David Aebischer was a pioneer for Swiss ice hockey. He became his country’s first NHL champion, winning the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche as Patrick Roy’s backup goaltender. Today’s goaltender coach and assistant GM at HC Fribourg-Gottéron will be sharing his views on teams, players and burning questions in a regular column exclusively for NHL.com.
Here is the fourth edition 2022/23:
The halfway point of the 2022/23 regular season was reached last week and a trend has continued to solidify as a lasting one. Goals continue to be scored in the NHL and that’s good for the fans and the league. The defenders and goalkeepers suffer somewhat.
We are in the season with the highest goal rate (6.4 goals per game) in 27 years. In recent years, I have often commented on this trend at this point, its causes and effects, but the trend now seems to be sustainable and not waning. It was the NHL’s major goal to become more spectacular once more with more goals, following more and more defensive ice hockey dominated at the beginning of the new millennium. Among other things, with rule changes, also in goalkeeper equipment, the number of goals was screwed up once more.
The players themselves also have a big impact on this. The offensive rows are much more powerful these days, while in the past the third and fourth rows were mainly tasked with disrupting the opposing game. Thanks to more effective training methods and new insights, the players are more athletic and faster, and are increasingly better trained in ice skating and skiing. This allows more emphasis to be placed on the offensive. It all pays off in the goals scored.
All in all, I see that as very positive for the league, even though I obviously have an eye on the goalkeepers. Another aspect is that there are still many comeback wins through many goals. 44 percent of games in the first half of the season were won by a team that was behind at least once. We used to say that if you lead you can control the game and slow it down, which makes it difficult for the opponent to come back. It remains to be seen whether this trend, which surprised me in the last Stanley Cup Playoffs, will continue. It also shows here that the players have individually gained class and can no longer be completely eliminated.
Very gratifying from a Swiss point of view is that defender Tim Bernie was pulled out of the AHL by the Columbus Blue Jackets in December and is still up to this day. I saw him play the Los Angeles Kings on TV in December and I really liked the way he performed. On the target he made the right decisions with calmness and clarity. He gains the confidence of the coaches and can benefit from the fact that the Blue Jackets are unlikely to make the playoffs. This is how they build it up for the future. He’s getting a lot of Ice Age, and that’s a good development. He pays back with performance. I hope it stays that way. He can continue to gain experience and constantly improve.
[Ähnliches: Beniers und Thompson in der ersten Hälfte an der Spitze der Rookies]
The Colorado Avalanche struggled unexpectedly in the first half of the season and are outside of the playoff spots. They may have a couple of games up their sleeves to close the gap, but they need to get those points first. They may have been a bit tired from celebrating following winning the cup over the summer, but injury is definitely a factor. Their chances of making the playoffs remain good and intact. There will be another push from them this season.
The Nashville Predators also have some catching up to do, but they may find it difficult to move forward. You will fight for sure. However, if I were to bet money on it, I’d be more inclined to bet Colorado. It will be a tough fight to the end and they have to hope that one of the front three (Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild) in Central will still be weak, because in addition to Colorado and Nashville, the St. Louis Blues from the division also want to still clean. So it’s going to be very tight.
One reason that the wildcards in the Western Conference are both going to the Pacific Division at the moment is the strong performance of the Seattle Kraken. They’re a team that might be expected to improve, but not with the quality. They play good and fast ice hockey. They’ve built the confidence to take on any opponent, as they showed with their regular-time win in Boston. They were the first team this season to do that.
The San Jose Sharks will hardly have a chance to make the playoffs, which is a shame for them Timo Meier is. He’s playing at a high level and the team can’t keep up. With his expiring contract, he will have to answer the question of whether he sees his future in San Jose and playing playoffs there in the next few years or whether he is looking for luck elsewhere, possibly with a trade this year. What I’ve heard is that they seem to be having conversations. But the exit seems open.
It is gratifying that the New Jersey Devils managed to turn around following their small negative streak in December and have re-established themselves at the top of the metropolitan division. I think there shouldn’t be much to say once morest them going to the playoffs now because they’re playing good hockey once more. If they manage to do that following a slump, then that’s a good sign for the remainder of the season.