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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; The Rangers and the Bruins have clearly been the class of the NHL so far. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By Stu Hackel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NHL's \u00A0regular season is at the halfway point. A number of teams have hit the 41-game\u00A0mark and the 615th contest of the 1230-game schedule was played on Monday. So here are some things that have struck us so far, in no particular order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best Team: &lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0The New\u00A0York\u00A0Rangers\u00A0wrung up\u00A0the most points the league, but the Boston\u00A0Bruins\u00A0have been even more impressive. The B's\u00A0have scored 70 more goals than they've allowed (runners-up Vancouver and Detroit are plus-36; the Rangers plus-35 by comparison) and, if you've watched them, you surely\u00A0notice they're playing with an unmatched confidence, something that comes from having their players raise their games to new heights\u00A0while winning the Stanley Cup last year. The Bruins\u00A0can play any style of hockey and win, especially when the games get rugged. What other team could let a potential 25-plus goal scorer (Michael Ryder) walk away and not suffer his loss?\u00A0Boston's excellent goaltending still covers up defensive breakdowns but the blueline\u00A0corps, which remained suspect heading into this season, may have raised\u00A0its game most of all. So far, the Bruins\u00A0have\u00A0been spared serious injuries to their regulars and have just been handed their first somewhat lengthy suspension (five games for Brad Marchand), but we wouldn't bet against them in a seven-game series against any team right now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most Surprising Teams: &lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Two kinds here -- ones\u00A0that have surprised by playing well and others by playing, well, \u00A0not so well. On the positive side, the Florida\u00A0Panthers and, to a lesser extent, the Minnesota Wild are exceeding what most pundits thought they would do. While most recognized that the Rangers were on the rise, few expected them to be this good. Everyone knew the St. Louis\u00A0Blues had talent, but no one was sure if we'd ever see it. The Winnipeg Jets and\u00A0Toronto Maple\u00A0Leafs have also -- finally -- moved upward, which wasn't entirely anticipated. And the Ottawa\u00A0Senators, an afterthought to many, had a very good -- and very exciting, given their regular late game heroics -- first half. Ottawa is a team that refuses to lose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most Disappointing Teams:\u00A0 &lt;/strong&gt;Big things were anticipated for the retooled Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings, and as of now, they are well below expectations. The Washington Capitals had also made improvements and were thought to a stronger group than they've shown. And while somewhat less was expected of the Tampa Bay Lightning, \u00A0Montreal Canadiens and the Anaheim Ducks,\u00A0 you can add that\u00A0trio to this list as well. No\u00A0shock that four of these\u00A0six teams fired their coaches\u00A0during the first half (SI.com Photo Gallery: NHL Coaching Carousel).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best Coaching Job: &lt;/strong&gt;There are a few worthy candidates here. Paul MacLean has shaped the Senators into a very intriguing team with most of the same parts that Cory Clouston\u00A0had last year.\u00A0MacLean's experience, easier demeanor and NHL savvy have created a more harmonious environment in which the Sens have flourished.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;First-year head coach Mike Yeo in Minnesota has gotten his troops to buy into his system with good results,too. Injuries and their own sketchy\u00A0talent level have knocked them back a few pegs from their first-quarter rush to the top of the league, but much of what they've achieved as been thanks to Yeo's aggressive style.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kudos also to another first-year bench boss: Kevin Dineen in Florida. He was handed a team overflowing with newcomers and molded\u00A0it into a cohesive group that has made the entire league take notice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;John Tortorella, for all his histrionics, has the Rangers ahead of where most people\u00A0thought they'd be by this point. He's made key adjustments to his forward lines that get the most out of his elite players and his young hard workers, of which he has many. Assistant Mike Sullivan deserves credit for his work with the defense corps, which has done well despite key injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But none of the above has done a better job than Ken Hitchcock\u00A0of the Blues. Engineering a dramatic turnaround -- not often seen\u00A0after in-season coaching changes -- he took a meandering 6-7-0 team and gave it structure, confidence and an identity. The Blues have\u00A0gone 19-5-5 under Hitch, become a leader in goals-against, and the leader in fewest shots allowed. They're very tough at home, but need to improve on the road. Still, there's no reason to think, as long as they stay healthy and their goaltending holds up, they won't be a force in the West down the stretch and in the postseason.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most Surprising Players:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Toronto fans whose horizons don't extend beyond the Air Canada Centre may beg forgiveness\u00A0for asking \"How is Joffrey\u00A0Lupul\u00A0doing this?\" when he started piling up points in the early going. But Lupul had topped 20 goals three times while\u00A0playing elsewhere, so he's hardly a scoring neophyte. Still, he's on pace to perhaps double his best seasons, as he's averaging over a point\u00A0per game playing opposite Phil Kessel on the Maple Leafs' top line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If anyone tells you they thought Brian Elliott would be among the best goalies in the NHL this season, don't believe them. (My SI.com colleague Michael Farber wrote\u00A0this feature about Elliot's\u00A0surprising rise.)\u00A0A Senators cast off\u00A0who the Avalanche also let walk away, Elliott's 1.62 GAA and .944 save percentage surpass Henrik Lundqvist, Tim Thomas and all NHL goalies who have made over 15 appearances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most Disappointing Players: &lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Just two seasons ago, Ryan Miller was the NHL's top goalie. What has happened? Who knows? Never the biggest of netminders, perhaps he's worn down. Regardless, Miller has been leaky again this season, in fact, leakier\u00A0than last year with a goals against average over 3.00 and a save percentage hovering around .900. Perhaps his recent struggles\u00A0are related to his concussion after\u00A0was freight-trained by Milan Lucic.\u00A0Miller is only\u00A05-6-2 since returning. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff says he'll try giving Miller more work to rebuild his game and confidence, but the Sabres won't be a factor if he continues to struggle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It would be wrong to blame all of Anaheim's woes on one line,\u00A0especially not\u00A0with their ragged defense corps and the collapse of their goaltending. But the Bobby Ryan-Ryan Getzlaff-\u00A0Corey Perry threesome produced the NHL's lone 50-goal scorer last season (Perry). Since then, the trio has\u00A0plummeted into, at best, mediocrity, and been unable to lift the Ducks out of hot water. Ryan has 18 tallies and needed a hat trick on Sunday to get there. That puts him on pace for 36. It would still be his second-best season total, but the wounded Ducks surely would benefit from more consistent production. It's not just\u00A0in scoring goals\u00A0where\u00A0Ryan has\u00A0lagged; his assists have fallen off as well. He's been good for nearly 50 in each of\u00A0the last two seasons, but\u00A0his current\u00A0pace would only get him to 34, and that shows how\u00A0Perry and Getzlaf\u00A0have dropped off. Ryan has been the subject of regular trade speculation (and when GM Bob Murray recently\u00A0listed none of the three as among his untouchables, the rumor mill went into overdrive). Collectively, the trio is minus-34 for the first half. Ugly ducklings, indeed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And, of course, Alex Ovechkin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here are some other thoughts on bigger themes around the game:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In-Season Coach Firings:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Unless our senior memory cells have misfired, we only counted two coaches who were\u00A0dismissed &lt;em&gt;during&lt;/em&gt; the 2010-11 campaign (John MacLean in New Jersey and Scott Gordon on Long Island). With Scott Arniel's firing in Columbus this week, seven coaches have walked the plank so far. It's the most since the lockout. (We'll have to do more research to go further back.) Each case is different, but the concern that sagging teams need a jumpstart or risk missing the playoffs is the biggest reason. Not so with the Blue Jackets, however.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Injuries and Concussions: &lt;/strong&gt;Almost every franchise has had at least one of core player miss time with some sort of injury and it has had\u00A0a dramatic impact on each\u00A0club's performance. A few teams have been more fortunate, but\u00A0one like Pittsburgh, which is currently\u00A0without Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Kris Letang (not to mention James Neal, who is playing with a badly bruised foot) can't help but start to dip in the standings. As of this writing, the Penguins have lost five straight. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most alarming on the injury front is the increase in concussions. The season started on a hopeful note, with\u00A0the NHL announcing a decline, according to their preliminary numbers,\u00A0of about half. But a recent\u00A0sharp increase has the league outpacing last season's rate. (On his &lt;em&gt;Concussion Blog&lt;/em&gt;, Dustin Fink's latest stats put the\u00A0spike at 39 percent through early 2012. It must be noted that\u00A0Fink's figures are unofficial as he tries to fill the gaps in what he sees as NHL clubs' sketchy reporting of head injuries, which can mask concussions).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Supplemental Discipline: &lt;/strong&gt;Many injuries and concussions occur during the normal run of play and are just the consequence\u00A0of\u00A0hockey being a physical sport played at high speeds with boards, sticks and pucks (unless you're the Kings' Dustin Penner and are felled by a dangerous sneeze while eating disrespectful pancakes at breakfast). The\u00A0injuries\u00A0that are\u00A0deliberately caused by other players' reckless or willful acts, however, cause the largest uproar throughout the league. The hullabaloo that accompanied Brendan Shanahan's promotion to vice president in charge of the newly created Department of Player Safety gave hope that the league would truly crack down on dangerous play.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That's how things looked in the preseason but, as we noted early on, Shanahan's rulings became less harsh and even reminiscent of those handed down when Colin Campbell was the league's chief disciplinarian.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While Shanny\u00A0has not been as consistently stern as some (this blogger included) would like -- sometimes fining when he should suspend and giving two games when five would be appropriate -- we can't agree with those who say there has been no progress in this area (as &lt;em&gt;The Hockey News'&lt;/em&gt;\u00A0excellent columnist Adam Proteau wrote last week).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While you wouldn't know it from the number of fines and suspensions (31 suspensions totalling 105 man games lost and $1,749,416.33 in forfeited salary), there is greater awareness on what is and is not acceptable behavior on the ice than there was\u00A0before. Shanahan's videos bring a level of transparency the game has never experienced, and those videos not only graphically explain to the fans and the media what is and is\u00A0not permissible and why, but the players and teams see them as well, so the videos serve as a\u00A0terrific educational tool.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Could and should some of the bans be harsher? Absolutely, as we argued last week when serial offender Dan Carcillo got only seven games\u00A0for his 1oth\u00A0episode requiring league action. Longer bans would be a more effective\u00A0deterrent than what too many of the\u00A0sentences have looked like this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But still, every once in a while, Shanahan shows that\u00A0he hasn't entirely backed down, like when he hit\u00A0Boston's Brad Marchand with five games for low-bridging Vancouver's Sami Salo in a game last Saturday. That's a play Marchand used during last year's Cup final\u00A0and he was unpunished for it. Bruins fans won't agree, of course, and will claim that others beside Marchand have gotten away with that infraction. But they shouldn't have gotten away with it and neither should Marchand. For the good of the game, we hope Shanahan holds the line -- and even advances it -- on dangerous play.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top Feel-Good Story:&lt;/strong&gt; The return of the Winnipeg Jets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top Feel-Bad Story:&lt;/strong&gt; John Branch's &lt;em&gt;New York Times&lt;/em&gt;\u00A0series on Derek Boogaard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NHL Realignment: &lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Here today, gone tomorrow, the league's ambitious and popular plan\u00A0to remake itself for next season ran into problems when the NHL\u00A0Players Association wanted more specific information on how the schedule and playoffs might work and to suggest some alternatives. Whatever the league provided wasn't what the PA sought, and when the union wanted to discuss alternative approaches to the playoffs, the league wasn't in a talking mood. Apparently, the league would settle for the PA's consent, but didn't want\u00A0its advice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the union informed the league that it could not give its consent, the league pulled the entire plan off the table; so the conferences and playoffs will look the same next season as they do now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The players were concerned that the entire process was being rushed. As Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo's Puck Daddy\u00A0wrote, \"The earliest the NHL could have given a schedule to the teams and players was May. That's far too late to really know what the repercussions of this new format were, in the time frame the NHLPA was given for approval.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Is there really any reason to make this a process of several months rather than\u00A0a couple of years? To wait for two additional expansion teams to balance out the conferences? To wait to see what time zone the Phoenix Coyotes will play in next season? To simply flip the Winnipeg Jets for the Columbus Blue Jackets for now with a vow to the Red Wings, Stars, Predators and Wild that their time zone dilemmas will be dealt with down the line?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Why did we need radical realignment for next season?... Is there anything wrong with taking a step back and making sure we aren't creating additional problems with this solution?\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nope. There's certainly a solution to be found down the line that will be more agreeable to both sides. It might not have been solved in the first half of this season, but the issues that\u00A0need a solution aren't going anywhere.\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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