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It doesn't take long for a new season of puck to break the noise meter. Two weeks into the new campaign and we are seeing all kinds of noise. Noise to please all the likings. From a montage of hat tricks, to territories being marked with fistacups and heavy checks, and a Frozen Frenzy night of hockey that had all 32 teams in action for the first time ever.
What a start to the season it has been. We already have a slew of headlines and talking points from all squads. I have a few that I think hold the most weight. Slap a five minute major on me so I can spit in the Sin-Bin.
If I am out here talkin' about hot starts, then I must talk about the Aves; Bruins; and defending champion Knights with their hot starts to the new campaign. All three finally lost their goose eggs the other night, with the Bruins and Knights losing their first games in OT last night. The Aves lost-lost their goose egg but, OTL counts in my book. All three squads are off to ferocious starts with each posting +11 or better in point differential.
Vegas has been the most impressive as they already have 15 points and hoist the best point differential (+14) in the league through their first eight games. Outside of the shootout win against the Stars on the 17th and the overtime loss to the Blackhawks last night, the Golden Knights have been whoopin' the comp with a 30-17 goals for and against thus far. Despite mediocreness with the power-play unit and the penalty kill unit, the Knights have been potent on offense and getting the puck in the net with elite passing and spreading of the puck.
Jack Eichel and William Karlsson have been superb at creating space for their linemates and pushing the pressure to allow their lines' to make impact. Behind their well rounded offense across all lines, they are getting stellar play from the top D-man duo of Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore. Shea has been off the charts good to start the campaign and is playing like a top offensive D-man right now. Ten of the top eleven skaters in +/- across the league are either Knights (4) or Canucks (6). Pacific Powers. Vegas fans gotta be ecstatic with how the Knights have started in all fashions, especially considering how solid Adin Hill and Logan Thompson have been in the net. Great start for the defending champs as they are currently the top dawg in the Western Conference.
Last years regular season champs, ya know, the greatest regular season of all-time Bruins are back and back to winning. Bruins took their first L in the standings with their OT loss on Thursday to the hands of the Ducks in Boston. The first flaw on the campaign. The Bruins are off to a better start this year than the start of their record breaking season last year. Boston has the best penalty kill percentage in the league and 4th best PK net percentage. The defense all around has been marvelous. Boston has only given up 11 goals, the lowest in the league. Cred that goes to the defense and their electric tendy duo of Swayman and Ullmark. The defense will only get more stout as the season moves onwards. Will the offense deliver the same impact?
Boston hasn't regretted the $90 million contract to David Pastrňák in the offseason. The winger is off to a stellar start this season. DP makes impact for Boston within each shift as he post a +6 +/- to go with his 6 goals, tied for 5th most amongst the NHL right now. Boston has a tough test against the Red Wings this weekend but, I don't expect this unit to slow down anytime soon.
The Avalanche are another hot team that won't be slowing down anytime soon as they are hungry to return to the 2021-22 wonderland. A great start to the new campaign for the Aves, ranking third in points (2nd in West) and third in points differential (+12). This duo of Mikko Rantanen and Ryan Johansen has been great along with the pairing of Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon on the power-play.
Rantanen has been on a tear on the offensive end to start things off. Mikko is tied for fourth in points with 5 goals and 7 assists. The Aves' penalty kill has been excellent in consistency and execution. The PK is flipping the table with 3 short-handers, tied second in the league, and all three belong to right winger Logan O'Connor. The Avalanche defense has been just as elite as Boston's has. Cole Makar is back to provin' he is the best defenseman; paid as the eighth. Makar's knack for creatin' scoring opportunities as a D-man is impeccable. The cat is just straight money and his counterparts Devon Toews and Bowen Byram have been great around him. All three skaters post better than a +3 +/- and have been great all around. Byram just needs to stay outta the Sin-Bin.
All three teams have put themselves in the highest echelon to start the season. The top tier with steady sitting. It's crazy to sit there and say that these three aren't the best in the league. All three are right back at the top, where they finished last season. Don't get it twisted, although they are in that tier just the three, the tier below is wicked hot in comp and have their eyes looking up.
What an early season resurgence by the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks! Teams who finished 22 (VAN) and 24 (DET) have started this new campaign as top five squads thru two weeks of action. As both teams have been great all around- each have been dominant singularly in a given fashion. The power-play & scoring for Detroit, with the Canucks being masters of point differential and plus minus. Both teams have been kicking tale, which is a surprise to many.
The Red Wings have made some big trades in the past in efforts to bring in a stud player. Detroit has made some epic acquisitions via trade with the likes of Brendan Shanahan; Dominik Hasek; and Chris Chelios. We might be adding Alex DeBrincat to that legendary list. I know it's early, in the season and in his contract but, what a start to his Red Wings career. DeBrincat is arguably playing the best hockey of any skater in the league to start the campaign. A complete gamebreaker offensively and on the man advantage.
The Cat currently leads Chel in goals with nine, and is third in total points with thirteen. DeBrincat has been RELENTLESS on the power-play for the Wings, posting three power-play goals (T-1st) and five points on the man advantage while creating the spacing and opportunities for Dylan Larkin to do what he is doing. The arrival of DeBrincat has ignited the Red Wings and their offense. The Wings lead the league in Goals For (35); are ranked second in power-play percentage (38.7%); and post a +11 differential which is tied for Boston for the fourth most. With all that, the biggest thing is how DeBrincat has sparked Dylan Larkin.
Detroit's captain has been waiting on a guy to form a monster duo with on the offensive end. Larkin has that now with DeBrincat: how great have they been!? I mean, wow. Larkin is on a tear ranking second in Points (15) and second in Assists (11). He has been even better statistically than the Cat has been on the power-play. Larkin fed dishes to all three of the Cat's netters, and ranks at the top with the Devils' Jack Hughes in total power-play points with ten. What a duo being formed, and what a start by Detroit. Is the return of Hockeytown soon upon us? How great it would be.
The Canucks' faithful have the same joyful vibes in the air as the Wings'. Vancouver is off to a similar hot start and have some dubs by big margins on their early season resume. Canucks have the second highest differential (+13) in the league behind the Golden Knights. They slayed the Oilers and Blues soundly to move to 4-0 against the Western Conference in the first two weeks. The best stat from camp Vancouver? They have five of the top six skaters in plus minus right now with defensemen Quinn Hughes (+10) and Filip Hronek (+9) leadin' the early way. Those two are playin' like the best defensive pairing in the league to go with the stellar offensive play of Elias Pettersson; Brock Boeser; and J.T. Miller.
I'm lovin' how Vancouver is operating to begin the new campaign. I really do. Their play punches you in the face with a mix of stifling offense and contained defense. Demko and DeSmith will look to be more consistent in net. If Demko can ride off the shutout from the other night and get some confidence: the Canucks are going to start to be a real problem in the Western Conference. A great start for a team that finished 38-37-7 and didn't make the playoffs last year.
Both the Red Wings and Canucks have some gritty matchups this weekend when Detroit takes on the mighty Bruins and the Canucks take on the 5-2 Rangers. Will they both win and continue to add fire to their flame? I see both these starts as legitimate statements. No flukes. These two clubs are better than the last, and have aspirations for the playoffs.
A new season beckons in players wanting to mark their territories and show their backbones. It's like going to prison ya know. Just part of it. It's a long season, so it's important to set some standards and borders right away. We have seen that in a loud tone from Ottawa's captain Brady Tkachuk and Canadiens' defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Both these cats are here for business inquires only and got no issues in welcoming, and giving the smoke.
Arber Xhekaj has been a damn barbarian on the ice for the Habs to start the season. A straight savage brought in to enforce and reek havoc on the opposing team. Arber has 17 hits with a few reaching high decibels on the radar. Arber already has a few highlights of him givin' smoke. He has gone after Ryan Reeves; Corey Perry (lol) and even Dmitry Voronkov(!). Check out Arber being a straight bully to nineteen year vet Corey Perry and then Arber gettin' active with the gritty Voronkov after Dmitry hit a nasty boarding foul on em:
video via Bally Sports Columbus//X
Arber didn't have to do Corey Perry like that! The youngster doesn't care who, anyone can get the smoke. Gotta love his demeanor. He may be second in the league in penalty minutes but, he is exactly the type of enforcer teams and fans adore. The same goes for the Senators' Brady Tkachuk.
Brady Tkachuk has had the same level of boldness and ruthlessness as Xhekaj. Both guys have been in two fights and both guys have 32+ PIM, standing atop the league. All considering, I think Tkachuk has been even more ruthless on the ice in the new season. Considering he isn't a d-man who is utilized as an enforcer. I mean this cat has smoke for ANYONE, and like Arber, you don't want to lay the wood on him:
video via B/R Open Ice//X
No hesi just pure smoke. What a player. Half tuckzy, wearin' 7, and actin' in the sense of a wolverine throwin' fistacups and grit... it's like a Chel create-a-player wears the C for Ottawa. The bring it on hand motions, ah I love it. Not sure if Sabres' foward Alex Tuch is in the boat of lovin' it the way I am:
I don't recommend starting smoke with Xhekaj and Brady Tkachuk. They both are some bad cats, man. The Canadiens and Senators both adore their play despite the skaters leading the league in penalty minutes. Tkachuk definitely won't want to continue leading the league in PIM, the Sens need him on the ice- us fans do enjoy his rowdiness, though.
A tsunami has struck across the Atlantic, takin' the league by storm in the early shades of the season. I have already discussed the surefire play from the Bruins and Red Wings but, their has been success and impact across most of the Atlantic division. The Maple Leafs; Canadiens; and Lightning all have solid starts under their belts as each has 9 plus points; a positive differential; and win percentages of .640 or higher. The Senators were in the same company prior to this three game losing streak they ride into the weekend.
Only the Atlantic division has 5 teams with positive differentials. The Atlantic also is the only division with three or more teams with double digit points in the standings. By far the best division off the start and they are proving it: Only four non-Atlantic squads currently have winning records against the Atlantic teams: Jets; Wild; Islanders; and Devils.
The division seems stronger than it was last year with the early resurgences from the Habs and Wings, who finished in the bottom two in 2022-23. The Lightning; Bruins; and Maple Leafs have already solidified themselves as being high up on the hierarchy. Watchout for this division to shine as the top division in hockey. We are seeing a flip flop between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Pacific teams are off to a slow start, especially the Oilers and Sharks. I don't think anyone saw the Atlantic starting the season 7-2-2 against Pacific teams. A new season can completely change things from the season prior.
Lets talk about just how bad the ocean floor is in the Pacific division. The Oilers; Flames; and Sharks have started the season with a combined 3-17-3 record. They don't just collectively sit on the floor of the Pacific division- they sit on the floor of the entire league. The Flames and Oilers... what's going on? Edmonton being a disappointment off the jump is a major understatement. They are back to giving up goals at will but, now they can't score in exchange, being outscored 17-30 in seven games and 7-17 on the current four game losing streak. Oilers are down bad right now, not the start to the season they envisioned. They need to get a positive wave going, and quick.
Calgary isn't losing close games like their losses last year, they are being handled soundly with a -13 differential, being outscored 4-15 on the current four game losing skid. It's been a horrendous start to Ryan Huska's tenure in Calgary. They need to look for adjustments to turn this ship around. They have far too good a roster to be playing as bad as they have been playing thus far. They have light travel playin' two central games and two pacific, only traveling to Seattle before they do their slate across Canada in November- they need to grab some wins. The big one is this weekend when they meetup with their lackluster buddy, Oilers. A game neither team wants to lose as they play together in the sand on the ocean floor.
No waters have been as tough as the waters the Sharks are swimming in. As terrible a start to the season as you can get. Winless through their first eight games, but they do have a little participation point for losing in a shootout to the Aves (what a silly point). The eight game losing streak is tied for the third longest losing skid to start a season of all-time, and the worse since the 2022 Coyotes who tied their own record of 11 for the most ever. The Sharks aren't just losing, they are being hunted and slaughtered.
The Sharks are not great whites, more like leopard sharks. Soft and easy to prey on. That's been the story off the start, as the Sharks are having the worst start since their haunted second season (post inauguration), in which they lost the most games in a season in NHL history (71). Sharks have a -24 differential(!) being outscored 8-32 in eight games and 0-9 in their last two games being shutout back-to-back.
Sharks travel to the metro DC to take on the Caps' this weekend and then have home cookin' against the Canucks; Penguins; and Flyers over the week. Can they get off the zero, or will they face the dreaded reality of having the worst start in NHL history? We have many things to look forward to as we enter November and get into the meat of the season. Unfortunately for San Jose, their chance on a nasty form of history is one of them. Hopefully then don't reach eleven...
What a start to the season it has been on the ice. We are seeing young phenoms Jack Hughes; Tim Stützle; and Connor Bedard slash defenses early. We are seeing aggressive play; electric scoring; and hattys on top of hattys. The action has been great. Vegas and Boston look as elite as elite can look. The fact that the Avalanche and Red Wings are both off to top tier starts is pretty epic.
The season is only going to get hotter on the stove and louder in decibels. I like to give about two weeks of solid puck eval before banter. Enjoy the next two weekends of hockey. We have some noisy matchups on the slate. I'll drop the first drop of power rankings and Three Stars incase you missed them on X:
Power Rankings (dropped 10.25):
Three Stars (OCT 10-24th):
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