Devils on Top in Atlantic Division
Devils and Flyers Lead the Pack in a Tight Division Race
Jan 24, 2008
This NHL season has been anything but predictable. Take a look at this team-by-team breakdown of the NHL thus far. All statistics are of January 24, 2008.
Atlantic Division:
New Jersey Devils (28-17-3, 59 points): The Devils have been somewhat of a surprise this season. After losing Scott Gomez to free agency to the rival New York Rangers, they have capitalized off of yet another strong season from Martin Brodeur and veteran Patrick Elias. Only the 78-point Detroit Red Wings have given up less goals as of January 24th.
Pittsburgh Penguins (27-17-4, 58 points): The Penguins are showing signs of another trip to the postseason in a tough Atlantic division. However, the loss of Sidney Crosby really will be a blow to the organization. Watching Crosby in the press box with owner Mario Lemieux may be a showing of the best talent in one spot, but neither of them have skates on. The loss of Crosby means that other players such as Malkin and Armstrong will have to play top notch hockey for the Pens.
Philadelphia Flyers (26-16-5, 57 points): The Flyers have relied on tremendous offense all season long to keep them in the race. Watching this team in person one would see that they are a scary team when they are on the top of their game. Briere, Richards, Gagne and Biron have been tough to beat. However, their inconsistency has kept them out of first place for the most part of the season. Just the other night, the Devils showed the rest of the league why New Jersey is still a top tier team in the NHL and the Flyers still have to play catch-up.
New York Islanders (24-19-6, 54 points): Islander fans have a reason to cheer this year. This good mix of talent has come together to excite Long Island with hockey again. However, Long Island isn't convinced that captain Bill Guerin can lead the Islanders to hockey heaven yet. The attendance for the Islanders is 22nd in the league, drawing only 13,709 per night on average.
New York Rangers (23-21-6, 51 points): Though not out of the division race yet, the Rangers faithful are not happy thus far with the teams performance. After making a splash with two major free agent signings (Drury and Gomez), the Rangers find themselves in last place in a tightly contested division.
Awards:
Best Coach: Ted Nolan of the New York Islanders. Your initial reaction might be, "WHAT?" But listen to this, in a division that was supposed to be all about Crosby, Brodeur, Jagr and Briere, the Islanders have failed to fall behind in this tough division. Nolan has the Islanders only 5 points out of first and deserves some credit. Dealing with a headcase like Chris Simon while having a team of many young players deserves some credit. Unless of a miraculous second half, this award will go to someone else at the end of the season, but for now, congratulations to Ted Nolan for playing well in the shadows of the giants of the atlantic division.
Worst Coach: In typical New York fashion, Tom Renney was handed some of the best players in the league. Drury, Gomez, Jagr, Shanahan and Lundqvist are all on this team. However, their failure to mesh has landed them in last place. Renney has his work cut out for him if he wants to turn this season around.
Best Moment: The best moment for this division has to be Sidney Crosby's shootout winning goal in the Winter Classic. In front of the nation, and yes, they were watching. This day was great for hockey and its new ambassador, Crosby, ended the first (hopefully of many) Winter Classic in great fashion.
MVP: If Crosby wasn't hurt, this would be hands down to Sidney. The MVP of this division thus far has been Martin Brodeur. Going into this season, there were many questions about Brodeur's ability with the loss of some players. Also, now age 35, his age has come into question. How many good years are left with Brodeur? It doesn't matter now, he's got his Devils in first place.
The next article will recap the Northeast Division.
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