OK guys, here are the winners and losers of October. I’m gonna try to go past the obvious and talk about teams that haven’t really been mentioned too much.

These teams have either played worst than they were expected to, or played better than they were expected to. So, here are the…

Losers

Detroit Red Wings

Don’t even get me started about the way the Red Wings played during October. I saw a stat the other day that talked about the goal tending for Detroit.

Ozzie has the third worst GAA in the NHL and Howard has the worst (out of starters). That’s really put the team in a tough spot at the beginning of the season.

The other thing that they’ve had to deal with are injuries. Franzen was supposed to contribue 20-30 goals for the team, but he’s out for 4 months with a torn ACL. Filpulla is also out until mid-December with a broken wrist.

Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim has a great team. They’ve got a lot of very talented players in front of a very good goalie. However, they take way too many penalties and as a result, get way too many goals scored against them.

I read a stat on NHL.com about the Ducks. They’ve got the third most penalties in the NHL. They’ve also got the second worst penalty kill. Of the 40 goals that have been scored against them this season, 17 have been on penalty kills.

Normally, I think that Ducks fans would kill me for saying bad things about their team, but I think that their actually fed up with how much their players are in the penalty box. I could be wrong, but that’s the general consensus I’m getting from the forums.

Winners

Phoenix Coyotes

Out of all the teams that have a winning record, I think that the Coyotes are the most surprising. They’re a surprisingly great team with a lot of chemistry.

Actually, I think that the main reason they’re winning so many games this season is because of their goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov. He is in the top 5 for both GAA and save percentage.

The other reason that I’m amazed with the Coyotes is because of all the distractions they faced during the off-season. With a dwindling fan base, a threat to move to Canada, and bankruptcy all in their minds, they came out and showed the NHL that they can still play solid hockey.

Philadelphia Flyers

We haven’t heard a lot about the Flyers in the past few years, but they are silently making their way to the middle of the pack.

They only have 15 points during the season, but they’ve been playing some great hockey at the end of the month. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this momentum carry in to November.

They don’t really have any glaring problems, their defense is average and so is their goal tending.

However, their offense is what’s winning games. They’re in the top 5 for goals scored this year. Right now, they’ve got a 7-4-1 record, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that improve over the next few months.

I’m anxious to see how all of this plays out. It’s definitely going to be a fun year. If October has showed us anything, it’s that there are a lot of surprising teams out there. It’s going to be a fight right up until the finish.

If you’d like to receive updates on future posts, go ahead and subscribe to my RSS Feed at the top right side of the screen.

Subscribe to Eric's Free Email Newsletter

More NHL News