NHL Week in Review (October 4-7)
The NHL season is back and like the beginning of every NHL season, big wins for teams mean big overreactions for the fans.
The season began and a number of teams got off to a great start giving rise to a lot of talk about how good they can be this year.
It is a common occurrence as every season the first few games give a lot of fans a lot of hope about any number of things.
Every year a team that everyone thought would be bad comes out big in their first couple of games and immediately the talk starts about how good they might be.
The Colorado Avalanche did that in their first game when they put on a good showing against the New York Rangers.
The Avs were the worst team in the league last year as they never seemed to put anything together and that led to dread this year.
With their star player already halfway out the door and no real sign of improvement, they weren’t expected to do a lot this year.
The first game made it look like they were ready to actually compete as they looked like a good team.
That was one game though as the team is still in some trouble and nobody really knows how good they can be.
The same can be said in Toronto where the Maple Leafs came out with a big win in their first game beating Winnipeg 7-1.
For a city that has been suffering without a championship for years, they are waiting for this team to be a contender.
They proved last year that they are on the right track and patience is sure to wear thin this year if they can’t.
That big win already has people looking at the Maple Leafs as a team to beat in the league this year.
Judging a team at the start of the season can be dangerous though as there is no guarantee that any team can keep things up.
Colorado might be better than what many thought but they are still likely not going to be a playoff team.
The Leafs are likely going to be a good team this year but they did beat the Jets who are not expected to be a great team this year.
It is a good win and displayed the offensive talent on the team but things won’t be that easy throughout the season.
The NHL season is a long run and it has only started for teams as they begin to find their way towards the top of the division.
Overreaction to teams is only the start of it though as players are no strangers to being talked about with massive expectation.
The season has only started but there are already expectations being lumped on a number of players.
None more than one of the best players in the game as Connor McDavid has put on a great start to the season.
After scoring a hat-trick in his first game of the season he was on pace for an unbelievable amount of goals.
Of course, he will never get to that point as the pace set early in the season is never met especially after only one game.
Still, people began to speculate that he might be in store for a great season with even Jaromir Jagr saying that 100 goals is not impossible.
While it might be true that McDavid has the makings for a great career and that he might be able to actually challenge the biggest records thinking that he can do it after one game is a little bit much.
It happens every year as the media and fans get carried away after only the first few games.
The only thing to remember is that nothing is ever as good as it seems at the start of the season and never as bad as it seems at the start of the season.
There may be some team struggling and some teams having a lot of success but it could all mean nothing at the end of the year.
Starting strong for players and teams can give them a leg up when it comes to 2018 but it will not give them a playoff spot.
There is a long road to go yet and although it is exciting to see teams do well at the start of the year the anticipation for great things might want to be tempered until the heart of the season arrives.
Overtime
Jagr Finds a Home
Jaromir Jagr has been the ageless wonder in the NHL as he approaches 50 years old but remains a great player. Over the last few years, he has been a top player for the Florida Panthers and a key piece to their offence. Yet at the end of last season, they ended his time in Florida refusing to re-sign the Czech player and leaving him to free agency. The entire off-season saw Jagr remain a free agent despite the potential that he could bring to a team. The wait ended just before the season began when the Calgary Flames and continuing his time in the NHL.
Moves in Vegas
The Vegas Golden Knights are beginning their first season in the league and they are trying to work out their team without an idea of their starting lineup. They made a number of moves this week before the season began locking in their starting team but they may not have put the best team on the ice. They made a number of moves that seemed to take away great players including Shea Theodore and Vadim Shipyachov who will both start the season in the AHL.
Eichel Staying Put
The standard is being set in the NHL as big-name young players are getting contracts that are moving the bar for the league. The latest in the line of players getting paydays was Jack Eichel who signed an 8-year $80 million deal before the season began. Eichel is the centrepiece of the Buffalo Sabres and will remain there for years especially under this new deal. It also informs other teams with their young talent about what they will have to fork out to sign their young talent.
The Sport Addiction 