Half way there

The season is half baked with most teams reaching the 40 game plateau. For some teams it's actually fully baked by now. But anyway, it's time to see where we are with some words on clubs that seem to fill up the headlines this season.

The good teams of 2011-2012 are mostly as expected. Now that Minnesota has had its honeymoon and heading back to the familiar conference basement, there's just the familiar packs like Rangers, Bruins, Flyers, Canucks, Red Wings and Sharks sitting on top of the conferences. Only the disastrous first half by Washington Capitals has produced a quirk in Florida Panthers hovering on the top three in Eastern conference. The funny fact of the day is that the whole Southeast division is below zero in goal difference. The least bad team will make it to the playoffs.

At the moment my money goes for an encore by Boston Bruins. That team is just so talented, deep and tough that it will take a massive effort to squeeze four wins from their hands in a playoff series. In East, the biggest challenger was Pittsburgh, until they ended up losing most of their top tier talent to injuries. Maybe, if the Penguins regroup early enough to make it to the playoffs, they still have a chance for an upset. Philly could match Boston in a brawl series, but don't have the depth in hockey skills to win in a fair game. Rangers have a strong tradition of failing in the end of the season and while they look good now, I don't see them as a contender.

The finals opponent from West will likely be Vancouver Canucks for another try and miss. If they get surprised in the battle for Western crown, there's Chicago Blackhawks to take on the Bruins. That, too, would be a brilliantly entertaining series for the Cup.

It's great to see some spark on the former powerhouses like Ottawa and New Jersey. Maybe this is a sign of another push for the spot in the premier teams' shortlist.

St. Louis Blues are the black horse on this race. They have surprised everyone under new coach Ken Hitchcock by having a very long stretch of hard working and very productive hockey. If they can carry this momentum all the way through the season, who knows how far they can go. Compared to previous years, a playoff spot would already be counted as a success.

The second half of the season will still show us if the disappointments in Washington and Los Angeles can be turned to a sure playoff spot and even a run for the Cup. Hopefully so, both teams are way too talented to not play at their full potential for the fans of hockey.

In the bottom of the standings you can find the teams everyone expected to end up there. Columbus, Edmonton, Calgary, NY Islanders and Carolina are just that bad currently. And out of these, only Edmonton has some justification in being there with its roster full of kids fresh up from junior leagues. They have a bright future unless they lose the core of the team, but the rest of this pack is just sad.

Deep down in the darkness we can also find two potentially great teams in Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning. Both have tremendous talent in their rosters, should have decent supporting cast for the superstars and even have proven goaltending to back it all up. Anaheim even changed their coach to Bruce Boudreau, who had a stellar record from his last position. Despite of all this, both seem to be doomed for the season unless they can limit the losses to half a dozen for the second half.

Next time to look at the standings will be near the regular season end. The last 10 games or so are always a thrill. And naturally a perfect time to show some foresight.