NHL Report Card Grades for first quarter of the 2014-15 seaso

At this point, most NHL teams have played at least 20 games or are very close to reaching that mark, representing the first quarter of the season. The first 20 games of a season can tell a lot about a team, .There is time left for teams to rise and fall and to give hope to their fans -- and also dash their dreams -- but for a lot of teams, their fate can already be more or le s known. Now it becomes a matter of jockeying for position throughout the season, particularly with the playoff format as it is.With what can already be learned from the first quarter and knowing that there is still plenty to be seen throughout the rest of the season, Eye on Hockey is breaking the season up into quarters and grading each independently, not unlike the report cards you undoubtedly remember (or want to forget) from grade school. By separating the season into 20(ish)-game segments for each team, these report cards should reflect the ebbs and flows of a team's season and help tell a tale of where things went right or where they want awry.Eye on Hockey's Chris Peters (Western Conference) and Adam Gretz (Eastern Conference) contributed their grades and share some thoughts on the season to date (with these coming slightly early due to the Thanksgiving holiday next week), including which players are at the head of their cla s and which teams deserve to be clapping erasers after having been particularly disappointing. Atlantic DivisionTeam1st Quarter2nd Quarter3rd Quarter4th QuarterAAB-BBC-CFEverything seems to be going as planned in the Atlantic Division so far this season. The Lightning are very good, the Maple Leafs are laughably inconsistent, the Sabres are still really bad (unle s they happen to be playing the Sharks).Montreal finds itself at the top of the division even though it has a mediocre goal differential and doesn't really stand out much beyond its three-headed monster of , and . The Bruins, thanks mainly to injuries and a defense that lost Johnny Boychuk before the season started, seem to have taken a step back so far while the Detroit Red Wings are looking to keep their playoff streak going thanks to an infusion of young talent led by and .Prize Pupil: , Tampa Bay LightningOne of Tampa Bay's two finalists for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year last season, Johnson is doing everything he can to prove his first full season in the league was no fluke. While gets most of the attention (and deservedly so as he is one of the best goal-scorers of his generation) one of the biggest factors in Tampa Bay's rise to the top of the Eastern Conference has been its ability to develop talent from late in the draft and through undrafted free agents. Johnson is one of the best of the bunch, one of the top 10 scorers in the league and one of Tampa Bay's best players when it comes to driving po se sion. Most Disappointing: Toronto Maple LeafsNot that expectations should have been high to begin with, but the Maple Leafs seem to always be . At times they look like a legitimate Jared Dudley Jersey playoff team, at other times they look like they have absolutely no interest in playing and fail to show up, just as they did during a two-game stretch against Buffalo -- -- and Nashville where they lost by a combined score of 15-4. Something is broken with this team, and it probably starts at the top.Metropolitan DivisionTeam1st Quarter2nd Quarter3rd Quarter4th QuarterAAB-CDCDDStill perhaps the most wide-open division in hockey. Pittsburgh is probably going to end up taking the top spot this season, but after that 2-8 could finish in any order and it would still probably make sense. The Islanders had a fantastic offseason that is paying off on the ice, especially when it comes to their defense thanks to the additions of Boychuk and .As for the rest? The Blue Jackets and Hurricanes have been crushed by injuries and the Flyers are kind of a me s once you get beyond , and , but the Islanders, Rangers, Capitals and Devils are all bunched together in a group of mediocrity that should continue to be an interesting race the rest of the way. Prize Pupil: , Pittsburgh PenguinsAs long as he stays healthy it's probably not going to be a question of whether or not he is going to win the scoring title, but a question of how many points Crosby is going to finish ahead of No. 2. Right now he is getting a little bit of a push from Philadelphia's Voracek and Dallas' Tyler Seguin, but he is on a 125-point pace right now and that is with an eight-game goal drought thrown in there. If his shots start finding the back of the net again, look out. With the way the Penguins' power play is clicking, it's going to be fascinating to see how many points he is capable of putting on the board.Most Disappointing: Columbus Blue JacketsIt's not entirely their fault because injuries have completely sabotaged this team. After a playoff appearance last season and things appearing to be finally going in the right direction, it is still more than a little disappointing to see them with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. Getting back if he can play like he did the past two seasons, but this team still has a long way to go.Central DivisionTeam1st Quarter2nd Quarter3rd Quarter4th QuarterA- A-B-BBDD-Believed to be the toughest division in the league heading into the season, no one could have po sibly predicted the way the Central standings would look at this point. The Predators are one of the season's great surprises, but questions remain about their ability to sustain this succe s. The Blues have been as good as advertised, if not better, while the Blackhawks and Wild haven't been able to turn dominant po se sion into dominant records. The best part about the Central is that we should expect a lot of movement over the course of the season as the race heats up.Prize Pupil: , Nashville PredatorsIn an incredibly crowded field in the West for top player, Rinne stands out as one of the single most important players to his team in the league right now. Rinne's .930 save percentage is a big part of why the Preds have the record they have. The 32-year-old Finn looks as dominant as he ever has and even if he can't sustain this pace, he has been the Central's best player at the quarter mark.Most Disappointing: Dallas StarsThe Stars came into the season with optimism after aggre sive offseason moves by general manager Jim Nill to bolster the offense. However, the defense was left untouched and that has proven costly as Dallas has been porous. The Avalanche were a good candidate for placement here, but their regre sion was more or le s predicted. The Stars were expected to do big things this year and have tumbled to last place in the Central. Pacific DivisionTeam1st Quarter2nd Quarter3rd Quarter4th QuarterA-B+B+BCC-FIf you wanted some early-season chaos, the Pacific has plenty of that. The Ducks are at their usual spot at the top of the division, but the jumble after that is quite surprising.The Canucks have bounced back more emphatically than predicted and the Flames have become one of the most shocking stories in the league. This division may not have the depth of the Central, but the top of the Pacific has proven to be as tough as any grouping in the league, which should keep things interesting down the stretch.Prize Pupil: , Calgary FlamesThere has been no defenseman in the league more impre sive or impactful than Giordano. He is tied for seventh in scoring with 21 points, averages over 24 minutes a game and has a relative Corsi of 6.7 percent (meaning the team is 6.7 percent better at controlling shot attempts when he is on the ice). He is the Norris front-runner by a mile and at this point probably deserves nods on the early-season Hart Trophy watch lists as he absolutely is driving this amazing start by the Flames. Most Disappointing: Edmonton OilersThe Oilers are not a surprise disappointment. Disappointment usually means there were expectations attached, but that was not really the case for the Oilers. What is particularly disappointing, however, is that the Oilers have yet to beat a Western Conference opponent 19 games into their season. Dwight Howard Jersey