Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

At this point, certain NHL clubs might be better than we thought, while others are worse.

There comes a point in each season when reality sets in.

Teams that got off to surprisingly good starts continue to stay near the top of the standings and suddenly it doesn't look quite so unusual. Other teams expected to do well that have not yet hit their stride gradually start to look right at home nesting with the bottom dwellers.

Not that anything is set in stone before the season reaches the halfway point, but surely we must now accept the fact a few teams might be much better than we anticipated and a few others aren't nearly as good as some thought.

When you look at the NHL's overall standings, two teams from today's top 10 stand out like supermodels at a convent. The sixth place Colorado Avalanche rode a hot goaltender and a couple of teenage scoring sensation out of the gate and although they aren't quite as hot as Christmas approaches, they have somehow been able to remain competitive on most nights. If you saw them beat Calgary 3-2 for the third time this season Sunday night, you saw a defence that was able to keep the Flames sharp-shooters to the outside for most of the game and a goaltender in Craig Anderson who may no longer be among the league leaders in goals-against average, save percentage, wins or shutouts, but he is still having a remarkable season for a guy who has never been a No. 1 stopper in this league.

The kids, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly, remain among the Avs top scorers at fifth and sixth, and at 18 years old, they remain a big story in the league. O'Reilly, however, doesn't have a point in his past 11 games and hasn't scored in 18.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Greg Sherman was promoted to GM June 3 and when he made Joe Sacco his coach the following day, but nobody is questioning those appointments now. Sacco has been described as an honest coach who lays out his game plan for his players to follow and is honest with them in his assessment of their contributions.

Can they stay near the top of the pack? Not really sure, but one thing is certain, if they do, it is no longer a surprise.

The Phoenix Coyotes, meanwhile, are already halfway to their win total from a year ago with 19 in 32 games. The NHL's most troubled team off the ice has been shockingly good on the ice. Although they don't have a goal-scorer in double digits (Radim Vrbata and Scottie Upshall each have nine) they do have one of the hottest goaltenders in the league in Ilya Bryzgalov. And they also have a coach who has clearly been able to get his message across. Under Dave Tippett, the Coyotes may not be able to score, but they sure can defend and have shutout wins over powerhouses such as Pittsburgh and San Jose.

Frankly, I'll be shocked if the Coyotes are able to maintain their current high standing the rest of the way. Not that I expect the bottom to suddenly fall out, it's just that they don't have the scoring to make a serious run for the playoffs and I'm not sold on Bryzgalov's ability to carry a team for the entire year. Still, what they have accomplished thus far is pretty impressive.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers stuck at 28th and 27th overall respectively. You could make the point the Rangers situation really isn't that surprising, but the fact they opened 7-0-1 perhaps raised expectations.

While free agent acquisition Marian Gaborik has been everything and more for the Rangers, he doesn't have a strong supporting cast and some of the magic that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has produced the past few seasons has begun to fade. The defence that looked so good at the start now looks tattered and there are too many forwards who simply are not capable of bringing it on a nightly basis. This team needs a boost and it might just be somehow awakening Chris Drury from his season-long slump.

The Flyers may just be the NHL's most mysterious team. On paper they have one of the strongest teams in the league, but on the ice they have just two wins in their past 10 games. John Stevens lost his job as coach and Peter Laviolette has not been able to make an immediate impact on the team.

If you believe the rumors, the young guns who have been rewarded with big-buck, long-term contracts do not understand the level of commitment it takes to be a winner and until that changes; until they comprehend what it entails to be a champion, they will continue to flounder.

I am hearing people pushing for a major trade to shake things up, but for the record I don't think that is necessary. What they need more than anything is for Laviolette to bring peace and harmony to group of players that are capable of playing much better than they have to date.

At the end of the season, my guess is the Flyers will find their game and regardless of what the standings suggest today, they will be in the mix at the end.

For now, though, teams are right where they belong... even if it is a surprise.