When Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins won the Vezina Trophy in 2011, it was a bit of a rarity because he appeared in 57 games that season. It had been 21 years since a goaltender played in fewer games and won the Vezina, dating to when Patrick Roy played 54 games in 1989-90 and captured the trophy.

Thomas made 55 starts in 2011, which constitutes 67.1 percent of his team’s games that season. There’s an above-average chance the Vezina winner in 2013 will play an even lower percentage of games on his way to the award.

Things haven't gone exactly as planned for the Chicago Blackhawks since they hoisted the Stanley Cup in June 2010. In fact, they haven't won a Stanley Cup Playoff series.

But if Joel Quenneville's team continues to perform the way it has through the first quarter of this regular season, there's a good chance the Blackhawks could possess home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Quenneville has done a tremendous job in the early going. Through the Blackhawks' first 13 games -- 10 played on the road -- they are the only team in the NHL that has yet to suffer a regulation loss (10-0-3). That alone is good enough reason to choose Quenneville as our Jack Adams Award winner for the first quarter of the 2012-13 season.

There's little doubt the number of first-year players finding success during this shortened NHL season will make choosing this year's Calder Memorial Trophy winner a painstaking task.

Several names already have been mentioned as viable candidates as the League's top rookie, but at the quarter-mark of the season, St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko is our favorite to capture the award.

Not since Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin burst upon the scene in 2006-07 has a Russian player started his career with such promise. During Malkin's Calder Trophy-winning season, he opened with seven goals and 11 points in six games.

Tarasenko had four goals and eight points in his first six games, leaving little doubt that the 2010 first-round NHL Draft pick (No. 16) was ready for the North American game. He's also earned the trust and respect of coach Ken Hitchcock, who has the 21-year-old earning quality minutes among the top-six forwards. He's played mostly on a line with Andy McDonald and Alexander Steen.

Editor's note: This story was written before Erik Karlsson suffered an Achilles injury on Wednesday that will sideline him indefinitely. The Ottawa Senators said the defenseman would need surgery.

Karlsson had 19 goals and 78 points for the Ottawa Senators, 25 more than the nearest competition at his position. Though not one of the premiere defensive players, Karlsson's numbers were better than might be expected for someone not afraid to venture deep into the opponent's end.

Pekka Rinne

Goalie - NSH

RECORD: 4-3-3
GAA: 1.92 | SVP: 0.929

There are goaltenders with better numbers through the first quarter of season -- superior goals-against average and save percentage, more wins and shutouts -- but Rinne's performance for the Nashville Predators through 12 games is worthy of the Hart Trophy with 25 percent of the schedule complete.

It's not as if Rinne hasn't been dominant in his own right. He's fourth among starting goalies in GAA (1.92) and fifth in save percentage (.929) and has one shutout, but no goaltender this season has operated with a thinner margin of error or had as big an impact on his team's fortunes.

Is it time for panic or patience?

Several teams pegged as Stanley Cup contenders are wondering just that now that 25 percent of the truncated 2012-13 season already is in the books.

Let's take a closer look at five of them and try to determine if they're truly contenders or really just pretenders:

NEW YORK RANGERS

Time for: Patience

Why: Despite being a popular pick as the preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup, the Rangers are a different team from last season and they're still trying to figure out who fits into what hole in the lineup.

On the night of Dec. 27, 2011, Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators was about as far away from a Vezina Trophy nomination as any goaltender in the NHL.

Craig Anderson

Goalie - OTT

RECORD: 6-2-2
GAA: 1.49 | SVP: 0.950

Two days after Christmas, in Anderson's first full season with the Senators, he was 15-12-3 with a 3.36 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.

The race for the Vezina Trophy this season has been mostly a two-man race between Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings. Lundqvist has led the way, but Quick has slowly closed the gap over the second half of the season.

Other goaltenders have played themselves into the discussion at various times -- Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators has the biggest workload of any goaltender and has been solid, Kari Lehtonen carried the Dallas Stars for long stretches, and Brian Elliott's numbers while working mostly as a backup in St. Louis have been extraordinary.

In the end, Quick has earned the right to be called the NHL's best goaltender, narrowly edging Lundqvist with Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes rounding out the finalists.

Erik Karlsson

Defense - OTT

GOALS: 19 | ASST: 58 | PTS: 77
SOG: 249 | +/-: 18

Alas, Lidstrom -- typically a pillar of durability -- sustained an injury and missed 10 games. Detroit's severe dip in form without Lidstrom could be an argument to bolster his candidacy, but the other top candidates are all likely to play at least 80 games this season. While advanced statistics still point to Lidstrom as a leading candidate, his traditional stats are now lacking and, given the tight race, missing 12 percent of the season is a big deal.