Hockey: Week Two Review

Par for the course with last week, here's a quick review of the highlights and low-lights of the second week of the 2010-2011 NHL hockey season.

I'll stick mainly with the same format as last week also, emphasizing on some of the surprises and disappointments, and a quick focus on who's Hot and who's Not.

Surprises

Rick Rypien an enforcer for the Vancouver Canucks was suspended indefinitely earlier in the week, following a game with the Minnesota Wild where he received a game misconduct and grabbed a fan while being escorted off the ice. On Friday the league suspended Rypien for six games, in what many would consider as setting an example, and also fined the Canucks 25,000$, per league policy.

Holy Hat Tricks Batman! Hat tricks are not a rarity in the NHL, but it always seems that when one of them takes place, a chain reaction soon follows. This Friday night alone saw 3 of 5 scheduled games feature a trick, with Rene Bourque of the Flames tallying three, Daniel Alfredsson doing the same and also scoring his 1,000th career point, and Steven Stamkos rounding out the trio, with a four point night against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Despite my somewhat early doomsaying, a fire must have been lit under the asses of the Anaheim Ducks, whom after nearly starting the season on a 4 game deficit, finally started to see their stars put pucks into the back of the net.

Disappointments

There are still a few teams with high potential who are trying to catch a break. The Buffalo Sabres, despite having some bright flashes in week one, have lost 6 of their last 7 games, including a 5 game losing streak where most games were decided by one goal. Likewise, the New Jersey Devils are having trouble falling into a groove, although Martin Brodeur managed to nab two shutouts, including a decisive one Thursday night in Montreal.

Who's Hot

Teams:
Pittsburgh Penguins - (5-3-0) - 4 Game W Streak
Boston Bruins - (4-1-0) - 4 Game W Streak
Tampa Bay Lightning - (5-1-1)
Dallas Stars - (5-1-0) 
Toronto Maple Leafs - (4-1-1)
Chicago Blackhawks - (5-3-1) - After a bit of a slow start, the Hawks have picked up steam with an early season hot streak by Marian Hossa and some clutch scoring by Patrick Sharp who racked up 3 game winners in a row.

Players:
Steven Stamkos, C (TBL) - 8G 6A +6 - A 4 point night Friday, including a Hat Trick has Stammer on course for what is sure to be a repeat and surpassing of his breakout sophomore season last year.

Marian Hossa, RW (CHI) - 7G 4A +4
Brad Richards, D (DAL) - 2G 8A +9
Daniel Sedin, LW (VAN) - 7G 4A +2
Henrik Sedin, C (VAN) - 10A +1

Tim Thomas, G (BOS) - 4W, 1 Shutout, Save% .978, GAA 0.75 - Thomas has started all four games following the Bruins opening game loss and has been a force, as per usual. 
Kari Lehtonen, G (DAL) - 5W, 1L, Save% .927, GAA 2.60

Who's Not

Teams:
Buffalo Sabres - (2-5-1)
Edmonton Oilers - (2-3-0) - After a breakout start to the season with a 4-0 win over Calgary and a close win against Florida, the Oilers are now on a 3 game skid, which is enough to scare any Oilers fan with memories of last season.

Players:
Simon Gagne, LW (TBL) - No points, -4 in 6 games
Kimmo Timmonen and Chris Pronger, D (PHI) - No points, -4 combined
Tyler Myers, D (BUF) - 1G 1A -9 - Sabres are in a slump and their sophomore defenseman ranks worst in the league on the +/- right now and is not showing an early season strength shown in his Calder nominated Rookie season.

Here's to hopefully another interesting week in NHL hockey.