The Carolina Hurricanes have lunged to No. 6 in the ESPN power rankings after winning five straight games in the past week. If anyone thought that the Hurricanes would look worse than Rod Brind'Amour's nose this year, they were wrong.
The 35-year old Rod Brind'Amour has proven to be a contributor this season despite his gnarly mug. The former Philadelphia Flyer has 13 points in 11 games centering the team's second line.
The most awe-inspiring performance thus far for the Hurricanes has come from first line center Eric Staal. Staal has tallied a ridiculous 22 points in the Canes' 11 games, making him the league's leading scorer. And he turned 21 this past Saturday. For those of you keeping score at home, that makes him younger than roughly half of the Tufts campus. Staal has led Carolina to an 8-2-1 record, and within one game of the Eastern Conference lead.
In the spirit of young players outperforming expectations, let us once again turn to our friend rookie sensation Sidney Crosby. Crosby tacked on an additional three assists this week, bringing his point total to 14. The Pittsburgh Penguins won their first game last Thursday 7-5 against the Atlanta Thrashers. Crosby had two assists in the victory.
Pittsburgh beat the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night 4-3 in overtime, with Crosby picking up another assist. The Penguins are now 2-5-5 - which is an improvement - but still remain in the bottom portion of the league standings.
Crosby is invigorating to watch, even on a losing team. The Penguins play the Boston Bruins on Saturday, so the game will be on NESN. Every building at Tufts gets this channel, so tune in before going out. The Penguins play the New York Rangers on Monday on OLN if you miss the Saturday action.
The Detroit Red Wings are still dominating the NHL at 12-1-0. The Wings are the only team with 10 or more wins, and have won seven of their 13 games by three or more goals. Goalie Chris Osgood returned recently to form a formidable tandem with Manny Legace, so plan on seeing these types of scores continue. Detroit's offense is a laundry list of stars, including Henrik Zetterberg, Brendan Shanahan and the ever-popular Steve Yzerman.
While the Red Wings are clearly the dominant team in the West, the Ottawa Senators have emerged as the top team in the East with an 8-2-0 record. Led by Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, the Senators are second in the Power Rankings to Detroit, and show no signs of slowing down. They suffered an unfortunate loss to the Flyers on Sunday, 5-3, but still stand atop the Eastern Conference.
Philly had a rather long week, playing four games in six days. The Flyers ended up splitting the games, beating the Florida Panthers and Ottawa while losing to Carolina and the Montreal Canadians. They are currently 6-3-1 and are in second in the Atlantic Division. The big story in the City of Brotherly Love is Peter Forsberg, who scored his first goal on Thursday and a second on Friday.
Those two goals, compounded with an astounding 17 assists, place him in a tie for second with Jaromir Jagr in total points behind Eric Staal. Simon Gagne, Forsberg's left wing, has 10 goals and seven assists this year, putting him second in goals and fourth in points. Goalie Robert Esche has shown a striking resemblance to Swiss cheese on several occasions, but has still managed a 4-2 record and a .889 GAA.
Hockey is becoming more exciting each day. I watched a game last night for ten minutes, and saw four big hits, three sick moves, two breakaways and a penalty shot. The new league incites big plays and goal scoring, which makes the sport much more enjoyable to watch. If you are a hockey fan, spread the word. I've been doing it and have found people to be very receptive.
The skepticism about the popularity of the NHL was shattered this week, as the league set an October attendance record. The new rules are working; fans are coming back in droves. Hockey has never been more exciting. Check out a game you can and see for yourself.
