We are now some fifteen games into the NHL regular season and of course we already have good teams, and we have bad teams. Now that I’ve stated the obvious, where does your team fall and how excited/nervous are you about your teams start?
How important is the start of the season? You ask almost any player or any coach and you’ll get the same answer that it’s extremely important. Well of course they have to say that, you wouldn’t want your players or coach to come out and say that the start isn’t that important. All 82 games are important to all the NHL teams. But how important is start to the fans?
If we look at the Atlantic division right now would you rather be the Montreal Canadiens 13-2-1 with 27 points or the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-7-2 with 16 points? Maybe Detroit with a 7-6-1 record for 15 points. I think given those options the majority of people would rather be the Canadiens, already a ten point lead in their division and seemingly already a playoff lock. Most people would say the the Lightning and Red Wings based on their records are struggling. Are they really?
Yes, they are, but as fans it’s not time to panic as some fans are. It’s the start of the season you don’t have to get out to a Canadiens like start. The Lightning and Red Wings are not even close to panic mode. Both of those teams are very good so the best thing for them to do is stay close. Stay close and strike later.
You can say the same for other divisions as well. The Metro, I’m sure most fans would want to be in The Rangers or Capitals shoes but it’s not a bad thing to be the Devils or Islanders right now. I’m sure central division fans are a little jealous of Dallas but Chicago, Nashville, Winnipeg and Minnesota are in a good position. In the Pacific division the Kings are hot right now, but being hot right now might not mean much later in the season, stay close if you’re the rest of the division.
That is my message. Yes all 82 games are important in this NHL. The parity is so great in the NHL that a bad run can hurt you. That’s the difference. You don’t have to be great just don’t be bad. You can’t be the Blue Jackets or Maple Leafs and expect to make a run later in the season. Both those teams could be out already but it’s not because they’re average they were or are bad.
Were fifteen games into the season, average is not bad. You have some teams trying to figure out how to do things right now and it’s better to get the bad stuff out of your game at this point rather than in mid February or March or even worse April and into the playoffs.
Talk to me in mid December and when 2016 begins then we can start to panic. It’s then when you start to see what your team can and can’t do. For right now if your team is within striking distance you have had a pretty good start. For some teams who were great last season and are so far average this season, it’s not bad. Most likely the great teams will figure it out and go on a run and put themselves in a good situation late in the season.
