If the first half of the NHL season seemed like a blur, well hang on because historically the second half is an ultra-blur.
There's All-Star weekend at the end of the month, Stadium Series action in San Jose in February, trade deadline the first week of March and, Bob's your uncle, it's playoff time.
What lessons can we take from the first half of the season and how might those lessons be applied in the second half? Let us count the ways.
Mumps-a-palooza
Hopefully we're not causing a giant jinx, but reported cases of mumps have dried up in recent weeks after peaking in late November and early December. The Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and possibly the St. Louis Blues were among the teams with players laid low by the disease most commonly found in children but not often seen at all in recent years. Could there be a recurrence in the second half? Possibly, given the disease's long incubation period and its highly contagious nature, but here's hoping mumps is indeed a thing of the past. If not, it's not inconceivable the disease could have an impact on the postseason.
O Canada
It's been more than two decades since the Montreal Canadiens enjoyed the last Stanley Cup celebration on Canadian soil in the spring of 1993. Since that time, the Vancouver Canucks in 1994 and 2011, Calgary Flames in 2004, Edmonton Oilers in 2006 and Ottawa Senators in 2007 have advanced as far as a Stanley Cup finals. But it's been pretty slim pickings in recent years to find not just legitimate Cup contenders north of the 49th parallel, but actual playoff participants. Last season, Montreal was the only Canadian team in the postseason, although it did advance to a surprise berth in the Eastern Conference finals. This season? Well, that's a whole other story. As of this writing, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg all hold postseason spots, with Calgary just two points out in the Western Conference and Ottawa hanging around the edge of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Only embarrassing Edmonton is nowhere to be seen vis a vis playoff relevance. The question, of course, is how many of these teams have second-half staying power. Needless to say, it would be huge news if Winnipeg or Calgary were able to secure a postseason berth, and there will be no shortage of drama as it appears as if only Montreal is a dead lock to be there in mid-April.
Any time is the right time to find the switch
Hey, we know the regular season is a long, unruly thing. And the Los Angeles Kings have shown it really doesn't matter at all where you finish as long as you get invited to the playoff party. But both the Boston Bruins and Kings -- two elite franchises with legitimate Stanley Cup expectations -- have given their fans (and coaches, and GMs and owners) fits through the first half. The Kings stink on the road (5-8-6) and some of their top players like Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik suffered through painfully slow starts (and just pain in the case of the injured Gaborik). They miss the suspended Slava Voynov, although it seems clear he's not coming back to the fold anytime soon given his legal problems. No one expects the Kings to miss the playoffs, but as of this writing they were tied with Winnipeg for the two wild-card spots in the West and, given their uneven play, nothing is guaranteed. Equally difficult to imagine is Boston missing the playoffs in the East, but the Bruins hit the midpoint in even worse shape, having won just four of their past 12 games and actually sitting outside the playoff bubble. The Bruins' uncharacteristically poor play caused new CEO Charlie Jacobs to essentially warn that heads would roll if the Bruins don't make the playoffs. Again, hard to imagine they won't be there. Still ...
Rebound time
We spent time in both Washington and Pittsburgh during training camp examining two high-profile teams who had both endured tremendous upheaval in the offseason. Would it work with Mike Johnston as the rookie head coach in Pittsburgh? Would Barry Trotz be able to bring some order to the nation's capital? Well, so far so good on both fronts as the Penguins, in spite of injury and illness, hit the midpoint tied for the Metropolitan Division lead (in spite of a goal-scoring "slump" by captain Sidney Crosby late in the calendar year). GM Jim Rutherford, who took over for Ray Shero after last summer's bloodletting in Pittsburgh, recently bolstered the team's attack with the addition of David Perron and the team is slowly getting healthy. Meanwhile, the Capitals hit the halfway point on fire with just one regulation loss in their past 14 games and playing a much heavier style of hockey than in the past. The Caps aren't guaranteed a playoff spot (they currently hold third place in the Metro) but if they can make their way to the top eight and Braden Holtby keeps providing the kind of goaltending he has, the Caps will be a tough out.
Tankville
We all know who the Kings of Tankville are: the Edmonton Oilers. The NHL's most embarrassing franchise hits the midpoint of the season with a slim lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the race to the basement, and thus the best chance of nabbing the first overall pick in June's draft and the chance to draft Connor McDavid. The Oilers have helped their position by giving away Perron to Pittsburgh and swapping Mark Arcobello for used-up Derek Roy. Carolina has not begun to sell off pieces, but that is coming. And what of the Buffalo Sabres, who hit the midpoint at a league-worst minus-62 goal differential? And let's not forget the Arizona Coyotes, who will also be peeling off pieces like Antoine Vermette and possibly Keith Yandle before the deadline. All in all, lots of bad hockey to be played by teams hoping to turn losing into draft gold.
Coaching frenzy
It took a long time before the first NHL coach went over the side this season. But in rapid succession, we saw Paul MacLean, Dallas Eakins, Pete DeBoer and Randy Carlyle given the heave-ho by Ottawa, Edmonton, New Jersey and Toronto in that order. Interesting that in all four cases there wasn't a traditional replacement model put in place. Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish briefly went behind the bench to help AHL coach Todd Nelson get acclimatized and to see how ugly things really were close-up. Lou Lamoriello, likewise, came down from his offices at the Prudential Center to oversee the bench along with former Devils assistants Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. Ottawa promoted assistant Dave Cameron, while the Leafs are going with assistant Peter Horachek. The Leafs have the best shot of the four teams of making the playoffs, but there are lots of issues with that lineup that need to be addressed. Will there be more coaching casualties? In Minnesota, the Wild continue to underwhelm with their play and given the connections between GM Chuck Fletcher and former Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma, and the impatience of owner Craig Leipold, that's a possibility. And things aren't particularly pretty in Philadelphia or Arizona, although it would be shocking if either team made an in-season move given the potential for guys like Mike Babcock and others to be available in the offseason.
Flash in the pan or blip on the radar
Think about the stories that got great play last season heading into the playoffs. The play of the Colorado Avalanche under Patrick Roy and super rookie Nathan MacKinnon. The resurgence of the Dallas Stars. The second-half run by the Columbus Blue Jackets en route to their first playoff win. The Minnesota Wild's gritty playoff win over Colorado and then strong showing against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. If the playoffs started Wednesday, none of those teams would be invited to the playoff dance. The Stars have finally turned things around but are still five points out of the second wild-card spot. Columbus has been on fire for a month, but thanks to crippling injuries and a woeful start to the season, they're still six points out and have four teams to climb over to get back to the postseason. Minnesota's a point behind Dallas and the Avs are a point behind Minnesota. In short, it's a tough, tough road for last season's feel-good teams.
If it walks like a Duck, oh, never mind
We had the Anaheim Ducks as our preseason Stanley Cup pick so, no, it's not all that surprising that the Ducks are the top point-producing team with 58 points. What is surprising is that sophomore netminder Frederik Andersen has been "the man" for the Ducks thus far. Andersen has played in 34 games thus far, tied for second with Pekka Rinne behind Cory Schneider's 37 games. With top goaltending prospect John Gibson hurt and then regaining his form in the American Hockey League, it's been Andersen's show and he's delivered. Now, how does this play out in the second half? Ilya Bryzgalov doesn't look like much of a Plan B for the Ducks, so what does GM Bob Murray do as things move toward the trade deadline? Will Gibson get recalled and get a chance to re-establish himself? Bruce Boudreau likes to have lots of options come playoff time vis a vis his goaltending and, right now, he really doesn't have any. Stay tuned.
Music City mania
Last season, the Avs cleaned up the hardware at the NHL awards in Las Vegas with Roy (Jack Adams), MacKinnon (Calder Trophy) and Ryan O'Reilly (Lady Byng) all taking home hardware, while Semyon Varlamov was runner-up in the Vezina Trophy voting. Well, hope there's lots of room in the Nashville Predators' trophy case as this could be the Preds' year. Filip Forsberg is the top-scoring rookie at the midpoint, while Shea Weber -- slightly ahead of the Flames' Mark Giordano -- and Pekka Rinne have established themselves as front-runners for the Norris and Vezina trophies, respectively. Meanwhile, both head coach Peter Laviolette and GM David Poile will also get some love as tops in their respective roles. Now about that big, silver trophy with all the names on it ...