Early Season Story Lines

15 Oct 2008 by Craig in NHL 2008

The National Hockey League season is barely underway, but there are a few story lines developing. Yes, the season has just started, but we all know that every point counts. Some stories have been great, teams and players off to great starts and others tragic and bigger then hockey. The NHL season is a grind and its not easy to try and assess things when a team has played 3 or 4 games. Getting off to good start is important for confidence and can set a tone for the entire year.

Alexei Cherepanov – The news that young hockey star Alexei Cherepanov has passed away at the age of 19 was tragic and devastating to the hockey community. Cherepanov was a highly touted 1st round pick of the Rangers and was playing in Russia when the tragedy happened. I don’t want to get into the circumstances about his death because its not worth it, all I know is a young man passed away long before his time. It makes you realize that hockey is just a game and there are so many more important things in this world. I am sure Alexei will be missed and our hearts go out to his family.

Ryan Hollweg - I don’t really know what to say about this guy, he is a high energy player, but he keeps putting himself in bad spots. Hollweg got suspended for the 2nd time already this year for boarding or hitting from behind. He received his 4th game misconduct in 41 games and was suspended for a mandatory 3 games. This last hit wasn’t the worst I have ever seen, but obviously the referees and the league have a close eye on him. It has been said for years that Hollweg is a dangerous player, but I don’t know about that. It is obvious that he needs to get himself under control on the ice before he gets in a Chris Simon like situation or worse he hurts somebody. One thing is for certain, if he gets another boarding misconduct the league will punish him for a lot more then 3 games.

Anze Kopitar - The LA Kings have been struggling for a lot of years now, but they have a young star in Kopitar. The kings locked him up, signing him to a seven year contract extension. Its yet to be determined whether Kopitar is a franchise player, but its nice for the Kings fan base to know that they will have there most exciting player around for a long time. Judging extensions for young players is a difficult thing, but I like Anze as a player and the Kings couldn’t risk losing him in the future. I think he will become a star and hopefully lead the Kings back to respectability.

New York Rangers - A lot of hockey people thought the Rangers would be a good team this year, but this far they have been great. They are off to a 5 – 0 and have looked like they are unstoppable.  Henrik Lundqvist is off to a perfect start and if he keeps this pace up the Rangers will be great all year. Lundqvist has posted a 1.25 goals against average and close to .950 save percentage. Possibly the biggest surprise is the players who are leading the team up front, the Rangers second line has been great. Aaron Voros, Nikolai Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky have led the team offensively. The three players have combined for 19 points in five games and have been a more then a pleasant surprise for the club. With great goaltending, secondary scoring and solid defense the Rangers are the best team in the league right now. Rangers fans caution yourself, there is no such thing as a perfect NHL season and there will be rough times ahead, but 5 games in they look amazing.

Bad Starts – Yes, it is just a few games in, but they are a few teams still without a win. Bigger then that there are a few teams that a expected to do big things that haven’t got a win in the column yet. Anaheim Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks are all winless to this point. All these teams have one thing in common, they have had trouble scoring goals in there first few games. Don’t read to much into this 3 or 4 bad games doesn’t mean its time to panic in these cities.

Jose Theodore – The Capitals went out and got Theodore to be there number one goalie this year and he is off to a bad start. Theodore has a GAA of 4.00 and a save % if .842, those are horrible numbers. Jose has been inconsistent in recent years, but one thing is for certain if the Caps want to make the playoffs Theodore will have to play a lot better then he is now. I like the Caps, and I hope Jose can pull it together, but you just never know with this guy.

Marian Gaborik - Rumors are flying around about Minnesota Wild all star Gaborik, the reports that he wants to be traded. Reportedly he turned down a 10 year big money contract to stay in Minnesota and if he’s not traded will leave at the end of the year to test free agency. The Rumored destinations are Vancouver and Montreal. My thoughts is that Gaborik will get traded soon and to Vancouver so he can play with is former teammate Pavel Demitra. Any team that wants Marian will have to give up a lot, but if you get him early in the year he can have a big impact on a franchise. We don’t usually see stars traded early in NHL season, but this might be an exception.

The season just started and there is know reason to be to high or to low about your teams start. If we have learned anything early on in this season, it is that every day is a gift and we should live life to the fullest. Hockey is just a game, but we all love it.