By Jupiter Polevoi
As the first three weeks of hockey season are underway, many thoughts and questions have arised in fans. Are the Seattle Kraken as good as the Goldenknights when they first joined the NHL? Are the Chicago Blackhawks going to lose a large chunk of their fanbase? What do the standings look like now and what are predictions for the rest of the season? Let’s dive in.
When the Las Vegas Goldenknights first joined the league in 2017, they blew fans away by not only making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but making it into the finals. As the Kraken are a new franchise team this season just like the Knights were, the pressure and expectations are on for the new Seattle team. While I can say that they are not quite meeting the expectations (meaning that they’re last in their division), the season is nowhere near over and they still have time to blow us out of the arena.
In 2010, a “John Doe” came forward and accused former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich of sexual assault. The Blackhawks organization was scared of damaging the teams momentum, so they decided to sweep it under the rug and not take it seriously. Although the Blackhawks would go on to win three Stanley Cups, this issue wasn’t gone forever. In October of this year, player Kyle Beach came forward as the said John Doe, and the story blew up. The story was so bad and so embarrassing that the Blackhawks’ general manager resigned. Not only that, but the Blackhawks sent a request to the NHL to have Aldrich’s name removed from the Stanley Cup.
The current standings are as follows. The Panthers take the lead in the Atlantic division, a good six points ahead of the second place team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many fans were expecting the Lightning to take the league by storm and win their third Stanley Cup in a row. We’re still early in the season, however, so we’ll see what happens in the months to come. The Montreal Canadiens, the wild card team who blew fans away by making it into the Stanley Cup finals, are unfortunately in last place. In the Pacific division, our very own San Jose Sharks are currently in second place, which many are surprised to see considering this year was supposed to be our “rebuilding season.” The Edmonton Oilers are in first place, which is no surprise considering they have rising superstar Connor Mcdavid. Mcdavid, only 24 years old, continues to blow NHL fans away by his super speed and resilience on the ice. Averaging about 30-35 goals per season, many speculate him to be one of the biggest players in hockey at the moment.
As we’re only three-ish weeks into the season, don’t get your hopes up or down. Who will be the reigning champion for the 2021-2022 season? Only time and patience will tell.