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Sunday, November 04, 2001

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Through one month of this so-far strange NHL season, a compilation of the league's most prominent early surprises and disappointments ...

Team

Surprise: Sure, the Islanders are the first to pop to mind, having missed the playoffs seven years in a row before suddenly looking like contenders. Maybe the Flames, too. But no team has done more with less than the Blackhawks. They did virtually zero to improve in the off-season -- unless you count adding Jon Klemm, Igor Korolev and Steve Thomas -- but they're 8-4-3 and have lost once in their past 10 games.

Disappointment: The Kings had it all going for them in the playoffs this past spring. They were exciting, fast-paced, had good chemistry. But management decided to tinker and make several personnel moves, chief among them dumping Luc Robitaille, Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel, and now they're 4-8-1-2, their worst start in 14 years.

Coach

Surprise: Rick Kehoe. Who would have thought he'd have the job, much less embrace it?

Disappointment: Why do the Stars bother acquiring talented players for Ken Hitchcock if all he wants to do with them is turn them into grinders? They would be better off leaving Pierre Turgeon, Donald Audette and the like for others and signing eight guys named Craig Conroy.

Forward

Surprise: Mark Parrish never had more than 26 goals in his first three NHL seasons, and now it appears he might achieve that by Thanksgiving. Seems funny to recall the way the hockey world laughed at the Islanders' Mike Milbury for giving up young Roberto Luongo to the Panthers to get him last summer.

Disappointment: It's about time for Paul Kariya and the not-so-Mighty Ducks to part ways. He is healthy and says he is happy where he is, but he has just four goals, seven assists in 13 games. Imagine what kind of producer he would be with a contending team. Or even an average one.

Defenseman

Surprise: The Flyers projected Kim Johnsson would be their fifth defenseman when they acquired him from the Rangers as part of the Eric Lindros deal. They were wrong. He is one of the league's top scorers at his position and has been robotically efficient in his own end. Can't help but wonder how good he would have looked in black and gold, had New York been willing to send him to Pittsburgh for Jaromir Jagr.

Disappointment: There can't be any rational explanation for why Derian Hatcher has a minus-6 rating, the lowest on the Stars and one of the worst in the league for a player at his position. Unless, of course, he looks in the mirror and believes his name is Kevin.

Goaltender

Surprise: Many e-mails sent this summer to the address below wondered whether or not Johan Hedberg might turn into "another Brian Boucher," meaning he would look great as a rookie and flop as a sophomore. Turns out that was an optimistic outlook. Boucher has been dominant in Philadelphia and taken his old job back from Roman Cechmanek.

Disappointment: Arturs Irbe played 77 games for the Hurricanes last season and was one of the cockiest goaltenders in the NHL. But it took him no more than a month to succumb to the various crises in confidence that have befallen so many of Tom Barrasso's partners over the years. You would have thought he was made of tougher stuff.

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.