Quick start = success

Just about every coach who ever watched Bull Durham or listened to Vince Lombardi's greatest rants will emphasize the importance of a fast start. This is not news. A fast start to the season builds in a cushion so that when the inevitable ebb and flow of the year eventually catches up to a team, there is perspective. There is calm. There is no panic. It happened last year to the Detroit Red Wings, who were 10-2-1 in October en route to a 115-point regular season – which gave them the overall league title by eight points over the runners-up, the San Jose Sharks. It wasn't just the Red Wings, however, that turned an exceptional first month into a championship. In the past 10 years, according to stats crunched by the NHL, the eventual Stanley Cup champions produced a collective overall record for October of 88-19-15. The need to... [read full story]