NHL; A Long, Boring Mid-Season Hockey Post

No NHL games today or tomorrow. The NHL All-Star game plays tonight in San Jose. Devan Dubnyk of the Wild is playing. I'll tune some in.

This makes today is a good day in taking a snapshot of where the NHL teams are at, since games won't resume until Monday. I've added to the Win-Loss score each team point totals.

References to team performances are made using the most current team rankings, today, Jan. 26th - the first team standings image in this post (below). I make reference of current standings throughout, so sorry for any scrolling up and down from snapshot to snapshot. If there are two kindred NHL souls out there reading this, Thank you dearly.

AT: TBay jumps off the screen. They're playing great hockey. TBay and Calgary (Pacific) are the only two teams with points over 70.

The mid-tier teams in the AT division, barring injuries - the caveat of caveats - have heavy battling to do. And they will all face TBay, who continues to crush their opponents' ice. That said, note the point difference of TBay, 76, to the second-placed Maple Leafs with 62. Fourteen is a huge spread. Montreal, Buffalo and Boston will each have to ramp-up their games.

It's rare that I "write-off" any team - too early for that. We're still five months away til The Cup. We'll see if the Panthers, Red Wings and Sens gear up and change their game.

MET: The top four teams from today's snapshot are the same four top four teams from the December snapshot (below). In slightly different order. I'm not saying they've remained unchanged, just snapshot to snapshot. 

The Islander's are strong, same for the Caps, Columbus, the Pens and Carolina. Philly, I don't know why they can't get their game together. Any Philly fans reading this want to add a comment?

The Rangers and Devils have struggled this season. Each team has occasionally beaten better ranking and better-playing teams, but consistency hasn't been kind to NYR or NJ.

Looking at points, the Central and Pacific divisions are up for grabs by any of the top five teams.

CENT: Minnesota, despite losing some games they should have won, and with 90 EDIT: 40+ days without Matt Dumba, and recently injured Eric Fehr, has found some center of balance. Can they keep it and keep winning are the questions. I sure as heck hope so. Their competitors, the Jets, Preds, Stars and Avalanche are all solid and strong. St. Louis and Chicago...? These are good teams. They've played far better in the past than currently. I haven't seen enough of their games to figure out what needs fixing.

PAC: The top five teams have been playing tough all season. What I'm wondering, is Arizona silently sneaking up? They haven't played well so far, but they were the fourth-ranked team in September pre-season (below image). 

Here comes (top image) Ari, just one and two points behind the Ducks and Vancouver. Hmmmm....I'd like Ari to keep winning and make the top five look over their shoulders. Add more mix into the competition. 

Edmonton and L.A.? Boy, who knows. Edmonton was the number one team in September (below), while L.A. was number two in October (above image). Currently, well, refer to first image above; Edmonton #7 and L.A. #8.

Roll dice on freshly Zambonied ice. Anything can happen.

 September 30, 2018

NHL/hockey comments & thoughts always welcome and encouraged. 

Happy Hockey, eh!