This week, Inside the NHL is moving away from giving a condensed rundown of just about everything going on in the league. The summarization is boring, so Inside the NHL will move to different issues that pop up from week to week. But in the spirit of boring summarization, here's a quick shot of who is making noise and who seems to be floundering at this point.
As before, the Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabers remain a cut above the rest with good special teams and balanced scoring. Buffalo has been missing goalie Ryan Miller who strained his groin a week ago, but if he can return soon they should continue their reign as the East's strongest team.
On the bad side, the Philadelphia Flyers anchor the East. Since firing their coach and GM after just a few games, things haven't improved. And with captain Peter Forsberg in and out of the lineup, they could get comfortable in the basement. In the West, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Phoenix Coyotes are battling for the right to be called the worst. Columbus' place is surprising, and a coaching change this week could turn things around. Phoenix is hoping that recently acquired center Yanic Perrault can provide a spark.
This week, keep an eye on the Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings. Both of these teams have been playing great hockey and have some guys who can electrify a crowd. It is especially important to watch Detroit because goalie Dominic Hasek will probably get hurt soon, and the Red Wings will get back to losing.
Aside from the actual games, the construction of the NHL schedule has been a hotly debated topic lately. Under the new CBA, a new schedule format accompanied the salary cap and rule changes that have both been since accepted and even embraced. The schedule, however, just doesn't seem right.
With the new format the teams play each of the four other teams in their division eight times. For any non-engineer readers, that means that 32 of 82 games in a season are to be played against the same four teams. Also, less than 10 of the remaining 50 games are to be played against teams from the opposite conference. This is intended to lower the amount of travel involved and to create rivalries between division opponents.
Despite the wonderful excitement you'd feel at the possibility of seeing Phoenix come to town four times a year, the system isn't perfect. There are some teams that are still having problems filling their buildings. And one thing that fills a building is a young superstar. It's hard to capitalize on the attendance boost that a player like Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby provides if they only come around once every three years.
There are other options, but it's not likely that they will be discussed until the contract expires at the end of next season. Depending on how attendance numbers stand until then, the league could allow a schedule with more variety but perhaps less total games played.
Finally, the lack of fighting this season has been hurting the game. On Tuesday night, with his team down in the second period to the Minnesota Wild, Phoenix enforcer Georges Laraque started a rare fight with the Wild's Derek Boogaard. After the fight, the Coyotes found their game and came back to win. The lack of fighting in the NHL is a symptom of a new style of play, but a good scrap still has its place in the game. It can be a way to excite a team, protect a superstar or police the game in ways that officials cannot. There are those who think that fighting has no place in the game. Inside the NHL thinks it should give Tie Domi a call and have a "talk".
