NHL Mid-Season Report

[Cobiemonster]

Even though we're past the mid-season technically in games played, this is it before the Olympic Break

Here are the standings:

Division Standings​

Eastern Conference​

Atlantic Division​

1) Boston Bruins 37-16-4(78 points)
2) Tampa Bay Lightning 33-20-5(71 points)
3) Montreal Canadiens 32-21-6(70 points)​

Metropolitan Division​

1) Pittsburgh Penguins 40-15-3(83 points)
2) New York Rangers 32-24-3(67 points)
3) Philadelphia Flyers 30-23-6(66 points)​

Wild Card​

1) Toronto Maple Leafs 32-22-6(70 points)
2) Detroit Red Wings 26-20-12(64 points)​

In The Hunt​

9) Columbus Blue Jackets 29-24-5(63 points)
10) Ottawa Senators 26-22-11(63 points)
11) Washington Capitals 27-23-9(63 points)
12) Carolina Hurricanes 26-22-9(61 points)
13) New Jersey Devils 24-22-13(61 points)​

Western Conference​

Division Standings​

Central Division​

1) St. Louis Blues 39-12-6(84 points)
2) Chicago Blackhawks 35-11-14(84 points)
3) Colorado Avalanche 37-16-5(79 points)​

Pacific Division​

1) Anaheim Ducks 41-14-5(87 points)
2) San Jose Sharks 37-16-6(80 points)
3) Los Angeles Kings 31-22-6(68 points)​

Wild Card​

1) Minnesota Wild 31-21-7(69 points)
2) Dallas Stars 27-21-10(64 points)​

In The Hunt​

9) Phoenix Coyotes 27-21-10(64 points)
10) Vancouver Canucks 27-24-9(63 points)
11) Winnipeg Jets 28-26-6(62 points)
12) Nashville Predators 25-24-10(60 points)​

Thoughts on the standings? Anything jump at you? Anything you expect as the season goes along once the Olympic Break is over?

 

[mattola]

In The Hunt​

9) Phoenix Coyotes 27-21-10(64 points)
10) Vancouver Canucks 27-24-9(63 points)
11) Winnipeg Jets 28-26-6(62 points)
12) Nashville Predators 25-24-10(60 points)​

Thoughts on the standings? Anything jump at you? Anything you expect as the season goes along once the Olympic Break is over?

replace seniors with Vets, Basketball with Hockey.. etc etc.

 

[pixburgher66]

The Hawks have 14 OTL? Is that right? That has to be a typo.

Pens and Ducks are the class of each conference, but the depth of the West is impressive. THAT SAID, I'm not so convinced that they're so incredibly far off. The teams that were once struggling in the East have picked it up a bit, and some of the better in the West have struggled (Kings lately, even the Canucks of ol').

 

[Cobiemonster]

The Hawks have 14 OTL? Is that right? That has to be a typo.

Pens and Ducks are the class of each conference, but the depth of the West is impressive. THAT SAID, I'm not so convinced that they're so incredibly far off. The teams that were once struggling in the East have picked it up a bit, and some of the better in the West have struggled (Kings lately, even the Canucks of ol').

Nope that's not a typo

And as for East/West, we know who's dominant right now, but you're right - things have evened out - some of the better teams in the West have struggled lately and the teams in the East with slow starts have picked it up - it makes for good competition the rest of the way

The wild card is going to make it even better now - intensifies a lot of late season games

 

[Jonas_steven]

I would put any team up against the ducks or hawks right now and foresee a series win. The blues could be a dark horse as well. Both teams have too much fire power to not make at least the western conference finals. I suspect the cup is staying in the western conference again.

 

[blindbaby]

1) Columbus is turning the corner. I think they have a pretty good club.
2) Canucks lost 7 in a row and they're still right there in the hunt; conventional weapons can't kill them.
3) I thought and hoped The Stars would be fucked; alas though, I look to be wrong.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Really cool to see the Metro all jammed up like that. Should encourage some intense games which will feed the rivalries going forward.

 

[Vadered]

For all the shit the East got at the beginning of the year, it's nice to see that at the break the same number of points gets you in for both sides.

And yeah, gonna be a hell of a finish in the Metro for teams which aren't Pittsburgh.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

For all the shit the East got at the beginning of the year, it's nice to see that at the break the same number of points gets you in for both sides.

And yeah, gonna be a hell of a finish in the Metro for teams which aren't Pittsburgh.

IDK, Sid is looking tired as of late, not liking our chances after Sochi.

 

[davnlaguna]

Kings having a longer than normal January slump
Once(if) they start scoring, I expect them to be a threat. They have goal tending and defense and the ever important puck control. Hope the Olympic break changes their luck.

 

[brandonk989]

With all the injuries and all the rookies the Tampa Bay Lightning still continue to sit near the top of the east with 71 points. Steven Stamkos should be good to go after Sochi and Filpulla will be back a week later. 2 weeks off gives Ben Bishop time to rest and heal up. I like our chances down the stretch and into the playoffs. We're 4-0 against the Red Wings this year. Who would have thought? (Yes I'm aware they're having a down year but it had been years since the Lightning had even won in Detroit let alone win this many in a row against the Wings.) The two teams I worry about us facing are Boston and Pittsburgh.

 

[pixburgher66]

Nope that's not a typo

And as for East/West, we know who's dominant right now, but you're right - things have evened out - some of the better teams in the West have struggled lately and the teams in the East with slow starts have picked it up - it makes for good competition the rest of the way

The wild card is going to make it even better now - intensifies a lot of late season games

That's absolutely ridiculous. 14 loser points? Wonder what the OT/SO breakdown is.

 

[Cobiemonster]

That's absolutely ridiculous. 14 loser points? Wonder what the OT/SO breakdown is.

Panthers won their division two years ago with almost 20 loser points(give or take a couple of points I think) - teams know all they have to do is get to OT and they got that point in their back pocket

 

[KennyBanyeah]

That's absolutely ridiculous. 14 loser points? Wonder what the OT/SO breakdown is.

8 shootout and 6 OT.

I have no problem with the loser point in the SO. I actually just have a problem with the shootout itself. I have a problem with the winner point actually.

For example Toronto has won 1 LESS game of actually hockey (ROW) than the Devils and yet they are 9 points ahead in the standings.

Ridiculous.

 

[pixburgher66]

If they have 14 OTL...how many total OT's have they been in?

 

[Cobiemonster]

If they have 14 OTL...how many total OT's have they been in?

19 total

 

[pixburgher66]

Trying to figure out who has participated in the most OT games now...hmmm...

 

[Cobiemonster]

Trying to figure out who has participated in the most OT games now...hmmm...

This season? Caps might be up there too, they've had a lot

 

[forty_three]

1) Columbus is turning the corner. I think they have a pretty good club.
2) Canucks lost 7 in a row and they're still right there in the hunt; conventional weapons can't kill them.
3) I thought and hoped The Stars would be fucked; alas though, I look to be wrong.

They are punching above their weight class lately, that's for sure. I like the mix of players, but would like to see a pure scoring winger to take Umberger's place. He has no business being on the second line. And of course a competent backup goalie would be nice.

Other than that, they just need experience. They have some talent in the pipeline, so they should be decent for a while.

And I like these rivalries. They tried to force Detroit and Nashville as rivals, but Detroit has too much history to really care about us, and Nashville is... Well, no one really cared on either side.

But now with the Rangers being half made up of old Jackets and vice versa, plus the Penguins getting on everyone's nerves, the Flyers clawing with us every step (plus the goalie swap that worked for both) and the Caps REALLY getting under the crowd's skin... I am looking forward to the stretch.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Just gonna be a homer and touch on my Rangers.
Posted an article last week about how since we started 3-7-0 in the first ten games and every fan calling for AV's head, we've had the second best record in the Eastern Conference, only behind the Penguins.
Everything in the beginning of the season wasn't working, except for the PP. The system looked flawed and that some players couldn't even keep up. Hank was adjusting to the new pad sizing and struggled. Talbot emerged as a strong backup to the King, which caused plenty of controversay through the media and fans about Hank losing his 'throne' and other shit.

But, from what I have seen, AV has adjusted his system to fit his players, especially the defense, outside of DZ and Moore, who didn't adjust well, everybody on the defense has adjusted well. Girardi looked lost the first month and a half, but since December, he's been solid and is fitting in the new system quite well. DZ was eventually traded, which was an obvious move and Klein has been fine since the trade and has given John Moore a lot of freedom on the ice. Stralman and Staal have been a breath of fresh air on that second pairing and Stralsy should be locked up soon.

As for the offense, Richie looks rejuvinated, Callahan looks lost out there and doesn't fit this style of hockey. Stepan has regressed, where as we have seen Zucc emerge as one our top options. His PP unit of him, Brassy, Pouliot and Richie has done wonders. Whenever they are on the ice, you can expect something to happen. Our PP is top 10 for the first time in I can't even remember how long.

Finally something the Rangers lacked for many seasons under Torts, depth scoring. The Rangers are tied for the league lead with 9 10+ goal scorers. AV is consistently rolling out 4 lines a night and all are working. Hank has regained his form and look for us to be a dangerous team in the second half of the season.