Time to panic? Wait for 10,000 lakes to freeze
Here we are, barely into the new NHL season, and the best team is...the Minnesota Wild?? Whodathunkit??
Let's put it this way: If the disappointing starts of the Maple Leafs, Rangers and others this season are irreversible and automatically indicative of long-term problems, then the converse should be true, right? Is everyone counting on that Tampa Bay Lightning-Minnesota Wild Stanley Cup final? Vinny vs. Marian? St. Petersburg (and Tampa and Clearwater) vs. St. Paul (and Minneapolis and Bloomington)?
We thought not.
There's a looooong way to go.
Yet as the NHL's early season perceived underachievers are trying to get back on track, and in fact in some cases seem to be making progress, a few high-decibel alarms predictably have been sounded around them. Commissioner Gary Bettman is smiling about one lesson driven home last season, and the point has to be conceded. The over-expansion of the NHL, coupled with the league's wise refusal to expand the playoff field beyond 16 teams, has added to the significance of the regular season as a filtering process.
Well, anyone with any sense is not going to be banking on Tampa Bay and Minnesota making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. It IS interesting that Minnesota has been able to handle Colorado, and Tampa Bay has been lighting up teams it has no business beating. Of course, it's only October, and we should expect sanity to return before long. Most likely, we'll get Detroit or Colorado taking apart some creampuff from the East in the Finals. It's a long season, and these things have a way of righting themselves. Game on, eh??
