Alexander Ovechkin, the new comedian. He told us this weekend that he had an injury that would keep him out of play for as much as a month. This sent shudder through the league and made a bunch of people wonder what was wrong with him. There is discussion of an “upper body” problem, which isn’t all that descriptive and doesn’t narrow anything down. There was also something discussed about shoulder problems. The interest generated was intense. But in the end, it ended up that Ovechkin was just joking and he’ll be back in just a few days. His fans relaxed a bit and his divisional rivals wept at the news. What an odd joke to make. The Washington Capitals are lucky to have him, but he might not be the next Jay Leno. Maybe it was just his timing?

The concerns about NHL teams have been high for nearly a year now. The Phoenix Coyote team has been unable to stop the bleeding for a long time now and it’s not clear whether they will be able to withstand for more than this season, if they make it that long without someone coming forward to buy them up. Other teams have started to fall off, not on the ice necessarily, but with their business. Places like Tampa and Atlanta haven’t been able to come anywhere near capacity crowds and they are losing money. This week, the concern has been about the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are apparently losing more that 10 Million dollars a year for various reasons. This is going to be a tough time in the NFL and hopefully it can come out relatively unscathed, but it’s not yet for sure.

If you are expecting a good year for the Boston Bruins, you would not be alone. With the Bruins’ 2008-9 season that saw them ahead of almost everyone else in the Eastern Conference for most of the year. They are a solid team and it was great to see. This year, they have slackened a little. Not “slacked”, but slackened. They’ve had more trouble than expected. Their scoring is struggling at the moment, but it’s going to be a few more weeks before we have a really good feel for what they’ll be doing this year. They are able to do defense like any playoff style team that you might expect. And they can hustle like anyone’s business. But they haven’t been able to show the follow through that experts have said that they were missing at the end of last year.

With this year’s Winter Classic, there will be two of last year’s best teams competing. The game counts just like any other game, but it will be broadcast nationally from Fenway Park and it takes place outdoors. It’s also the 3rd annual installment, so it will be remembered more than regular games are. If you want Winter Classic hockey tickets, they are already on sale and they will sell out very quickly. This year, the Philadelphia Flyers will be playing against the Boston Bruins. It will be one of the most exciting games of the year for them and the two teams are very evenly matched. Boston was near the top of the Eastern Conference for most of the year and Philadelphia was just behind. Both of these teams have made changes and improvements, but the core of their teams remains the same. The temperatures will be low, but you will get to see many of the top players in the NHL competing against one another to say that they won a Winter Classic.

Roberto Luongo got his 48th shutout, a record somewhere, stopping 27 shots against the Oilers last night. Luongo is one of the best goaltenders in the league and he’s doing a great job with it too. We will be interested in seeing what he ends up showing us this year, because last year was a banner year for him. He finally came into the spotlight as the Canucks pushed their way deep into the playoffs. The Blackhawks eventually knocked them out, but it took a lot of games to do it. The Luongo’s team is expected to continue getting better this season and is considered a real contender for the Stanley Cup again this year. Luongo is a great leader for this team and we’ll see what the team can do next year.

Mark Messier and Mike Richter were honored this week for their service to hockey in America. It was a good moment for them, because we were able to remember all that they had done for the sport and how amazing they were in their many years of playing. They were two of the best in the country at the time and hopefully we will see more like them. They led their team to a 1994 Stanley Cup, which was exciting, against the Vancouver Canucks. They got the Lester Patrick Award, which is a big honor for anyone and they certainly deserve it. Richter was perhaps the top goalie of his time and Messier led the league in scoring for a couple of years. When they were on the same team, they were nearly unstoppable!

Does anyone else think that the Northeast Division is looking a little bit weird right now? The Ottawa Senators are in first place. By a decent margin.  Then come the Buffalo Sabres, of all people, in second place. Then things start to look a little more normal, with the Bruins and Habs. But how long has it been since we saw anything much from the Senators? I certainly have trouble remembering it. But it’s also possible that this is just one of those early season flukes that will shift back to normal in just a few weeks. But good for Ottawa if they’re able to put forward a really good team for the first time in quite awhile. Let’s see what they’re made of!

The New York Rangers are on top of it! The team that has been having so much trouble over the last few years has won 5 in a row in the early weeks of this season. This puts them in a tie, at least for the time being, of their division and it will be very interesting to see how much further they can get. They just beat the Los Angeles Kings, who have won 4 in a row and are in second place in the West. The score was 4-2. Both of these teams are big surprises this year, especially considering that neither of these teams made it to the playoffs last year, but they’re starting out this season in a way that would impress anyone. And they haven’t made any big changes to their rosters either. A few small ones, but apparently that’s enough to give them a good start to the season. Hopefully they can keep it up!

With the San Jose Sharks, it hasn’t been clear what their problem is the last few years. They were at the top of the standings and by far the best team in the league in the season. When the Sharks took the ice to start out this season, they are hoping strongly that they will be able to get themselves up into the top again and then actually stay in the playoffs for more than a couple days. The team has a lot of talent again this year, and it’s expected that they will be very good. At the same time, they have also signed a couple of rookies who are, according to commentators, giving the team a lot of the energy that they could need to get them over the hump. A couple upstart players might be exactly what the team needs! Does this mean that they are going to win the Stanley Cup? Nothing is sure in hockey but if they can get tough, they will have a much better chance than if they stay overconfident like last spring.

We’re near the end of the first week of the NHL 2009 season. It’s serious now. There have been between 1 and 4 games played already depending on which team you are, and there are some interesting things that have taken place. For example, San Jose is 1-2 right now, looking to push forward and win their first Stanley Cup. The Calgary Flames are at 3-0 after three games. The Red Wings are starting at 0-2, with their difficulties at goaltender. It’s exciting to see this year begin, but these standings don’t mean all that much quite yet, because there aren’t too enough games played yet to show us how the teams are actually doing. There are some commentators in certain cities who are freaking out already, but remember some of these teams played their first couple of games in Europe, so they might even be jetlagged still. There are lots of reasons to discount the significance of the results so far.