News and Notes from the CCHL
First off, I’d like to welcome Scott McCracken as the newest General Manager to join our CCHL family, and to take over at the helm of the New York Islanders.
The Nashville Predators are proving they were not pretenders last season when the hoisted the Stanley Cup as they are leading the league with 65 points and are 9-1-0 in their last 10 and are currently on a 7 game winning streak.
The Carolina Hurricanes continue their impressive play as they sit just 3 points back of the Preds with a 29-8-4 record and are 8-1-1 in their last 10.
Last years runners up (Capitals) are also in the running to repeat a deep playoff run. Their 28-9-4 record has them just 2 points back on the Hurricanes in the top heavy Metro Division.
This struggling team out of the gate has finally turned things around. Was it shipping Gibson out and trading for him again that turned the tide? A 12-3-1 record over the last 16 games has seen the Toronto Maple Leafs become relevant once again and have found themselves 2nd in the Atlantic Division and just 5 points behind the Bruins.
And on the other end of the spectrum, we have a few teams that are trending in the wrong direction. The Arizona Coyotes find themselves 2-15-2 in their last 19 games, and currently on a 8 game winless streak.
The Ottawa Senators who have lost 3 in a row and are 3-10-1 in their last 14 games just a single point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens (that’s saying something). Lol
Speaking of the Habs, they made a few trades leading up to this season to hopefully become a playoff team, but like every other season, the Habs find themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic and will once again teeing off earlier rather than later even after shipping Stamkos out in a deal for Panarin.
Normally when we think of the Habs and finishing at or near the bottom another team was always paired with them, the New York Rangers. However, John has managed to make some significant transactions and have proven dividends as they are sitting in a playoff position for the first time for the first time this far into a season. They are an impressive 13-5-1 on the road this season, but needs to improve at home as their 9-10-1 is far from ideal.
A team that is usually in the running for the Presidents Trophy (who have won the award twice over the last 3 seasons) have had trouble this season finding that chemistry after shipping out Sidney Crosby for Panarin (who has since been shipped to Montreal for Stamkos). Will uniting Stamkos with Kucherov spark the club back to the top of the standings? Time will only tell.
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Although the New Jersey Devils are making some progress under new management, it doesn’t look promising of a post season apparence. But one thing to get excited about is the fact that Taylor Hall leads the league Goals (27) and Points (49).
Dougie Hamilton is enjoying his time in Quebec this year after the team relocated from Ontario, as he currently leads the league with 35 assists, and all defensemen with 43 points.
The top line for the Penguins consisting of Pu (+24), Sheary (+24) and E.Staal (+25) are the top 3 players leading the CCHL in +/-. Cliff Pu is also leading all rookie scorers with 37 points.
Wayne Simmonds, who has been living out of a suitcase recently has taken his frustration out on his opponents as he leads all skaters with 139 hits.
Danny Dekeyser (88 SB) of the Flyers is looking to repeat as the winner of the Craig Ludwig Trophy for most Block shots. He has an 11 SB lead over Ian Cole (77 SB).
The main reason the Predators are on top of the standings lays at the hands of their #1 starter (replacing The King (Lundqvist) after he was signed by Tampa as an Unrestricted Free Agency in the Summer. Jaroslav Halak who signed with the Stanley Cup champs in the summer as well boasts 28 wins to lead all goalies.
A familiar name when it comes top goalies in the league, Thatcher Demko is leading in both Sv% (0.928) and GAA (2.09).
Both John Gibson (TOR) and Vasilevsky (TBL) are tied with 5 shutouts each.