The NHL Season: Suspense

The NHL season and the NHL brand may be heading towards its most interesting and suspenseful season in over a decade. We have established stars trying to maintain their elevated standing in the league, traded franchise players hoping to invigorate their new destinations, high flying rookies adding a new energy and verve, and GM's and coaches hoping to hold on to their jobs.

PK Subban and Shea Weber have been pitted against each other through no doing of their own. Both Nashville and Montreal have been close to the Stanley Cup final in the last few years but have been unable to get over the hump. Both teams think they got the missing link that will lead to Cup glory. Each player wants to desperately win the Cup to cement their legacy. Weber is the much more respected player by coaches and players, meanwhile PK has been making his own waves with his personality. Weber has been clearly more productive in the early stages of the season leading the habs to first place overall. PK has struggled in his new surroundings and it seems to be a longer process for the team and the player to adapt  to each other.  The suspense is what will happen in the second half to this rivalry? Will the younger PK begin to show his true self, will the older Weber begin to fade as he did in the playoffs last year? The teammates on both teams will undoubtably have a say in the matter.

The other big trade was Taylor Hall. Injured in the early season, Hall is a dynamic player who has something to prove. Like PK he was very disappointed at being traded by the Oilers who once considered him their franchise player. Hall has not been given an easy task being traded to a woeful team with little talent other than the reliable Cory Schneider and the productive Mike Cammalleri.   The  suspense is can Hall lead the Devils to the playoffs something he was unable to do with the Oilers. The other side of the coin is can the new franchise player Mcdavid lead the Oilers to the promised land.

There is an exciting rookie crop this year who have provided some early thrills and challenged the established order. There is Auston Matthews the number one overall and the great leaf hope who went berserk in his first game with four goals. With fellow rookies Marner and Nylander he has leafs fans planning a stanley cup parade before 2020. There is also the elegant Patrick Laine who can't help scoring bringing comparisons to the right handed snipers of the past Lafleur, Bossy, Hedberg and the present sniper elite Ovechkin and Stamkos. The unheralded Zach Werenski in Columbus has helped in making the BJ's the surprise team of the early season. The suspense is who will win the Calder? Can Laine challenge for the Maurice Richard trophy? He has more goals than last year's winner Ovechkin who is off to a slow start.

The scoring race is off to an electric start with the crown prince Mcdavid leading the consensus best player in hockey Crosby. Crosby has more points per game and has fallen behind because of an early season concussion. The older Kid is off to a phenomenal goal scoring start and could be headed to an unheard of 60 goals plus in the millennial era. The suspense is whether the prodigy will dethrone the reigning King and walk off with the Art Ross. Can Sid pull off a rare double taking the Art Ross and the Maurice Richard? Will the other monarch Ovechkin  impose his will in the second half? Ironically, the last time this happened was when Gretzky the Oiler was challenged by Lemieux the Penguin.

At this point in the season the Hart trophy is up in the air with the front running candidates appearing to be Crosby, Mcdavid and Price. It is also way too early to be discussing the eventual Stanley Cup finalists and Cup winner. Yes suspense is in the air.