Sassone: Avalanche, Stars early surprises in NHL
When the NHL schedule came out last summer it looked as if there was an opportunity for the Blackhawks to pile up some points early with four games against Dallas and Colorado among their first seven — two teams picked to finish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
Who would have thought the Stars and the Avalanche would start out as two of the top teams in the West, a combined 10-2 two weeks into the season?
The Hawks split their two games with the Stars. Now they get the red-hot Avs for a home-and-home set starting Thursday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
All the upstart Avs have done is win their last five games — all on the road.
“It's a good start to the year for us, but now we have to move ahead here,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “We have to look at our opponent Thursday night. We have a home-and-home with one of the best teams in the Western Conference, in my opinion, so that's our mindset right now.”
Colorado might be the fastest team in the league thanks to a good collection of young forwards that now includes rookie-of-the-year candidate Gabriel Landeskog, the second pick in last June's draft.
Off-season acquisitions Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere have been excellent in goal, while defenseman Erik Johnson is playing like the guy taken first overall in the 2006 draft ahead of Jordan Staal and Jonathan Toews.
Critical in Columbus:This was supposed to be the season the Blue Jackets became a team to be feared in the West.But things are going from bad to worse in Columbus, where the Blue Jackets are 0-5-1, without prized off-season acquisitions James Wisniewski and Jeff Carter and playing in front of crowds of about 8,000 in Nationwide Arena.Carter, acquired from Philadelphia in one of the summer's biggest trades, is out for at least the next week with a fractured foot. But it's Wisniewski's absence that has been an absolute killer for the Blue Jackets.Wisniewski still has two games to serve on the eight-game suspension he received in the preseason for foolishly hitting Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck in the head. Wisniewski got a six-year, $33 million contract as a free agent in July, but what his selfish act and subsequent suspension has done is let down the entire organization.#8220;What I, the organization, the fans #8212; what everyone wanted was to get this going,#8221; Wisniewski told the Columbus Dispatch. #8220;This was supposed to be a breakout year. That's why I came here. To miss a tenth of the season, man, it hurts.#8221;The Blue Jackets' next game is Friday against Detroit.#8220;You're not out of the playoffs tomorrow,#8221; center R.J. Umberger said. #8220;But we know if you get too far behind early, it's a tough league.#8221;Booing Bobby Lu:Roberto Luongo remains the No. 1 goalie in Vancouver, although he doesn't appear to be the people's choice.Luongo was jeered again in his home rink at Rogers Arena on Tuesday night in a 4-0 loss to the Rangers, who were outshot 40-19 by the Canucks.#8220;I've got ears,#8221; Luongo said when asked if he heard the fans. #8220;I mean, they're not happy with my play and I'm not happy with my play. I guess they're entitled. That's fine. I understand that. I have to pick up my game and make some saves.#8221;Luongo has a 3.70 goals-against average and a .856 save percentage, with many Canucks fans wishing coach Alain Vigneault would play backup Cory Schneider more.Sharks attacked:San Jose coach Todd McLellan isn't happy with his best players in light of the Sharks' 1-3 start that includes 2 losses at home.Now the Sharks must head out on a six-game road trip.The top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski has combined for 2 goals (none 5-on-5) and 3 assists in four games and is minus-3 as a unit. Ryan Clowe is minus-3, while Logan Couture is minus-2 with just 1 assist.#8220;Quite frankly, we're missing some key people, and I don't mean with injuries,#8221; McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News. #8220;They're dressed, and they're people we count on. They need to find it quickly.#8221;Martin Havlat, who has yet to play because of off-season shoulder surgery, is expected to make his Sharks debut Friday at New Jersey.Sun burned:Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher is blaming goalie Dwayne Roloson for the Lightning's defensive problems. Others are to blame as well.#8220;He is the only one with a red light that lights up and says you made a mistake,#8221; Boucher told the St. Petersburg Times.The 42-year-old Roloson has allowed 17 goals in his last three starts and for the season has a 5.09 goals-against average and .858 save percentage.Blocked:Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson explained to the Denver Post why he no longer has a Twitter account.#8220;Too many computer tough guys,#8221; Johnson said.tsassone@dailyherald.com