Detroit - Long road trip ends against a team the Ducks like to measure themselves against. How's Hiller health? Can Perry continue his hot streak?
Anaheim has some serious problems. The most dangerous line in hockey is anything but. The defense is pedestrian and secondary scoring is non-existent. Things haven't got better since the Ducks arrived home and now they find themselves in the precarious position of digging out of a deep hole in the ultra competitive West.
St. Louis - Nov 5 at Minnesota - Another team with a brutal stretch of road games to start the season (11 of 15). In a competitive Western Conference, St. Louis must emerge from this stretch close to .500 of risk being on the outside yet again.
One thing is for certain. Management in St. Louis was not going to sit back and settle for a mediocre start. While coaching may have been the unfair target, it is hard to question the Blues made the right decision to make a move. History is full of teams that acted too late to save the season. St. Louis may have made the move at just the right time. Hitchcock has quickly turned things around and got the Blues back in the hunt. Every point counts in this race and at least management understands that.
Minnesota - Nov 5 - A difficult set of opponents graces the Wild's early schedule (Detroit x3, Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Vancouver x2). If the Wild are competitive in these games, it'll set the tone for a good season.
Easily the biggest surprise of the season and frankly I'm a bit shocked they've held it together for so long with questionable offense and a rather young defense. I'm still not convinced they can hold it together in the long run but they have convinced me they can stay in the hunt for a playoff spot. A key home stand is next before hitting the West Coast for some games that will determine just how good this team can be.
Nashville - Nov 12 vs Montreal - a road heavy opening schedule (10 of first 15) finally ends. Predators cannot afford to dig a deep whole against the talented conference.
Once again, Nashville and coach Trotz have shown to be a resilient bunch. They are on a tear as of late an quickly climbing the standings in the West. What I saw in person wasn't impressive but apparently that was an aberration more than a norm. As usual, Nashville is playing a lot of close games but finding ways to win. Keep it up and they'll get yet another shot to prove their worth in the playoffs.
Dallas Nov 19 vs San Jose - About 30 games in, see how the coach is doing, how Lehtonen is holding up and where the teams confidence is at.
Dallas's great start is quickly fading away. Everything that went right early, has fallen apart lately. This is somewhat expected considering the lack of depth and youth on this roster. Fortunately, the team is still playing hard, so there is no reason to make any radical moves. As the season wears on, I expect the Stars will have more and more trouble grabbing wins so it is essential they take advantage of every opportunity presented.
Elsewhere around the league
Look at the following recent scores. Notice a trend?:
Dallas 5 - Washington 2
Edmonton 3 - Montreal 1
St. Louis 3 - Chicago 0
Ottawa 5 - Toronto 2
Winnipeg 5 - Tampa Bay 2
Winnipeg 4 - Washington 1
Calgary 5 - Chicago 2
Toronto 7 - Washington 1
Edmonton 9 - Chicago 2
It is not just that perennial doormats are winning games, it is that they are winning them in embarrassing fashion over teams that are considered among the elite. This season, even more so than past seasons, there is little difference between the top and bottom teams. With the possible exception of Columbus, New York Islanders and Calgary, every team has very good chance to win any game. Throughout the course of this season, I expect to see very little spread between the top 1-13 teams in each conference. Be very leery if your favorite team hits an extended losing streak or lets a game slip away because those couple points could make a huge difference come April.
Boston - Apparently the team finally got the message and has turned things around. Just in the nick of time. A 9 game winning streak has them back near the top of the conference where I expect they'll remain
Washington - There is something seriously wrong in the nations capital and this time I'm not talking about the government. There is a clear divide between the coaching staff and some of the players. This sort of situation has played out before and it rarely has a good ending without a coaching change. Things had better turn around in the next couple weeks or management will have to make a move or risk losing the season.
New York Rangers - Another team that got of to a less than ideal start has turned things around significantly. There are still some troubling signs but as long a Lundquist stays healthy they should be in the mix.
Pittsburgh - Sid the Kid returns an immediately makes an impact. A dangerous team has become even more dangerous. It'll be interesting to see how the big 3 in the Atlantic Division matchup when they start playing each other.
Toronto - A hot start has quickly cooled off. Does this sound familiar for Toronto? It should. Troubles in net have been magnified with the injury to Reimer. With the margin for victory so slim it'll be interesting to see if Burke has something up his sleeve in the next couple weeks.
Detroit - What a roller coaster ride of a season. The good thing is they are playing good hockey in almost all the games, just having trouble find the net at times. Jimmy Howard is playing great in goal and the defense is improved. Both great signs for the long run.
Vancouver - Still mired with inconsistency, they'll have to find get back to dominating more opposition in the coming month. If not, the pressure will increase by the day.
Colorado, Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, New York Islanders - Time is already running short for these franchises. They are either mired in season long slumps or falling quickly. If an adjustment isn't made soon, they're out of it. Next up the fire sale.
