There have been a bunch of big surprises and some not-so-big surprises thus far in the NHL season.
Surprised at what's going on in Phoenix? Can't believe the Rangers are this good, and the Maple Leafs this brutal?
We're with you on some, but not on others. So we bring you our first installment of "Surprised? Not me."
Surprised - That the Vancouver Canucks go out and get Mikael Samuelsson in the summer as a free agent, but coach Alain Vigneault does not play him on the right side with the Sedins. These guys have played together for Sweden, and Samuelsson seemed the perfect UFA to have an Anson Carter-type season alongside the twins, one of whom is now hurt. It seemed so obvious that Vigneault played Samuelsson instead with Ryan Kesler, where he's having a point-per-game start to the season. Go figure.
Not Surprised - Theoren Fleury claims he made it through numerous NHL drug tests undetected. He claims he spiked the tests and/or the league hid the results. The league hotly disputes Fleury's version of the facts. What we know for sure is, any supposed drug-testing program that didn't catch Fleury when he was showing up at practice straight from cocaine and booze-filled nights on the town isn't much of a program at all now, is it?
Not Surprised - That the NHL had no interest in catching Fleury. Major League Baseball, the National Football League, copious amateur sports organizations - all took their turns whistling past the graveyard on the issue of drugs in sport. Why would the NHL and NHLPA be any smarter?
Surprised - That Ryan Smyth appears to have chopped off that fantastic mullet he has sported since we first met him 15 years ago. And he's having a renaissance, with five goals and nine points in his first six games with Los Angeles.
Not Surprised - That Todd Bertuzzi went into battle Thursday night with one lonely assist and no goals in the Red Wings' first five games. With the injury list growing in Detroit, so too will the dependency on production from Big Bert. That won't help his game, however. At this stage in his career Bertuzzi is a decent support player, but will not thrive as players like Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk go down.
Surprised - That my colleagues all across the hockey map continue to solely credit NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on issues such as Jim Balsillie and the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Do you think if Bettman's 30 bosses were overwhelmingly in favour of going to Sochi, that he would be speaking negatively about it every chance he gets? Do you think Bettman-Balsillie is only personal, and the majority of NHL owners aren't anti-Balsillie? Bettman is like a goalie - too much credit when things go good, too much blame when they go bad.
Not Surprised - That NHL owners want no part of an Olympics where the games are played while North Americans are asleep. Sure IIHF head Rene Fasel wants the NHLers. He wants a better product. But only the NHL can do the math that tells us whether the momentum the league loses in February is worth it. Clearly it is in Vancouver, but we very much doubt that it can be justified for an Olympics held eight hours east of Toronto. My heart says send 'em, but if it were my money at stake, I'd be more concerned with the NHL season.
Surprised - That Phoenix took a 3-2 record - all road wins - into their Thursday home game against St. Louis. Like everyone else, we got caught up in the financial situation and let it affect our outlook on the on-ice product. I still don't think the Coyotes will make the playoffs, but it looks like they'll draft lower next June than the Maple Leafs. Sorry - we meant the Bruins.
Not Surprised - That Brent Sutter and his Calgary Flames will end up stripping down the coach-player relationship to bare bones, then building it up again the way the coach wants it. Sutter is getting to the core of the games of a few players - Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf are two prime suspects. The Flames will still win games while this rehab is going on, but if it is successful, you'll see them winning games in April and May as well.
Surprised - That the Rangers are this good, and that Marian Gaborik isn't hurt yet.
Not surprised - When John Tortorella begins warring with New York media, and Rangers cool into what they are: a good team, not a great one.