When it comes to professional sports, surprises happen often so you might not even call them surprises. It is so early in the year that the top team only has 11 points but yet, all 30 teams have some surprises. So, surprise! The point of this post is the surprises, and here are the top 10 so far, so lets get into it.
10. Montreal Canadians. If you lead the NHL in goals for per game and goals against per game, you know you\’re doing something right. That\’s the case in Montreal as they have a 3.83 goals scored per game and a 1.50 goals against per game. That\’s why they are 1st in the NHL with 11 points (5-0-1).
9. Thomas Vanek, Gustav Nyquist and Mike Green. the 2 wingers and defenseman for Detroit are all having surprisingly good starts. they all have 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points.
8. Andrew Ladd. The Islanders\’ winger signed a big deal in the off-season but he hasn\’t had a great start. He\’s had some chances but he has just 1 point, being an empty net assist.
7. Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. The first 2 overall picks in the draft have both had a solid start to their career. Matthews has 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points while Laine has 4 goals and an assist for 5 points.
6. Brandon Carlo. The 6.5 defenseman has been Boston\’s best so far with 2 points and a +7 rating in just 5 games.
5. Jimmy Howard and Cam Talbot. Both these goalies aren\’t really supposed to be doing amazing. Howard has only played 2 games but leads qualifying goalies in GAA (0.50) and Sv% (.984). Talbot leads the league in wins (5) and got his only shutout in the Heritage Classic.
4. Shea Weber. There\’s no question that Weber is a top defenseman. but after being traded for a fan favorite in P.K. Subban, there was a lot of pressure on Weber. So far, Weber has been amazing, scoring 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points and leading the NHL in +/- , being a +10.
3. Jonathan Marchessault. The main reason the Panthers signed Marchessault was for offensive depth. Marchessault has been way more then depth, leading the team in points with 7 (3 goals and 4 assists).
2. Artem Anisimov and Richard Panik. the 2 Chicago linemates have been amazing with Anisimov leading the league in points with 9 and Panik leading the league in goals with 6.
1. Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. 2 of the 3 Canadian teams in the Pacific division, both the Canucks and Oilers were projected by many to not be a good team. That hasn\’t been the case at all with the Oilers being second in the league with 10 points and the Canucks tied for 3rd with 9 points.
So, there are my top 10 surprises of the season so far. This was posted on 10/25 so it might not be the same date yoy are reading this. If you disagree, or have another surprise that wasn\’t on this list, write it in the comments below. So, for now, that\’s the end of the biggest surprises so far.
CarterHud 