NHL at the quarter pole

• gorocks99

  

  Most teams are right around 20 games played thus far, I think it's time to take stock of what we have:
  
  Eastern Conference:
  1. Philadelphia 30 pts
  2. Washington 30 pts
  3. Montreal 27 pts
  4. Tampa Bay 26 pts
  5. Pittsburgh 26 pts
  6. NY Rangers 25 pts
  7. Boston 24 pts
  8. Ottawa 21 pts
  ------------
  9. Atlanta 21 pts
  10. Carolina 20 pts
  11. Toronto 19 pts
  12. Buffalo 19 pts
  13. Florida 18 pts
  14. New Jersey 14 pts
  15. NY Islanders 12 pts
  
  Western Conference:
  1. Detroit 28 pts
  2. Phoenix 27 pts
  3. Colorado 25 pts
  4. Columbus 26 pts
  5. Los Angeles 26 pts
  6. St. Louis 25 pts
  7. Chicago 24 pts
  8. Vancouver 23 pts
  ------------
  9. Anaheim 23 pts
  10. Minnesota 22 pts
  11. San Jose 22 pts
  12. Dallas 21 pts
  13. Nashville 21 pts
  14. Calgary 17 pts
  15. Edmonton 14 pts
  
  Best team: Detroit. Could make the argument for Philly, but Detroit has only 3 regulation losses in 18 games. They're playing great and playing healthy.
  
  Worst team: NY Islanders. A franchise-record 13-straight losses. This team is just plain BAD.
  
  Biggest surprise (good): Colorado/Columbus (tie). Colorado is leading their division with a lot of young players, and the Blue Jackets are off to a franchise-best start.
  
  Biggest surprise (bad): New Jersey. Has to be. You sign Kovalchuk to a massive contract, expect Brodeur to be Brodeur, and then you go out and lay this egg? Ouch. Very ouch.
  
  Coach of the year: Scott Arniel, CLS. What an improvement thus far. The guys are playing hard for him.
  
  MVP: Steven Stamkos. Could go to Crosby, but Stamkos has been on fire early this season. He's going to be really good for a really long time, I think.
  
  Interesting fact: Through November 23 last year, 6 of the 8 eventual playoff teams from the West were in the top 8 of the conference, and 7 of the 8 eventual playoff teams from the East. Good starts matter.
• End of Line

  

  Biggest Suprise (Team, good): It's Columbus. Scott Arniel came in and put his stamp on the Club and now are off to the best start in franchise history.
  
  Biggest Dissapointment (Team, bad): Easily the New Jersey Devils. Signing Kovalchuk to that contract will haunt them for the next 15 years. Come the offseason, I highly doubt they'll even be able to sign there best player in Zach Parise to an extention.
  
  Biggest Suprise (Player, good): I've got to go with Sergei Bobrovsky. He came into the league w/o any coverage, and is playing great for Flyers.
  
  Biggest Dissappointment (Player, bad): Ilya Kovalchuk and Tyler Myers.
  
  MVP: Gotta go with Crosby. He leads the league in points, he also leads the league in ES points almost having double what Stamkos has ES.
  
  Norris: Right now it's a tie between Lidstrom, Letang, and Byfuglien.
  
  Vezina: Can't decide between Price, Halak, and Bobrovsky.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  I agree with all that gorocks. Man, the Devils are just awful and Stamkos is sick this year.
  
  I'll also add the west is deep this year and tough as hell. I could easily see the top eight only separated by a few points at the end of the season.