Traik-eotomy
The Vegas Golden Knights are having an insane season, but the Colorado Avalanche — which has already matched last year’s win total — may be the league’s biggest surprise ... Marchand never learns ... Coffey can’t help Oilers ... Healthy Crosby has Hart fa
If the season was to end today, Vegas and Colorado would meet in the first round of the playoffs. Think about that for a second. An expansion team full of castaways has the most wins in the Western Conference, while a team that a year ago finished dead last in the NHL is holding down a wild-card spot.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers — two of the pre-season favourites to win the Stanley Cup — are battling it out for 12th place in the West.
Shows what we know. It also shows just how crazy this season has been so far.
“You guys can say whatever, you didn’t expect (this),” said Avalanche defenceman Nikita Zadorov.
“But this league is so even right now. Did anyone expect Arizona to be in last place or did anyone expect Vegas to be in first place? Vegas is there and this league is so even. There’s no bad teams, every team is really good and then some teams underestimate us because we’re playing hard.”
As we told Zadorov, everyone expected the Coyotes to be at the bottom of the standings. But we also expected Vegas and Colorado to be there with them.
Instead, the Golden Knights have rightfully been the story of the year. They have already smashed every expansionteam record and are challenging for the Presidents’ Trophy.
But, in some ways, what the Avalanche has done is even more surprising.
This is a team that won 22 games last year. It took the Avs exactly half the season to win as many games this year.
What’s remarkable is that aside from trading away its highestpaid player, nothing is really different in Colorado. Well, except expectations heading into the second half of the season.
“What does it mean, opening the eyes?” said Zadorov, who has yet to play in the postseason. “You’re saying nobody expected us to be where we are right now, but we expect from ourselves. We expect the best.”
SPEED KILLS
If there’s anything to be learned about the Avs and the Knights, it is that hard work trumps talent. Opposing teams don’t get a night off. Heck, they don’t even get a shift off. “Think fast,” Colorado captain
Gabriel Landeskog said of the team’s mantra. “The way we break out the puck, we want to make sure we’re going north.” ... Obviously, the Golden Knights cannot — and will not — trade their remaining unrestricted free agents at the trade deadline. But unlike Jonathan
Marchessault and Brayden McNabb, who both inked longterm extensions, there’s no need to re-sign James Neal or David Perron just yet. Even if they leave in the offseason, GM George McPhee won’t have trouble replacing them. The word around the league is Vegas is a top free-agent destination . ...
Nathan MacKinnon has received most of the attention in Colorado because he’s putting up Hart Trophy-worthy numbers. But like Vegas, it’s the castoffs who are also contributing . ... Jonathan Bernier won 10 straight games after Semyon
Varlamov got hurt, while firstoverall bust Nail Yakupov has nine goals — three fewer than Montreal’s
Alex Galchenyuk, who was selected two spots later in the 2012 draft.
ASTERISK FOR BOLTS
Tampa Bay is the best team in the NHL. But the Lightning also has the luxury of playing in by far the worst division in the league. How bad is the Atlantic? Well, the Maple Leafs had one win in their past six games (heading into Wednesday’s game against Chicago) and still have an 11-point lead on the next-best team, while Buffalo and Ottawa have combined for five fewer wins than Tampa Bay . ... It’s not an award — yet — but the sophomore player of the year goes to Colorado’s Mikko
Rantanen, who has scored more (47 points in 46 games) than Auston Matthews and fellow countryman
Patrik Laine so far this season ... Paul Coffey clearly knows a thing about breaking out the puck. But unless the Oilers trade for a defenceman who can skate like he could, there’s little he can actually teach to Edmonton’s defence.
GET GOALIES INVOLVED
Here’s how you fix the ambiguity over goalie interference penalties: Get former goalies in the review room. There’s a lot of subtleties and “black arts” involved in the position. No one knows this best than the guys who have worn the mask . ... While we’re on the topic of video review, here’s how to fix the ongoing problem: Take away the high-definition TVs and put a five-replay limit on all reviews. If you can’t definitely tell whether a goal should count after watching it on a 480p feed, then the initial call on the ice stands . ... Some players never learn. Some players don’t really want to. Boston’s Brad
Marchand is the latter. While he has largely cleaned up his act on the way to becoming a top scorer in this league, every now and then he does something dirty like elbowing New Jersey’s Marcus Johansson in the head. As an opponent, it’s part of the reason why he’s afforded so much space on the ice . ... Barring a huge second-half surge, the top scorer in the NHL will be lucky to reach the 40-goal mark. And yet, goal-scoring is up from 2.59 last year to 2.74 so far this season. Between you and me, the game hasn’t looked better.
SOME MAD SKILLS
The all-star skills competition, which is still searching for its version of the home-run derby or dunk competition, will unveil two new events this year. One is a passing challenge and the other is a goalie breakaway challenge. Neither sounds particularly thrilling. Then again, it’s better than another year of players putting on Halloween masks trying to be funny . ... Best idea for a new skills event comes from
Toronto Sun photographer Craig
Robertson, who jokingly suggested a hardest-shot competition — aimed at the participants in the fastest-skater competition. Come to think of it, you’d be incorporating the accuracy contest as well.
CROSBY DOESN’T CUT IT
Sidney Crosby, who is outside the top-10 in scoring, is not among my top-five Hart Trophy finalists. Can’t remember that happening in a year in which he was healthy. Then again, it’s only January. Two years ago, Crosby had 41 points in 47 games before the all-star break before rattling off 44 points in the final 33 games of the season to finish third in scoring. The question is whether the 30-yearold — who is coming off backto-back Stanley Cup wins — has enough in the tank for another late-season surge . ... Even though he has the best goals-against average and save percentage in the league, Marc-Andre Fleury is not among my top-three picks for the Vezina. The reason is that he’s played in 20 fewer games than the other candidates. You can’t win an award for playing half the season. ... Heading into Wednesday night’s game, Matthews had scored 14 goals and 23 points on the road, compared to seven goals and 13 points at home. For most players, it’s the opposite. But most players don’t have Mike Babcock as a coach, whose obsession with linematching has at times kept his best player planted on the bench. That’s not an issue on the road, where Matthews has thrived while playing against just about everyone.