Most surprising impressive and poor starts?

Mortimer Snerd

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Jun 10, 2014
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washington had a great offseason and rebuilt their blueline in an extremely impressive manner. The fact that they're doing what they're doing without getting .900 goaltending suggests that if anything they've underperformed.

Edmonton always sucks in the early going of the season, but it sure looks like the choices theyve made with their bottom six were dumb.

How did Caps rebuild their blueline? They added Chychrun, who has played just 8 games picking up 4 pts and Matt Roy, who has played just 1 game.
 

Jaytee

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Feb 27, 2015
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The thing about Winnipeg is that a lot of players won't play there, but there are also many (mostly the family-oriented ones) who really, really, really love it there. More than most other teams, the Jets have to pick players whose personalities fit the type of city Winnipeg is. The single, hard-partying guys aren't ever going to want to play here, but the outdoor, sportsman types with young children often say it's ideal. For them, saying Winnipeg is no New York or L.A. isn't a putdown.

To each their own. It's the Jets' job to figure out who these players are.
 

SimpleJack

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Jul 25, 2013
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I'm really impressed by the Jets hot start, and they have such an insane amount of forward firepower right now all coming together at the right time. You've got several young highly skilled top 6 caliber talents like Perfetti and Vilardi, plus peak Connor/Ehlers. Scheifele still very good even if he might not be quite what he once was. They're doing what the 2010-2015 Blackhawks did utilizing their depth of firepower at the winger position in order to create 2 extremely dangerous top lines despite lacking a true 2C. And Namestnikov is a great glue piece that can hold down that role for now. On top of that top 6....Probably the best 3rd line in the NHL too. So think about that for a second....that's an OUTSTANDING top 9. Plus a solid 4th line too.

Dcore is also very deep and solid 1-6...although you can see more room there for upgrade if possible than you see when looking at the forwards. If anything....this is where the Jets can potentially try to improve the roster if its a realistic option. Pionk has been incredible thus far, and the Dcore collectively seem to all be producing offense at a level that seems unsustainable, though it should still go to show how dangerous this group can be when they're healthy. Morrissey is a very strong 1D.

Goaltending also looks great with a true star starting goalie in a time where there really aren't that many league wide. Just need him to come through in the playoffs. This might be the key thing that ultimately decides how far this team goes. If Hellebuyck plays at a high level at the right time behind the rest of that roster then look out.
 
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SeanMoneyHands

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Apr 18, 2019
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LA is third and NHL standings right now. That has to be the biggest surprise. They immediately got better after they got rid of their cancer known as Dubois.
 
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ps241

The Ballad of Ville Bobby
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I would have loved the contract he signed with LA if he signed with Winnipeg - shows what I know.

The vibe I got is he was a pro with Winnipeg, unlike his tenure in CLB, but he absolutely did not want to be here.

IMO PLD is the rare professional athlete who once he got paid, stopped trying - I actually understand that mentality and would be my biggest fear if I were running any sports team.

Most fans were thrilled with how he played at times, especially the stretch in the first half of 21-22. He was really good with Connor that season and seemed to bring the best out of Kyle (at that snap shot in time). Then in 2022-23 he had 63 points in 73 games so he was a big producer for our team.

I think he really wore out his welcome towards the end when he didn’t commit. Most markets don’t love the rejection, especially the smallest one. Then he stunk in the last playoff game and that last impression was bad.
 
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winnipegger

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Dec 17, 2013
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Wpg is surprising from a big picture. No one wants to play there. Prospects and players force their way out. Wpg needs to overpay to get anyone to come or stay.

Hall of Fame goaltender just signed a team friendly contract but sure. Who does this even apply to. Kane is terrible, Trouba overrated, McGroarty unknown whether he will even play or not. Dubois has requested a trade from every team in the league.
 

Pierce Hawthorne

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Colorado will be fine. They were down 3 or 4 of their top 6 forwards for a while. The only really scary thing for them is their goaltending which isn't likely to improve. When they get healthier they'll start winning some high scoring games again.
If they would just stop playing Georgiev the goaltending would improve.


Annunen has been pretty solid. 2.6 GAA, only an .894 sv% but that's also a product of the Avs quite frankly being quite stingy defensively this year and only allowing about 25 shots per game.
 

SeanMoneyHands

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Nobody should be surprised by Winnipeg, they're really good team.

What we are surprised about is Scott Arniel because he was dog **** coach in Columbus.
 

Bouboumaster

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Jul 4, 2014
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It's not a team but f***ing Brendan Gallaggher, out of nowhere, suddenly stopped to suck and is having quite a good season

Not "6,5M / per year" great, but lightyears ahead of the past two/three years. Maybe a 20 goals + season for him this year?


As for teams:
Impressive start: Winnipeg, obviously.

Poor start: Canadiens. They weren't supposed to make the playoffs, but we expected them to compete to a degree.
They're getting absolutly walked over. It's kind of embarassing. Hopefully we tank hard and get another top 5 first round pick.
 

jonlin

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Nov 11, 2011
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I`m quite impresses with a player who everyone doomed a failure:

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

11gp 1g 7a 8p +7

He actually has the best +/- of Canes Top9. Good 2-way player atleast for the start of the season. Maybe he blooms late?
 

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