When you want to know whether Pittsburgh might be able to repeat their championship, just look at their roster. They have a surprising amount of depth, even in the position where there is a major star in the starting role. It will be interesting to see how far they are able to get this year. They are doing decently in the early goings of this year. We only have a few games under the belt so far, but the team is not sinking, which is a good sign. There are a couple of teams that are surprising in that division at this point. The Devils, for example, lead the division with 14 wins already. There wasn’t much expectation that they are going to be amazing this year, so perhaps it’s the early-season luck that some teams have? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s going to be very cool.

The highlight game of the weekend was San Jose vs Chicago, where we found that these are two of the best teams in the Western Conference. San Jose has been one of the best teams in the last several years. We hope that we’ll be able to see them rush deep into the playoffs, because they’ve consistently underperformed at that point in the season recently. But they are doing well this year. Chicago, similarly, had won 6 in a row going into the game. San Jose led 3-1 as late as the 2nd period, but Chicago came back to tie it, with Patrick Kane and John Madden (not the football guy) scoring the catch up goals. Then Brent Seabrook scored the winning goal near the beginning of overtime to take the game and make it 7 in a row. This is a good way to lead into Chicago’s upcoming road trip, since they have now won against several of the Western Conference’s best teams. Meanwhile, San Jose is still doing well, despite the loss. They are practically undefeated this year and have not yet lost with a margin of more than one. Keep watching both these teams throughout the year.

The Phoenix Coyotes are off to one of their best starts in history. They are climbing in the rankings of the Western Conference all year and they will be hoping to slide all the way up into playoff contention as the year goes forwards. For now, though, they are content to be better than before. But unfortunately the fans just aren’t showing up at the moment. It’s because they haven’t been sure that this team is going to remain in the area for much longer. All the controversy has lowered ticket sales and caused rancor all along the way. We hope that the team will be able to put their problems behind them and then get into contention. Either that or they should move back to Winnipeg. I’m just barely joking.

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!