October 16th Column

A week into the NHL season, let's take a look at some of the big headline makers:


-Top Team So Far: Minnesota. Some may cry Ottawa or Carolina or even point out Detroit's positive start in the wake of a negative, apathetic fan base. Minnesota's given up four goals in five games, with a goaltender whose coach publicly questioned his ability to play everyday. It's half the number of goals the No. 2 team in GAA (a tie between St. Louis and Columbus, surprise there) and goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been fantastic, authoring two shutouts.


My only problem with them? They've scored 11 goals in the same four tilts. That's 15th out of 15 in the West and a tie for last in the NHL with Atlanta (who scored five on Martin Brodeur on Saturday to pad that number). But with Jacques Lemaire's "system," the Wild are on their way to a great season early on. They're in the midst of a run that takes them away from home for seven of their next eight.


-Worst team so far: Atlanta. As previously mentioned, if not for a five-goal outburst against Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the Thrashers would be nowhere close to the whopping nine they have now. Kari Lehtonen has looked lost, Marian Hossa's been hurt, Ilya Kovalchuk has found the hard way that Todd White is not Mark Savard, and Bobby Holik has likely been indecipherable when it comes to locker room speeches. Also, the Thrashers are relying even more on rookies like Tobias Enstrom and Darren Haydar. All of this equals no chance of a return to the post-season in the ATL.


- Easily, the rookie I've been most impressed with is Patrick Kane. Though he's yet to score a goal, in five games (three of which the Hawks were without Jonathan Toews and all but one without Martin Havlat) he's registered four points and is a plus-1, good for a tie for second among rookie point-getters. He has kept his composure and not tried to do too much, and really, that's the most you can ask a franchise savior at this point.


- Patrick Elias, wake up! Before that game against Atlanta on Saturday (Sure has been a lot of material from that one) Elias had but one assist in the Devils first four games, and had everything from his leadership abilities to his actual worth as a player questioned, with some even asking if it's time GM Lou Lamoriello find his $42-million former captain a new place to play. Thankfully, Elias stepped it up in Georgia this weekend, scoring twice, including the game-winner on a heart-pounding one-timer from the point on the power play. All the better that Elias picks it up, for coming in less than two weeks...


The Devils finally open their $400-million home, the Prudential Center, in Newark, NJ. Frankly, living two towns over from Newark, it's really only hit me now that the team is going to be playing there, as weird as it sounds. I'm sure there are other Devil fans, like that fella' with the book published, who can attest to far more tortuous memories of Devil-fandom; but for me, a fan since 1994 (hey, I was like three, before that I thought I could jump into the TV) it feels like we've worked hard to just get to this one new multi-million dollar palace that opens in two weeks. I just hope the Devils continue to do right by their fans after the place opens, as the Devils take on Ottawa on October 27. Bon Jovi, R. Kelly, Hannah Montana, and a college basketball tournament featuring Texas and West Virginia will headline the opening months of "The Rock." What happens after that, well, anything is possible.


For those who hate on some of the "celebrities" that hockey uses as bloggers during the playoffs, you had to be at the New York Jets game against Philadelphia on Sunday. Now this is a football game between New York and Philadelphia, and all the famous folks associated with those cities. Stallone. DeNiro...and that's all I have now. But anyway, the Jets flashed their "Celeb Fan-Cam" on the field this Sunday, and who were the big Hollywood elites? Eddie Kaye Thomas and Paul Lieberstein. That's right, Finch from "American Pie" and Toby from "The Office" ("I hate so much about the things that you choose to be"). So next time your downing Steve-what's-his-face from "Laguna Beach," or the guy from "Ed", we could have it more anonymous.


Finally, to end on the positive, it appears for now that the St. Louis Blues have one the Gateway City back. With the Cardinals out of baseball's playoffs and the Rams, how you say, blowing? The Blues pretty much own the town for the next few months. They sold out the 19,000-seat Scottrade Center for their home opener vs. Nashville and their Friday home game against Colorado. Good for John Davidson, who's long been someone I've rooted for, despite being a Devils fan, to not become hockey's answer to Matt Millen. If all goes accordingly, JD might have his team in the playoffs before Millen does. Good for him, and good for Andy Murray and that team.


Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.