Midseason NHL Review

The NHL All-Star weekend wrapped up last weekend, signaling the mid-season point. I don't really care that much for All-Star games so there will be no insight into the game from me. But what I will offer, is my insight into the season thus far. I'll break it down and talk about 5 things from each conference and then give my Stanley Cup pick just for fun.

Eastern Conference

1. What in the world is up with the Pittsburgh Penguins? From Stanley Cup Finals to next to last in the division, something is obviously awry. Pittsburgh needs to get its goaltending back in order if they want to return to the playoff picture. The good news? 8 points separates them from the next lowest seed in the East and only 1 point between them and the team above them. There's still hope Pens fans.
2. Talk about goaltending, no Martin Brodeur? No problem it seems for the New Jersey Devils. Somehow the Devils are only giving up about 2.45 goals a game under Scott Clemmensen, a goalie who started the year in the AHL but was called up after Brodeur was injured. Not to steal any glory from Clemmensen but the Devils have also gotten help offensively from Zach Parise and Patrick Elias. The good news? The Devils are in first. The bad news? It's not by much.
3. Then there is the elite goaltending of the NHL so far. The Boston Bruins tandem of goalies have surrendered a scant 2.18 goals per game. To make things worse for the opposition, the Bruins have an incredibly big and physical defense that averages above 6' and 200 lbs, led by 6'9 team captain Zdeno Chara. And then you have the offense. Savard, Krecji, and Kessel have been dominant to say the least on offense.
   
4. Somehow the Florida Panthers are in playoff contention. I don't mean this in a negative way, it's just not something that's been expected. They play in a small market with even smaller expectations but have found a way to win. They don't necessarily have the best talent in the league but make up for it with their exceptional size and physical play. They're one of the teams that players hate to play. You know they're going to give you everything they've got until the final horn sounds and you know you're gonna feel it the next day. Vokoun and Anderson have been relatively sound in net and the key to the Panthers offensive success is sharing the wealth.
   
5. And then there are the Islanders. Oh, Islanders. How you are so awful, I'll never know. Okay so the team is built around Rick DiPietro and his injury has pretty much left them sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic division since early June of 08. Not much good news going ahead for the Islanders. Pack it up and enjoy the postseason when it comes

Western Conference

1. The San Jose Sharks have statistically proven that they are the best team in the NHL so far. And I'll believe every second of it. Evgeni Nabokov has proven that he's one of the league's best goalies and is capable of keeping every game's balance in San Jose's favor. To go along with Nabokov's netminding prowess, it looks like the Sharks offense is at a pregame shoot around. They're able to force turnovers through forechecking in the offensive zone and turning those loose pucks into goals. It's no wonder they lead the league in points.
   
2. Then there's the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. Mike Babcock has got these guys playing some pretty inspired hockey, which is often hard to do coming off of a championship season. The Red Wings lead the league in goals scored per game which is pretty crucial to winning in a Western Conference dominated by some of the best goaltenders in the league. One problem I've seen thus far though is the incostitent play of Ty Conklin and Chris Osgood in goal for the Wings. One day they look invicible against some of the league's best players, the next they look like swiss cheese against some of the not so good players. I think part of this has to do with the defense. The defense is not what it was last year (for whatever reason) even though they've returned everyone from last year's team. The good news however is that Babcock is truly one of the league's best coaches and he has some of the elite talent playing for him. The Red Wings are one of the best teams in the league at holding the line in the offensive zone to prevent the opponent from breaking out and keeping the pressure on the opposing defense and netminders. That being said, Marian Hossa has proved his worth offensively and defensively and if possible, the Wings could have 3 candidates for the Selke Trophy with the play of Zetterberg and Datsyuk.
   
3. Like the city's name suggests, the Phoenix Coyotes have risen from the ashes of a one game above .500 record to currently representing the 5th best team in the Western Conference. One of the more impressive parts of this is that they are doing this in arguably the NHL's toughest division. After last year's grumblings about the Great One's coaching inexperience, we're seeing this year that maybe Gretzky can coach afterall?
   
4. Things are going the right way in the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks are in playoff contention and although its a long shot, within reach of Detroit by season's end. The reason for the turn around from the annual cellar dwellars to the Blackhawks that are playing so well today lies in the youth of their team. The team is very young and very talented, led by Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathon Toews (if you can pronounce his name correctly without cheating, I'll give you $5). All but 3 of their skaters were born after 1980, incredible upside for the proud Blackhawk organization looking down the road. Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin have proved an effective netminding duo and the big physical defense can put any team off of its gameplan. The tremendous upside for the Blackhawks scares me as a Red Wings fan but I think it's still a year or two before they really challenge for the division.
   
5. Then there's the Dallas Stars. I had written them off in my first quarter review of the season on my other blog but they've stormed back into the race for the playoffs. A lot of this is that Marty Turco has gotten back to his old self and started to again become the goalie so many players hate to see on the line-up card. Another big step forward was getting the motormouth and team chemistry destroyer Sean Avery out of the locker room and more positive influences in. Sergei Zubov, one of the league's most underrated defenders and senior citizen of the team, heads up a young and hard hitting defense that complements Tippett's coaching style. Brad Richards and Mike Ribiero are the offensive leaders of the team and both are a threat to score any time down the ice.
   

Stanley Cup matchup?
It's hard to pick against the Bruins at this point the way they're playing on both sides of the puck but I would also not be surprised to see a second half resurgence from the Penguins. That being said, I think the Bruins bring too much to the table in terms of goaltending, defense, and offense. Western Conference, its hard to pick against the Sharks at this point but I think I'm going to have to do it. I'm picking the Red Wings. Not because they're my favorite team. I'm picking them because they have the most talent, the best coaching, and one of the most experience and versatile defensive games in the league. If the Wings stay healthy, I think they're in the Finals.

Bruins vs Red Wings