Thrills, spills mark season's quarter pole

Let's play a little game here. What's the first word you think of in reference to the NHL's now completed first quarter?

If you didn't say injuries, you've probably been too caught up in what has actually been a pretty compelling 300-plus games. No shame in that. Not when about one of every six featured a comeback from at least a two-goal deficit.

Truth is the schedule's first measuring point is a nod to unpredictability, with surprises at both ends of the standings, several new names among the stats leaders, and yes, a disabled-list head count that underscores how punishing things have been so far.

Just ask concussed players like David Booth and Chris Drury.

Both are out indefinitely, and these days they are joined on the sidelines by stars like Jonathan Toews, Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Ryan Smyth and Johan Franzen. Several other marquee names like Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Roberto Luongo were there before too -- in fact, every team has been hit to one degree or another by injuries.

Then again, no pain, no gain as they say, and the payoff here is tight races that are likely to continue the rest of the way. In the meantime, here's a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of the first quarter.

The good

Lots of feel good from the Western Conference in the first seven weeks thanks to the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings. The playoffs didn't seem to figure in the picture for any of them this season, so their quick starts made them little more than curiosities initially. But heading past the quarter pole, all three are still competitive and in the playoff picture, with the Avs leading their division and the Kings fourth in the conference.

John Tavares has played up to expectations and more for the Islanders. (Getty Images)

The Nashville Predators still can't score, but coach for life Barry Trotz has gotten everything else out of them to stay in the playoff picture. The Detroit Red Wings just won't go away even though they have been decimated by free-agent defections and those dreaded injuries.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference has had its moments as well, thanks to playoff bids from the New York Islanders and their 19-year-old franchise player John Tavares, and Atlanta, where the Thrashers look like they are making their superstar captain Kovalchuk more inclined to sign an extension with each passing game. The New Jersey Devils haven't been slouches either, snapping back to attention under returning coach Jacques Lemaire and turning into the league's best road team and an East title contender.

The league's best home team is naturally the San Jose Sharks, who won more games than anyone in their building last season and are doing so again, almost by rote. And one reason is the way Patrick Marleau is playing after having the team captaincy taken away.

Who knew having the letter "C" stitched on your jersey weighed so much?

Chances are it was no more than the pressure Ray Emery faced taking over the goaltending chores for the Philadelphia Flyers. But Emery hasn't wasted time making an impact with a better-than-expected season, much like Anze Kopitar has in Los Angeles. Same thing goes for Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay, Dustin Penner in Edmonton and, Brad Richards in Dallas and rookies Michael Del Zotto of the Rangers, Tyler Myers in Buffalo and Ryan O'Reilly in Colorado.

And none have been on the DL. That's good.

The bad

Start with the defending Stanley Cup champions from Pittsburgh because the Penguins have not had many games yet with more than half their top six defensemen playing. Four of them are on the shelf now, and Sergei Gonchar just came back after a month out. And Malkin was missing too, along with playoff standouts Maxime Talbot and Tyler Kennedy. Give them credit though for dealing with the situation because the Pens are still near the top of the standings.

The Boston Bruins are not, although they were supposed to be after finishing first in the East last season. Long absences by Marc Savard and Milan Lucic haven't helped, and neither has Phil Kessel's departure, but the Bruins haven't shown anywhere near the competing level they did last season on most nights and it has kept them a .500 team at best.

Speaking of compete level, has anyone noticed Alexei Kovalev in Ottawa yet? Or that Montreal would be even further out of the playoff picture were it not for overtimes and shootouts. The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the middle of the pack, but couldn't be blamed for wondering if Rookie of the Year goalie Steve Mason was just a flash in the pan last season. Then you have St. Louis, where Blues owner Dave Checketts is signing them and calling out his team in the media.

Could be worse though like in Calgary, where coach Brent Sutter reportedly had a few choice things to say directly to defenseman Dion Phaneuf. And doing it within earshot of reporters.

That's bad.

The ugly

Jonathan Toews missed some time with an upper body injury. (Getty Images)

Ugly is such an ugly word, but really is there any other way to describe the Carolina Hurricanes' season so far? The injuries to Staal and Ward would be enough to make it that way, but even before they went down, Carolina was losing and losing and losing. The Canes are at the bottom of the standings and went through a 14-game losing streak looking old, slow and nothing like the group that went to the conference finals last spring. Worse, it doesn't look like things will improve any time soon.

Same goes for the Toronto Maple Leafs, although the expectations weren't really very high coming into the season for a team that hasn't made the past four playoffs. Then again, Toronto is Toronto, and hope had to spring eternal when new GM Brian Burke beefed up the back end of the lineup over the summer. That ended when the team took to the ice. Toronto may be a lot more physical now, but it means little because the Leafs fall behind in almost any game and have one of the league's worst offenses.

Actually, the Minnesota Wild's attack isn't much better under rookie coach Todd Richards, largely because Martin Havlat hasn't come close to filling the void left by Marian Gaborik. And Havlat has managed to stay healthy for the most part, which was the big offseason concern before he signed and makes his season even more troubling.

Kind of like the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks might have won it all had they gotten past Detroit in Game 7 of the second round last spring and were expected to be in the top tier again, but now they are bringing up the rear in their division and hearing about significant changes that emphasize the future more than the present. Veteran stars Scott Niedermayer and Jean-Sebastien Giguere have mused out loud about being elsewhere and the future of coach Randy Carlyle seems tenuous.

Like the future of the Coyotes in Phoenix, where the team just purchased out of bankruptcy by the NHL is on pace to lose more than $50 million this season. That's really ugly.