As the shoppers’ dust settles on another Black Friday, the dust is settling for injuries around the league.

We have already seen big names missing time, and it seems every day we check the headlines as another NHL player is out for an extended period of time. 

In this, an Olympic year, you start to wonder if people are starting to just coast to make it to their respective countries’ rosters and wait until after the Olympic break to really start playing. 

Now on to the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick or the top three stories I am watching this week.

Will The Real Steve Mason Show Up?

Talk about your sophomore slumps, as last year’s Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason has fallen off the map.  The 21-year-old Blue Jackets net minder is now ranked 44th in save percentage (.890) and 45th in goals against (3.46). 

The NHL goalie is a crazy character; very few stay relevant for an extended period; that is a reason to marvel at Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo right now. 

Mason’s coach, Ken Hitchcock, had the best quote about the second-year player this week, “Just because a guy’s a second-year player, it doesn’t mean he’s a better player yet.”

The Blue Jackets are still in the thick of things and a good team but will not make an impact without the services of their franchise goalie. 

We all have to remember that this kid is only 21 years young and made the rare move right from juniors to the NHL before we put him in the Jim Carey category.

With four games this week, I will be watching to see which Steve Mason will show up.

Kovalchuk Conundrum:  

The Thrashers keep winning, and Ilya Kovalchuk keeps scoring.  The trade deadline is far away right now, and first comes his Olympic run for the Russian squad, but I have to keep my eye on this situation. 

Similar to the Marian Hossa problem of not signing a contract extension, the Thrashers were forced to trade their franchise player in February 2008.  The Penguins were the benefactor of that move and went on to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The problem this year is the Thrashers are a winning team and it’s evident they depend heavily on Kovalchuk’s offensive prowess. 

Atlanta this season is 10-4-3 with the winger in the lineup; his stats are a staggering 14 goals and 24 points in those 17 games.

I will be keeping my eye on this situation all of December, as in those 15 games ahead could be a deciding factor on not only the Thrashers’ playoff hopes but the Stanley Cup run of another team.   

Games Of The Week:  

With two big returns this week, I had to highlight both of them in the Games of the Week. The first day of December matches up Dany Heatley against the Senators. 

Although the game is in San Jose so he won’t feel the same wrath of Ottawa, it will be interesting to see how the team he refused to play for will treat the talented scoring winger. 

The move has seemed to work for both teams so far, as Heatley (18 goals) has teamed up with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for a dominant line. 

Milan Michalek, the main piece coming back to the Senators, leads the team with 13 goals, while Jonathan Cheechoo has chipped in filling the checking line. 

The other return is Marian Hossa back to Pittsburgh on Saturday.  You don’t think the Penguins organization will have Hossa walk down a hallway of them hoisting the cup, maybe even a picture of him sitting watching it.

Before Hossa became the $62.8 million man, he jumped the Crosby ship and spurned the Penguins for a “greater” chance to win a cup with the team that beat them in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.

You heard the reaction he got throughout last year’s finals; expect the same on Saturday.

A quick glance at the NHL standings and one might think they’re upside down—particularly in the western conference.

Sure it’s still early, but who doesn’t love a good plot twist?  Sports fans always fall in love with the teams that come out of nowhere—from Cinderella stories in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to BCS busters.  Anyone outside of Pittsburgh wanted to see the Arizona Cardinals hold the Lombardi Trophy after last year’s Super Bowl.

Of the early teams making many do a double take at their record which are for real and which are merely hot at the wrong time?

The only team in their correct place in the eastern conference’s Northeast Division is the Toronto Maple Leafs, but with only 1 point in 7 games and still in search of their first victory even this level of futility was unimaginable.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators have turned the tables on the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens in the early going.  But how are they doing it and will it last?

BUFFALO SABRES: 5-1-1 (11 points)

So far, the Sabres are getting contributions form all the right players and their balanced attack has been a nightmare for opposing teams.  Left-winger Thomas Vanek’s 4 goals and center Derek Roy’s 6 assists aren’t surprising but the early performance of center Tim Connolly (6 points), left wing Clarke MacArthur (4 goals) and right wing Jason Pominville (5 points) is.

Most important to their early success has been goalie Ryan Miller (5-0, 1.66 goals against average, .942 save percentage).  Miller has the talent to put the team on his shoulders but at some point his numbers will come back down to earth.  When they do, can the offense keep scoring like it has?  Any sustained success and playoff run will rely on Miller putting up career-best numbers.

Staying power? Vanek is the only elite scorer on this team and he already had an injury scare.  With Connolly’s injury history and too many question marks throughout the rest of the roster it feels like this team is hanging by a thread.  All it will take is for one long injury to bury the Sabres.  VERDICT: No Playoffs

OTTAWA SENATORS: 5-2-1 (11 points)

The off-season trade of left-winger Dany Heatley was supposed to doom the Senators, but so far it looks like a case of addition by subtraction.  With Daniel Alfredsson (11 points) and Jason Spezza (7 points), there is still plenty of offense.  Left-winter Milan Michalek (5 goals) is off to a nice start and center Mike Fisher seems to have rediscovered his playmaking ability. They’re off to a hot start with zero goals combined from Spezza and former 50-goal scorer Jonathan Cheechoo.

However, behind Anton Volchenkov, Ottawa remains incredibly thin on the blue line and many of their mistakes have been covered up by goalie Pascal Leclaire.  But a goalie can’t be expected to carry the load each and every night and Leclaire’s numbers took a big hit after allowing 6 goals in an overtime loss to the offensively challenged Nashville Predators Thursday night.

Staying power? New head coach Cory Clouston has done a fantastic job so far, especially with two of his top forwards still looking to light the lamp for the first time.  If Leclaire plays up to his ability they’ll hang around all season.  VERDICT: Like doing late holiday shopping, they’ll be in it until the end but come up without the gift of the playoffs.

Fans of the Phoenix Coyotes must think they’re suffering from heat stroke.  Tops on the list for relocation, the Yotes are ignoring the off-ice issues and doing plenty of winning early on.

PHOENIX COYOTES: 6-2-0 (12 points)

This is easily the biggest surprise in the league thus far, not even stats can explain it.  Nobody has more than 3 goals and two of their top three scorers are defensemen (Adrian Aucoin with 6 points and Ed Jovanovski with 5).

Much like Miller in Buffalo, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (6-1, 1.26 gaa, .949 save percentage) would be a strong Vezina contender if the award were handed out in November.  Bryzgalov will be the netminder for this franchise—wherever home is—for many years to come, but he’ll obviously fall off somewhat from his amazing start.

Staying power? They’re still not scoring and lack the talent to help Bryzgalov when the puck stops looking like a tire off a semi truck.  VERDICT: Late October brings cold outside of Arizona and there’s no delusion here, the Yotes will still finish near the bottom of the west.

COLORADO AVALANCHE: 6-1-2 (14 points)

This isn’t your older brother’s Avalanche anymore, but the misconception is they stopped building after Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Sandis Ozolinsh left.  The reality is injuries stunted the growth of young star Paul Stastny while Marek Svatos, Wojtek Wolski and John-Michael Liles have been slow to develop.

Defenseman Kyle Quincey’s team-leading 8 points have been a huge boost and veteran right winger Milan Hejduk is still a top sniper.  The talent is in place to succeed, if each player can meet the high expectations they once had.

The goaltender was a main position of weakness the last few seasons and so far it has been solidified by free agent acquisition Craig Anderson (6-1, 2.06 gaa, .934 save percentage).  Once a high-level prospect, it took Anderson a long time before earning a starting job, but he’s finally performing at a high level and showing the ability to be a workhorse between the pipes.

Staying power? Health and growth are essential to any young team to find success.  If Stastny stays healthy and their young talent matures, they will be headed back in the right direction VERDICT: Many continue to love the Avs based on their run of success years ago—kind of like Jennifer Aniston.  And much like Aniston’s relationships, it’s hard to see this being successful in the long haul.

LOS ANGELES KINGS: 6-4-0 (12 points)

Unlike every other team on this list, the Kings aren’t shocking the hockey universe because of an incredibly hot goaltender.  They have plenty of talent at every other spot on the ice.

22-year-old center Anze Kopitar (8 goals, 8 assists in 10 games) is the hottest player in the league not named Ovechkin and if he is ready to join the league’s elite scorers this team is very dangerous.  Left-winger Ryan Smyth (14 points) has brought not only his terrific skill but also the leadership this young team so badly needed and has immediately paid dividends.

Their success has been without much from talented left-winger Alexander Frolov who continues to butt heads with head coach Terry Murray.  Reports out of L.A. say the two have already had ten closed-door meetings—one for every game—and trade rumors continue to swirl around Frolov.  A quick resolution will only help matters.

Most importantly, the Kings have an extremely young and talented defensive corps led by the 2^nd overall pick of the 2008 draft Drew Doughty.  Fresh off winning the Stanley Cup, Rob Scuderi joins talented blue-liners Matt Greene and Jack Johnson to form a couple of exceptionally strong pairings.

Staying power? If the Kings can solve their goaltending issues—Frolov could be used as trade bait for that solution—this team is a definite playoff contender.  VERDICT: I had them in my playoff picks before the season began and there’s no reason to back down now.  It’s been a good sports year in L.A.—Lakers are NBA Champions and the Dodgers won 95 games before losing the NLCS—and the Kings will make for a very fun winter in the city of Angels.