josh_cat_eyes Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 This year so far has been a HUGE surprise for me. I didn't think that Pascal Leliare would be pretty much the best goalie and I didn't think that the leafs would have one of the best offences and on the contrary one of the worst defences. So with that said I will list the top 3 "surprises" IMO in the NHL thus far this season.1. Pascal Lecliare, Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets.Finally this team has something to show for. Things just seem to be going good for a change. They didn't really do anything besides sign Peca but I guess that Nash and everyone are not out injuryed early soo that helps. The Blue Jackets just may be playoff worthy this year though!2. Goalies.This year there has been lots of surprises in terms of goalies. Dany Sabourin taking time from Marc-Andre Flurey. Martin Gerber, who was Ray Emerys backup last year now has the #1 job back. Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur are not playing like the best goalies in the world. Osgood and Theodore apear to be back and the Toronto Maple Leafs just dont know what to do with their goalies. There is almost enough "goalie stories" to make any intire thread on.3. The Pittsburgh Penguins.The Pittsburgh Penguins are hardly living up to expectations. Crosby and Malkin took a long time to get going and Fleury is playing like he doesn't even care. Jordan Staal is playing like a AHL call up having only 2 points in 17 games this season. Also a 7-9-1 start is not like a team who on paper compares to the Oilers of the late 80's. Look for the play of the pens to improve as the season progress...and if it doesn't well you can probabaly say goodbye to the coaching staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred T. Jane Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Hmm...so 14-2-0 isn't surprising anymore? [Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008 Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Hmm...so 14-2-0 isn't surprising anymore?Par for the course, pally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred T. Jane Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Hmm...so 14-2-0 isn't surprising anymore?Par for the course, pally. True, true. BTW, check out the B!PL standings since this week's matches are over, mate. [Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008 Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sport Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 The reason the Blue Jackets are a surprise this year can be attributed to one person. Doug Maclean. That no longer running the doom and gloom show in Columbus and spreading his negativity from the owners box to the coaching staff to the players on the ice is the biggest reason they have actually been winning games this year. Pascal leclaire and Ken Hitchcock are big parts as well, but I really think Doug Maclean leaving and the change in attitude is what has done it this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CS85 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 No love for the baby blackhawks? Quote "You are nothing more than a small cancer on this message board. You are not entertaining, you are a complete joke." twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Does Art Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Gerber was odd but I thouroughly enjoy it because I've liked him since last year...Do I think he will remain the #1 guy, my gut says no and that Emery takes over later on in the season.Montreal is sort of surprising me, after the summer was over I felt that the Habs seemd like they would be playing worse witht the moves they made, but they might just be a playoff contender , MIGHT being the key word.Brodeaur shocked me as I took him 3rd overall in my fantasy pool, I dropped him rather quickly who would've thought that Brodeaur and Luongo wouldn't be wanted..?I'm definitely worried about Carolina and I think if Ottawa is eliminated it might just be by them.Quite the season so far... Hi, how are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDR Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 No love for the baby blackhawks?I thought they'd be good, not great. So that's about right. But what is surprising, is how quickly Toews and Kane have adjusted and become two of the most exciting young forwards in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capsfan1000 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 My biggest suprise is how god awful the caps are playing this year. I dont understand how they became a better team, yet have less points then during this point last season. My secound biggest is the Blue Jackets, I knew they were putting something together there, but I didn't think they would get it all together this year, I thought they were still a year away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CS85 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 No love for the baby blackhawks?I thought they'd be good, not great. So that's about right. But what is surprising, is how quickly Toews and Kane have adjusted and become two of the most exciting young forwards in the game.That's more of what I was leaning towards. The young guns are playing well, especially against good teams (right, Detroit?). Quote "You are nothing more than a small cancer on this message board. You are not entertaining, you are a complete joke." twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh_cat_eyes Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 I was kinda surpirised when Savard said that Patrick Kane was is best player. Like I know he is good and stuff but I would have thought that a guy like havlat or lang would have been the best player...but when I think about it there is not really anyone other than maybe Toews that comes close to kane. Funny I have not seen any comments about the leafs offence/defence yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HedleyLamarr Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The Thrashers awful start.But since their 0-6 start, they're 8-4 and right back in the thick of the playoff race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shumway Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 So far, it's been Chris Osgood. When Hasek broke his old man hip or whatever, Osgood led the Wings to a 9-game winning streak. Once old man river came back, the Wings lost to Chicago again and St. Louis. Need I mention I hate Dominik Hasek?Also, Zetterberg's great start's quite surprising. He's been a great player, but I never imagined him leading the league in points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budbowl77 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The New York Islanders...alot of people wrote them off for dead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh_cat_eyes Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 The New York Islanders...alot of people wrote them off for dead...One of them would be me...I ranked them with the oliers and the coyotes and the like...I would have to say the Ted Nolan is the reason why they are not down the the oilers and coyotes. He is proabably the best coach in the NHL by far...the only one who can really even come close is Andy Murray...last year when he took over as coach they did ALOT better for the rest of the season; ended up finishing 2 spots out of the playoffs, which isn't bad considering how bad they were doing when he took over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
49er Fan 16 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 1 The Rangers having a winning record. and can move into 1st if they beat the Flyers tonight. 2 The Flyers being in 1st place. NO MORE 1940 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coast2CoastAM2006 Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Dallas firing Doug Armstrong. While the firing doesn't surprise me, the part that does is that it took this long to do it. This has single handedly ruined that team. As usual couldn't draft his way out of a paper sack. Thank god Tom Hicks sacked both Lites and Armstrong's asses. Long time comming. Spoilers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik121 Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Of course Kane and Toews are a great story. They have stepped up and played amazingly. When they play well the team does well. It is time for the vets to step up too because we can't expect the two rookies to play like super stars every game.But I really wanted to comment about what was mentioned earlier about goalies. There really is a goalie story everywhere in the league. It is no exception in Chicago. I really don't have a lot of confidence in Khaby's play thus far. He lets in too many soft goals on rebounds. I thought last nights game vs Nashville was a great example. They went behind the net a lot it and looked like that was confusing the hell out of him. If this keeps up, I don't have a problem with putting Lalime in the net. He was a playoff goalie with the Sens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hormone Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 3. The Pittsburgh Penguins.The Pittsburgh Penguins are hardly living up to expectations. Crosby and Malkin took a long time to get going and Fleury is playing like he doesn't even care. Jordan Staal is playing like a AHL call up having only 2 points in 17 games this season. Also a 7-9-1 start is not like a team who on paper compares to the Oilers of the late 80's. Look for the play of the pens to improve as the season progress...and if it doesn't well you can probabaly say goodbye to the coaching staff.As a Pens fan, I hate to, but have to agree. WTF happened? They had their surprise team of last year and added people they thought were the missing pieces. I hope it gets turned around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee. Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I really don't have a lot of confidence in Khaby's play thus far.He misses Winnipeg. Welcome to DrunjFlix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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