Surprise, Surprise: 9 Players That Have Surprised Us All
No matter how much a fan reads, writes, thinks or discusses about the upcoming season, the truth is no-one knows how it is all going to pan out.
As the majority of teams have now played at least 25 games, we are unofficially at the quarter point of the season.
They're have been some big surprises already this year and with another 3/4 of the season left, there will be many more to come.
So to commemorate, I have compiled a list of 9 players who, for good or bad reasons have been major surprises so far.
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Antti Niemi
1 of 9
After the San Jose Sharks were sent crashing out of the Play-offs by an Antti Niemi inspired-Chicago Blackhawks, Team Teal thought they had perhaps made the biggest coup of the off-season by signing their play-off slayer to be their next number one.
However, so far it hasn't worked out at all.
For a start, he's lost the number one position to Antero Niittymaki who has been the exact opposite to Niemi.
Niemi has a record of 4--6-1 to Niittymaki's 8-3-3.
He also has a Woeful .886 SV % and a pathetic 3.46 GAA and simply does not look like the same player he was in the Windy City.
Alexander Semin
2 of 9
People tend to think of only one Alexander in Washington but now the second is grabbing people's attention.
Ovechkin continues to be Ovechkin; 34 points so far, but Semin has really upped his game.
It's great for a player who had been considered to be dropped to the second line before the season's starts.
This year Semin has found twine 18 times, good enough for 3rd in the league and has dished out 14 helpers for 32 points.
Being in a contract year, Semin is playing so well it won't be long before he gets the contract extension he deserves.
Kris Letang
3 of 9
When Sergei Gonchar left the Penguins over the summer, many people speculated who would replace him and his offensive talents.
Kris Letang has certainly stepped up to the plate.
This season he has lit the lamp 5 times and is tied with Ryan Whitney for the most assists by a blueliner with 21.
Yet he's not sacrificed anything on defence as he has a +/- rating of +14
In only his fourth season in the NHL, he is becoming the well rounded type of defenseman that the Penguins would love to pair with offensive talent Sidney Crosby.
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Milan Hedjuk
4 of 9
At the ripe old age of 34, Milan Hedjuk is proving that he still has it.
Through 26 games this year, Hedjuk has 10 goals and 30 points.
He continues to be a veteran presence on a very young team and is pivotal to the development of young stars such as Matt Duchene.
Over the last couple of years, Hedjuk's production had been dwindling but he's back and is putting points on the board like he's 24 not 34.
He is showing just how important he is and that you should not write off players as they get older.
Kris Versteeg
5 of 9
Whilst summer signing Kris Versteeg hasn't been terrible this year, he hasn't quite had the impact in Hockey Mecca that Maple Leaf fans would have hoped for.
There was high hopes that Versteeg and Phil Kessel would form a deadly punch in Toronto but that has yet to pan out.
And he hasn't drastically improved Toronto's flagging offence either.
Being such a big part of Chicago's Stanley Cup winning team, many people (me included) thought he could bring something different to Toronto but the Leafs are currently scoring 2.12 goals a game good enough for 29th in the league.
Obviously he can't do it all himself but some change would have been nice.
Ilya Kovalchuk
6 of 9
When you're worth approximately 100 gajillion dollars, you better be something special.
Right from the start, everyone said that Ilya Kovalchuk's 15 year, $100 million contract would be terrible for the Devils and it has.
Kovalchuk would have to score about 200 points a season to be worth anything like he's getting paid.
But unfortunately he isn't.
Don't get me wrong: Kovalchuk is one of the best snipers in the NHL today and is arguably a top 5 scorer as well.
But what has surprised me is Kovalchuk's production so far.
He has only 11 points this season, even Lauri Korpikoski has more than him.
I thought he would be better than this.
Jeff Skinner
7 of 9
At the 2010 NHL Draft, the Carolina Hurricanes made one of the boldest picks taking Jeff Skinner at No.7
It was highly doubted Skinner would go in the top 10 never mind make the NHL from training camp.
But Skinner has done both of those things and have made the Hurricanes look like geniuses.
He currently leads all rookies in scoring with 8 goals and 12 points and if the season ended today, he would get strong contention for Calder winner.
In a draft class that featured high-scoring wingers like Taylor Hall and defenseman Cam Fowler this is an even greater accomplishment.
He looks like a bona-fide superstar and was the perfect choice for the 'Canes.
Sergei Bobrovsky
8 of 9
Probably the feel good story of the year.
An undrafted 22 year old Russian rookie gets signed by the reigning Eastern Conference champions; the Philadelphia Flyers and has to leave his native country to move half way round the world just to add depth to a revolving door position.
But after Michael Leighton went down with an injury, "Bob" got a chance at the starting job.
And he hasn't disappointed.
He has a .924 SV% and a GAA of 2.23 alongside a record of: 13-4-2
By season's end, he could be a major contender for both the Calder and Vezina trophies.
Not bad for a player who was going to start the season rotting in the AHL
Carey Price
9 of 9
What a turn around it's been for Carey Price.
After drawing heavy criticism from pundits and Canadien fans alike, Price has quickly become (arguably) the best keeper in the NHL.
A big difference from last season when he was replaced in the play-offs by Jaroslav Halak and was heavily booed when news broke that Halak had been traded to the Blues and not him.
The Canadiens became the laughing stock of the league trading away a MVP calibre Goaltender instead of someone who had not yet repaid the faith shown in him by Montreal management.
It got so bad, he was booed by his own fans during a pre-season game.
But now he looks like a totally different player.
He leads the league with 16 wins and is a massive reason, Le Habs are leading the North-East division and are 3rd in the conference.
He also has a .935 SV% and a 1.96 GAA.
Carey Price has definitely been the biggest surprise this year.
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