This and That

So...this is my first blog ever.. Figured I would touch on a few different things that I've noticed..

Standings

Finally, the NHL standings have organized themselves in a more "realistic" order. I remember mentioning to my friend at the start of the season that if you were to flip them upside down they would make more sense. Yes, Colorado is still up there, but they are dropping, and although they might make the playoffs, it will be as the number 8 seed nowhere higher.

Glad to see New Jersey keeps making me look like a genius and at the same time cementing Marty Brodeur as the best goaltender of all time. Each year people predict New Jersey to struggle and not make the playoffs, but each year they make the playoffs easily and this year is going to be no exception. Unfortunately, there is no way for them to win the Cup unless big changes are made to their defense.

Sophomore Jinx

While players such as Luke Schenn and Steve Mason are suffering from the sophomore slump, Steven Stamkos is establishing himself, not only as a candidate for Team Canada's Olympic team, but also a candidate for the Hart trophy. It's scary how good Tampa Bay could be if Mr.Lecavalier could get back to his form of 2 years ago when he commanded his 11 year-85 million dollar contract. Hopefully Nittymaki can provide some consistent goaltending.

And Another Thing

I am a huge fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. I really like their younger players and see Toews in the same mold as a recent Hall of Fame inductee Steve Yzerman. However, does anyone else see the "soon to be announced" signing of their big 3 (Toews, Kane, Keith) as similar to the huge signings of Tampa Bay after they won the Cup. After signing Lecavalier, St.Louis, Boyle and Richards, Tampa Bay no longer had the cap space to adequately fill out the rest of their roster and in fact lost a key piece to their Championship run, goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. Only difference might end up being that Tampa Bay won a cup before being hamstrung by cap dominating contracts.

One Last Thing..

Congrats to Bryan Bickell for his game winner against the Canucks last night. You were due, keep up the good work!