Mike Brophy

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

As we near Christmas, it's time to identify the biggest surprises and disappointments to date.

As we near the Christmas break, it is time to identify the biggest surprises and disappointments to date of the 2009-10 season.

In the Eastern Conference, my biggest surprise is the emergence of the New Jersey Devils as the best team in the league. Not that we should really be surprised. Perhaps surprise is the wrong word. General manager Lou Lamoriello always has his team in the hunt.

But when coach Brent Sutter bolted the Devils family to join his brother, Darryl, as coach of the Calgary Flames, you had to wonder if there wasn’t a little trouble in paradise?

The answer clearly is no.

The Devils may score low in terms of entertainment value, especially compared to Eastern rivals Pittsburgh and Washington, but they are professional and proficient. What really jumps out for me about this team this season, aside from the typical brilliant goaltending of Martin Brodeur, is the emergence of Niclas Bergfors as a consistent scoring threat.

Bergfors was the 23rd overall pick in the 2005 NHL entry draft and other than a few cups of coffee in the NHL, he has spent the majority of the past four seasons playing in the American League. There are not too many organizations that would have the patience to wait for a first round pick to develop as the Devils did with Bergfors, but then again there aren’t too many organizations that enjoy the sustained success that New Jersey does.

Through games played Tuesday night, Bergfors had 12 goals and 23 points in 35 games and ranked in a tie for second in rookie scoring.

The Devils have some of the best young talent in the league, in particular top scorer Zach Parise, to go with a host of underrated defencemen.

The biggest disappointment from the Eastern Conference is unquestionably the Philadelphia Flyers. How a team that already had Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Kimmo Timonen and then adds star defenceman Chris Pronger can be sitting 29th overall at this stage of the year is incredible.

The Flyers have already changed coaches and that move did not have the desired effect.

Is it too late for the Flyers? Perhaps not. They still have a great team on paper. Unfortunately the NHL requires its teams to play games on the ice.

Even before the injuries to their top two stoppers there were questions about the team’s goaltending. Ray Emery, on a one-year contract, hasn’t taken the league by storm and Brian Boucher is OK in short stints, but he can’t get it done when he has to carry the load for an extended period of time. Perhaps GM Paul Holmgren should have taken Montreal GM Bob Gainey up on his offer for Jaroslav Halak.

In the Western Conference, my biggest surprise is Patrick Marleau. There were all kinds of rumours that the San Jose Sharks wanted to trade him last summer, though GM Doug Wilson insists that was never the case. Still, the Sharks did take the captaincy away from Marleau so it remained to be seen what affect that would have on the veteran in his 13th NHL season.

As of Wednesday morning Marleau ranked 14th in league scoring with 39 points in 37 games and is second in goals with 23. He is on pace to score 51 goals which would easily smash his single-season high of 38 set two seasons ago.

Of course, when it comes to the Sharks, what is accomplished in the regular season can be wiped out by another playoff failure.

The Sharks are tied for second overall despite going 5-2-3 in their past 10 games, but you just get the feeling this is the year they go deep into the playoffs.

Based on Marleau’s play, he is determined to do his part to see that happen.

The Anaheim Ducks lost Pronger as well as fellow defender Francois Beauchemin in the off-season, but few expected the team to take such a major dip in the standings. Not to say they can’t make a second half recovery, but if that is to happen, the goaltending has to be better.

Neither Jonas Hiller or Jean-Sebastien Giguere has given the Ducks a consistent chance to win this season. Making matters worse is the fact budding star Ryan Getzlaf got off to a miserable start in the scoring department.

To his credit Getzlaf has risen to seventh in league scoring with 41 points in 36 games, but he had just one goal in his first 17 games.

Like the Flyers, the Ducks should be capable of a better second half, but it comes down to their ability to keep pucks out of the net.