One month into the National Hockey League season and there are a handful of teams that are in a position neither they, nor anyone else, expected them to be in.
Take one look at the NHL standings and you will notice that some of last year’s top clubs — the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks — are nowhere close to the great start they had at this time in 2018.
The Lightning (6-4-2) have stumbled out of the gate with just six wins in their first dozen games. The Maple Leafs (6-5-3) are only one point better while the Sharks are near the bottom of the entire league at 4-8-1.
As weird as that may seem, just as odd is seeing teams such as the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks at, or near, the top of their respective divisions.
The Sabres (9-2-2) have had a wonderful start to their campaign, as have the Pacific Division-leading Oilers (9-4-1) and the Canucks (8-3-1).
So, is there reason to panic in Tampa Bay, Toronto and San Jose? And should Buffalo, Edmonton and Vancouver start designing their playoff tickets?
Not so fast.
Year in and year out in the NHL, there are a couple of teams in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences that surprise — in a good or bad way — and either make or miss the playoffs.
The question hockey pundits have about teams like the Sabres, Oilers and Canucks is can they keep up their current pace over the grueling 82-game season?
Toronto, Tampa Bay and San Jose have super talented lineups and odds are they have a solid winning streak or two coming their way, which will push them back to where they should be.
Remember, the St. Louis Blues were last overall in January and they ended up winning the Stanley Cup.
So while it may seem a tad bleak at the moment for those teams with sky-high expectations, there’s still plenty of hockey yet to play.
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