After the opening week, fans in Vancouver and Detroit are on the ledge.
I always find it fascinating to watch people overreact to what occurs on the first weekend of the NHL season.
In Toronto, where president and GM Brian Burke spent the summer overhauling his defence, his Maple Leafs lost twice and allowed 10 goals. His two prized pickups, Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin, played poorly. Even worse for Leaf fans, returning goaltender Vesa Toskala struggled and some want to hang him from the CN Tower.
Take a deep breath people, there's plenty of hockey left. With a short training camp, coach Ron Wilson did not have much of an opportunity to implement a defensive system. The Leafs can't be this bad, can they?
The reigning Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings dropped a pair to the upstart St. Louis Blues and already people in Motown are harping that the goaltending is no good. Let's give the Blues a little credit here. They had an outstanding second half last season and simply picked up where they left off.
Meanwhile in Vancouver, where hopes are very, very high for the Canucks this season, it was a rough start for goaltender Roberto Luongo who signed a lifetime contract with the team in the off-season. He surrendered three goals before the national anthem was completed in the opener and the Canucks were outscored 8-3 in twin losses. Again, do we really think a team that many, myself included, think has a chance to go to the Stanley Cup final, has its fate decided in two games? Chill, baby, chill.
There were some very pleasant surprises including the Colorado Avalanche winning its first two games and the much-maligned Phoenix Coyotes triumphing over Los Angeles. The reality is these two teams are in for some very long nights this year, but it was great to see them get off on the right foot.
ABOUT THOSE OILERS: Some people are talking about the 'young' Edmonton Oilers and their 'old' coach as though the players wear diapers and the coach wears Depends.
It just isn't so.
The Oilers have plenty of veteran players. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is 36. Sheldon Souray, 33, is entering his 12th year in the NHL. Steve Staios is 33, as is Lubomir Visnovsky while Fernando Pisani is 32, Shawn Horcoff is 31 and Dustin Penner is 27.
Even the youngsters people talk about, 20-year-old Sam Gagner and 22-year-old Andrew Cogliano are entering their third year in the league.
Evgeni Malkin is 23, Sidney Crosby 22 and Jordan Staal 21 and they all have Stanley Cup rings. They weren't too young to win and they weren't just along for the ride - they drove the bus.
The point is, if the Oilers don't do well this season it won't be because of youth and inexperience; it will be because they simply aren't good enough. So enough with the excuses already.
As for Quinn, I must admit there were times over his final few years in Toronto when I wondered whether or not he was still capable - or even interested - in coaching. There's a big difference between showing up and standing behind the bench and actually trying to get the job done. Being in Toronto has a way of doing that to the best of men. But the Pat Quinn who stepped behind the Oilers bench Saturday night for his first NHL game in four years is a youthful 66 and it is abundantly clear his work at this level is not done.
His intelligence and humour was often trumped by impatience and gruffness near the end of his tenure in Toronto, but he seems to be reborn. He has never been an Xs and Os coach, but he has wisely surrounded himself with a capable coaching staff that includes Tom Renney.
What Quinn does better than anything else is inspire players to take their game to the next level. He gets players to break out of their comfort zone and do things perhaps even they didn't think they were capable of accomplishing. It may be through a friendly reminder, a harsh order or simply giving them the evil eye. Different strokes for different folks.
More than anything I'd love to see Quinn coax a better game out of Ales Hemsky. This guy is supremely talented, one of the best puck-handlers in the league, but he doesn't come close to producing the numbers he is capable of accumulating.
The Oilers gave a very good account of themselves in their season opener and were only a Khabibulin gaffe away from earning a point; possibly two. It isn't going to be easy to make the playoffs in the very tough Western Conference, but I think the Oilers have what it takes.
Players too young? Coach too old? Gimme a break!
RAY OF SUNSHINE: Haven't heard so much as a peep out of Ray Emery this season and that's a good thing. Listening to him speak toward the end of last season when he returned from exile in Russia, I got the distinct feeling he had matured and accepted it was he who created a situation whereby no NHL team would touch him with a 10 foot pole. The Flyers threw him a lifeline and he is repaying them with some terrific goaltending including getting a shutout in his debut in orange and white. If Emery concentrates on stopping puck and not stealing headlines, he and the Flyers will enjoy a terrific year.
