The NHL's current season is only a month old but already there's been some potentially scary storylines developing. With Halloween fast approaching, here's a look at the top five scariest NHL stories of this season so far.
Concussions: When this NHL season began, the league claimed it would take appropriate measures this season to reduce hits to the head — especially blind side hits, which have resulted in a frightening number of serious concussion injuries in recent years.
The season began with Marc Savard, Paul Kariya and Pierre-Marc Bouchard still sidelined by post-concussion symptoms. Throughout October, notables like Drew Doughty, Jason Pominville, Peter Mueller, Adam Foote, Matt Lombardi, Keith Ballard, Johan Franzen and John Tavares also suffered concussions. To date all but Franzen and Tavares remain sidelined. It's estimated up to 20 NHL players have suffered concussions this month, which is an early indictment of the league's supposed policies for protecting its players.
Sadly, it could take a superstar suffering a career-shortening head injury — or worse — for this issue to be finally taken seriously.
Projected Cup contenders struggling: When this season began the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils were considered potential contenders to win the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately these four have gotten off to a slow start making some of their fans nervous.
The Canucks were 4-3-2 in their first nine games as star goaltender Roberto Luongo struggled. The Sharks lurched to a 3-3-1 record after seven games due in part to goalie Antii Niemi's shaky play. The Flyers had a .500 record (4-4-1) after nine games, but their lack of quality scoring wingers led one Philadelphia pundit to suggest shopping Jeff Carter. The Devils after nine games had the worst record in the league (2-6-1), unable to ice a full roster due to salary cap constraints brought on by their expensive offseason re-signing of Ilya Kovalchuk.
There's still plenty of time left in the season for these teams to reverse their fortunes, but that can't come soon enough for their fearful fans.
Stagnant trade market: The implementation of a salary cap five years ago has made it very difficult for NHL teams to make early adjustments to their rosters via trades. This year could be worse than most as there are presently too many teams with too little available cap space willing to take on additional salary this early in the season.
The Ottawa Senators have searched in vain so far for a physical defenseman. The Toronto Maple Leafs have available cap space and seek a top-six forward, but management is having difficulty drumming up a deal. The Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils will eventually have to dump salary once players currently on long-term injury reserve are ready to return but had no luck in preseason trying to find trade partners.
Things should eventually open up for these clubs and others as the season progresses but for now, they have to muddle through as best they can. The inability to make early season roster-bolstering deals could have scary consequences later in the season for their respective playoff hopes.
Craig Anderson's knee injury: The main reason the rebuilding Colorado Avalanche made last year's playoffs was the stellar play of goaltender Craig Anderson, who posted up strong numbers despite facing the most shots of all NHL netminders last season.
Their hopes for making the 2011 playoffs, however, may have suffered a serious blow as Anderson injured his right knee during a recent pre-game warm-up, which has sidelined him indefinitely. Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco claimed no surgery was required and Anderson might be back soon with treatment and rehab. It's been suggested he could be out between two to four weeks, but his absence for even a few games could mean the difference between making and missing the playoffs.
Attendance woes: The NHL had enjoyed a steady increase in revenue since the lockout, but after the opening month of this season, there are troubling signs of potential revenue decline.
Ten teams — Colorado, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Florida, Dallas, New Jersey, Columbus, Atlanta, Phoenix and the New York Islanders — played to less than 90 percent capacity in their arenas this month. All but Colorado and Anaheim had attendance well below 85 percent capacity. The improved play of the Lightning and Stars could result in better numbers over the course of the season, and perhaps a new owner willing to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix might bolster their attendance.
But for a predominantly gate-driven league, these woeful attendance figures for one-third of their teams must be cause for concern.
