NHL Quarter Season Check-In

Life got in the way of the HOTPO this past weekend.

But it is probably for the best...I only picked four of the 13 NFL games correctly this weekend.

We will rededicate ourselves to our craft and get back on it this weekend. Until then, you can use today's blog to get up to speed on the opening of the NHL season.

NHL Check-In

Since the World Series took all the oxygen in the room through the last month, we at the HOTPO headquarters have not had the capability to look at the start of the NHL, NBA and college basketball seasons.

The NHL has been playing regular season hockey for 40 days already and gives us a decent sample size to review and assess this week.

When you look around a suddenly oxygen-filled room at the HOTPO headquarters for a hockey expert, you come up empty. So we pulled some of the common themes from season preview articles and looked at them from our current vantage point with approximately one-fifth of the season completed. By looking at these themes with our renown academic rigor, we hope to properly prepare you for the many weeks and months of hockey ahead.

HOTPO staff at Capital One Arena in the District.

St. Louis Blues as Defending Champions

The Blues were ranked 30th of 30 NHL teams after one quarter of the season last year, as reported by Mike Ashmore of The Trentonian. They not only leveraged a second-half turnaround into a playoff spot, but they bested all the favorites and took that underdog status all the to the top for the franchise's first championship. Shockingly, all of the top four seeds (Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames) lost in the first round last year  proving that underdogs can excel in the Stanley Cup tourney.

Winning a Stanley Cup also means you played a lot more hockey over the spring and into the summer than that majority of teams you play during the fall and winter. The Blues are handling that challenge very well right now as they sit atop the Central Division with 25 points, the most in the Western Conference. They have proven to be capable of handling the defense of the Stanley cup so far, but they will be the team all the feisty underdogs will be gunning for come playoff time.

Florida Panthers as Eastern Conference Spoiler

The Panthers have missed the playoffs three straight years and their front office got to work this offseason to end that ugly streak. Florida hired three-time Stanley Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville and brought in two-time Vezina Trophy winning goalie Sergie Bobrovsky. Larry Walansky of NBC 6 Miami thinks those additions, along with a schedule tilted toward home after a tough October, give the Panthers a good shot at ending their postseason drought.

As of Friday, the Panthers were right there tied with three other teams at 19 points occupying the 6-9 positions in the Eastern Conference (eight teams per conference make the playoffs). Florida players have been receptive to Quenneville's coaching and persistent defensive problems "are starting to disappear," according to George Richards of the The Athletic. As St. Louis proved, just getting to the playoffs boosts your title chances significantly and the Panthers look to be in the mix come spring.

Tampa Bay as the Stanley Cup Favorite

Tampa Bay entered the 2019 playoffs after earning the President's Trophy for the best regular season and promptly got swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets. That Tampa team had compiled a record-tying 62-win season and was only the fifth team in NHL history to be swept in the first round after compiling the best regular season record, according to Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post.

Lauren Theisen of Deadspin thought the Lightning's desire for redemption would be a key ingredient to making them "the favorites to win the Stanley Cup." Tampa is currently 14th of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and choking on the remnants of whatever got lodged in their collective throats last spring. But maybe, just maybe, the Lightning are holding back and conserving energy in hopes of coming into the playoffs with a low seed and some underdog street cred.

Washington Capitals as What?

The Capitals won their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2018, but the last time we saw them was going down as one of those favorites to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 playoffs. Prior to their championship, Washington advanced to the playoffs nine out of the previous 10 seasons (seven of those season as division winners) and never once advanced passed the second round. They own a history of stellar seasons followed by playoff disappointment.

The Capitals currently lead the NHL with 27 points and the ageless LW Alexander Ovechkin has 11 goals. Chris Lingebach of 106.7 The Fan in D.C. reports defenseman John Carlson has made himself a candidate for the Norris Trophy, the award for the top defenseman in the NHL, with 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists). All is looking good now, but Washington hockey fans know the regular season is not where titles are won.

Final Note

As mentioned earlier, the last two Stanley Cup champions were first-time winners. Could that craziness happen again this year? Emily Sadler of Sports Net (Canada) provided a list of franchises that have never won a title along their establishment dates in her earlier reporting.

Buffalo Sabres (1970-71)
Vancouver Canucks (1970-71)
Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes (1979-80)
San Jose Sharks (1991-92)
Ottawa Senators (1992-93)
Florida Panthers (1993-94)
Nashville Predators (1998-99)
Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets (1999-2000)
Columbus Blue Jackets (2000-01)
Minnesota Wild (2000-01)
Vegas Golden Knights (2017-18)