Mr. Miller's BLOG

Norris Standings
Posted on October 27, 2009

As most teams in the NHL sit around the 10 game mark in terms of games played, an interesting scenario is taking place among the five teams that make up the Norris Division (a.k.a. the Central Division for you younger, Bettman-era, fans).

In 2008-2009, Detroit (sucks), Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus all made the playoffs with Nashville sitting just three points out of a complete Norris sweep. Early on in this season, Chicago would be the only representative and that's almost by default.

Current standings as of October 26, 2009:

Norris Division	Campbell Conference
Chicago - 13 pts Columbus - 12 pts St. Louis - 9 pts Detroit (sucks) - 8 pts Nashville - 7 pts	Colorado - 18 pts L.A. - 16 pts Chicago - 13 pts Calgary - 15 pts San Jose - 15 points Dallas - 14 pts Edmonton - 13 pts Phoenix - 12 pts Columbus - 12 pts Vancouver - 12 pts St. Louis - 9 pts Detroit (sucks) - 8 pts Anaheim - 7 pts Nashville - 7 pts Minnesota - 6 pts

Columbus

Goalie Steve Mason is 5-3 with a 3.51 GAA and an .880 save percentage. That's a far cry from last season's Calder Trophy performance of 33-20 with a 2.29 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Any significant drop on his part could very well make or break this team.

St. Louis

The Blues rely on Chris Mason and career-backup Ty Conklin to man the nets. Statistically they're not bad thus far combining for a 2.66 GAA and a .911 save percentage. But the offense is letting the Blues down led by aging veterans Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya and Andy McDonald.

If the Blues are going to push for the playoffs, they'll have to kick up their scoring higher than their current league ranking of #20.

Detroit (sucks)

Has the age factor finally caught up with the Wings? A glaring stat early on is the team's MINUS 37 number (20 of the 24 man roster has 0 or worse in the +/- column). Goalie Chris Osgood, who some have argued can thank his career success on the team in front of him, is off to a rough start (3-2-2, 3.16 GAA). And who, the heck, is Jimmy Howard (Osgood's backup)?

Nashville

Injuries seem to be the culprit here. A look up and down the roster shows that only nine guys have played all 10 Predator games this season. Low numbers from Steve Sullivan, Martin Erat and J.P. Dumont have hurt their cause as well. The Preds rank 29th in Goals, Assists and Points among their players.

Chicago

With 13 points in 10 games, the Blackhawks current pace puts them at 106 points for the season. Yet this team with its high powered offense (expected only to get better when Marian Hossa returns) seems to live and die nightly by the play of their goalie Cristobal Huet.

Despite the headlines in Chicago stating the team and the organization is 100% behind Huet (which they probably are), doubts run wild among fans and the media. Huet certainly seems to be a step backwards from Nikolai Khabibulin.

Was the division just a fluke last season? Or has each of the five teams been unable to answer the call early on? Were the expectations set too high? Or is this merely a collective hiccup which can be categorically described as a "slow start"?

Time of course will tell.

Other statistical anomalies

• Don't look now but the Smythe Division (Pacific) looks to be this season's Norris. Four teams - L.A., San Jose, Dallas, and Phoenix - are in the top eight (Anaheim being left out)
• Don't expect Colorado (8-1-2) to keep up a 134 point pace for the season.
• Jon Quick of the Kings is off to an 8-3 start. Not bad for a guy making $570K.
• Former Blackhawk Rene Bourque is off to a 14 point start (5 G, 9 A)

Post a comment/reply at the Blackhawkzone Message Boards.



Previous Page