KK Sponsors - Fathead | IceJerseys.com | Shop.NHL.com

LOGIN | REGISTER | RSS FEEDS

The Confluence

Next entry: Penguins down Lightning 4-1 for 5th straight win

Previous entry: Penguins sweep road trip, down Canes 3-2 in shootout

Still way too early for all of these NHL pronouncements

by Tony on 10/16/09 at 10:36 AM ET
Comments (11)

I guess, in retrospect, it’s human nature in all of us sports fanatics, regardless of college or professional, or what particular sport it is.

A new season starts after long, agonizing months of impatiently awaiting its return, and when the games are finally underway, it’s almost inevitable, the decrees start:

“Mark Sanchez is the next Joe Montana !”. “Alex Ovechkin will challenge Gretzky’s records !”.  “The Red Wings’ window is closing !”.

Now, understand, all of those could end up being true, who the hell knows.  But damn people, do the bold pronouncements have to start so early ??

Specifically in talking about the NHL, the Capitals and Flyers have started out strong, immediately resulting in bold questions from the MSM and bloggers alike such as “Can the Capitals be stopped ?”

Not forgetting about the homer aspect of the discussion, the Stanley Cup champion Penguins have started out 6-1, with Marc-Andre Fleury undefeated at 6-0.  Some have already proclaimed that there will be no Cup “hangover”.

Even on the relatively negative side of things, the Stanley Cup losers, the Detroit Red Wings have stumbled out of the gate, “only” going 3-3.  If you believe some of these prognosticators, you’d think the Wings will have a top five draft pick next year.

In some sense, I understand it.  Sports fans are full of excitement and eagerness as the season in question gets underway.  In addition, in today’s online world of blogs, “insiders” and especially now Twitter, it’s easier than ever to get on your soapbox and state your claim.

But even with the NHL season only two weeks old, those same “can’t be stopped” Capitals have only won three of their first seven games.  Will they be Cup contenders ??  Quite possibly.  But their pitfalls that shined brightly during their loss to the Penguins in the playoffs have started shining again, with spotty defense and goaltending.

The Flyers are 3-1-1 so far, and made a risky signing during the preseason with goaltender Ray Emery.  Emery (and new Flyer Chris Pronger) may turn out to be exactly what the Flyers need to get over the hump (read: beat the Pens in the playoffs), but so far, Emery’s given up five goals in two of his first five starts, including a loss to the Pens.

Even the Penguins, who are 6-1, are certainly off to a very good start.  But if you remember, the Pens had their best start last season, and then stumbled all the way out of the playoff race, before recovering late in the season and eventually winning the Cup.

And lastly, if you really think that the Wings are starting their downfall, which I disagree with, I’d think you have to have more than six games to make that bold decree.

I know this type of early declaration won’t stop.  It’s basically in all of our genes.  I guess I’ll just have to stock up on those grains of salt.

Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
 Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Comments

How could you forget about Keith Jones proclaiming that Dany Heatley will score 70 goals this season?

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 10/16/09 at 09:44 AM ET

Just too many of them to choose from Animal…

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 10/16/09 at 09:46 AM ET

Tony, amen. You’re spot on! Let’s give it 20 games before we start drawing any sort of conclusions… and as we see every year, there’s always a team in each conference than storms back post-all-star break—last season the West had the Blues, and really in the East it was the Pens.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 10/16/09 at 09:54 AM ET

I try to Ignore Keith Jones at all costs

Posted by Evilpens on 10/16/09 at 10:18 AM ET

It was Ray Emery who said about Heatley’s 70 goals.

So the poster suggests that we all need to shut it? Yeah, let’s just wait until season is over and then chat. LOL.

Posted by tj on 10/16/09 at 10:43 AM ET

Emery said 65, Jones said 70.

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 10/16/09 at 10:45 AM ET

So the poster suggests that we all need to shut it? Yeah, let’s just wait until season is over and then chat. LOL.

No one ever said to “shut it”, but rather wait longer than two weeks into the season…

Try reading it next time....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 10/16/09 at 11:48 AM ET

I know it’s not hockey, but one that grabbed me was ESPN “Experts” said after the first game that it’s realistically possible for Adrian Peterson to rush for 3,000 yards! Not 2,000 ... 3,000!?!?!?

I think one of the biggest problems we have nowadays in our sports coverage is the influx of washed up pros. It’s hard to find a color commentator anywhere in any sport that isn’t a former player and these shows with several of them on a panel are getting to be flat out horrible.

Chris | PPT

Posted by Chris from Sandusky, OH on 10/16/09 at 12:15 PM ET

Why don’t you read as well, “wait longer than 2 weeks = end of the season “

Posted by tj on 10/16/09 at 12:32 PM ET

@ Chris, I seen that idiotic prediction too.

When a player leads the league in goals, assists and +/- in the same season then and only then will I start to compare him to Gretzky.  Who is the only player(4 times) to capture that triple crown.

Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 10/16/09 at 02:19 PM ET

Even after 20 games, nothing is a given. Last season the Pens were in the gutter around the trade deadline and look how that season ended up…

To me the best thing about sports is the unpredictability. You never know what team is going to come out of nowhere to challenge for the top spot, you never know what nobody will make a run at a scoring title, and you never know what big name team or player is going to be awful. Sure, its fun for a couple of friends to sit around and argue over things like “Can anyone ever touch Gretzky?” “Will AP rush for 2000? 3000?” “Can anyone stop the Yankees?” and things like that, but when the MSM starts doing it, I just turn of the TV, change radio stations, or close the web-page.

Posted by Kstewy16 on 10/16/09 at 03:01 PM ET

Add a Comment

Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.

Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.

Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.

Most Recent Blog Posts

About The Confluence

Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006.  Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism.  My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times.  I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work.  I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

Please feel free to send any comments to me at .  If you’d like to befriend me on Facebook, click here.  If you’d like to join The Confluence page on Facebook, click here.  If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, click here.

The Confluence Links

Archives