Following are my top players at the quarter mark of the NHL season, picked solely on their performance so far, not on their reputation:

Top Five Forwards

	Only three teams have stopped Mario Lemieux, the rest just hope to contain him.

1. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins: He looks rejuvenated. Lemieux has played every game, leads all forwards in minutes played and leads the NHL in scoring by 11 points. That's pretty good at age 37. And the Penguins are in the playoff race when I didn't think they would be.

2. Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins: Several Bruins have been hurt, including Sergei Samsonov and Martin Lapointe. They also lost Bill Guerin in the offseason and Kyle McLaren has held out. Yet the Bruins are in first place, and Thornton is second to Lemieux in scoring. He is emerging as an NHL superstar.

3. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche: The team is not playing great, and that has certainly bothered him. But Sakic is tied for the NHL lead in goals with 12. He continues to prove he is among the best in the world, no matter what happens.

4. Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild: Despite playing on a defensive-minded team, the 20-year-old Gaborik is emerging as a big-time goal scorer. Like Sakic, he is tied for the league lead in goals, and Minnesota is among the best teams in the NHL.

5. Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning: He was waived by Calgary and thought to be too small at 5-foot-7, but he is among the league leaders in scoring with 23 points. His team is totally overachieving and doing some great things.

Top Five Defensemen
1. Al MacInnis, St. Louis Blues: Night after night, he continues to score. He plays nearly 27 minutes a game. Chris Pronger has been hurt all year long, so MacInnis has basically been doing it on his own. He is still among the best in the NHL.

2. Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings: He is a total professional. He plays such consistent hockey. He's never hurt or in the penalty box. An unbelievable player.

3. Nick Boynton, Boston Bruins: He leads the league in plus-minus (plus-16). The Bruins have really changed their defense, and Boynton is getting the job done at both ends of the rink.

4. Dick Tarnstrom, Pittsburgh Penguins: He was picked up off waivers, yet he is tied with Sergei Zubov in total points among defensemen with 19. He plays with Lemieux a lot, and he's doing it at both ends of the rink. He is a great passer. Nobody even knew about him at the start of the year, but he's really playing well.

5. Derian Hatcher, Dallas Stars: It's been a rebound year for Hatcher. He is second in the NHL in plus-minus (plus-15), and he's playing physical for the best team in the NHL. It's nice to see Hatcher back playing the way we've seen him play for a number of years.

Top Five Goalies
1. Manny Fernandez, Minnesota Wild: He's the best in the NHL right now. This kid is just fabulous. He and Dwayne Roloson are getting the job done. Fernandez's numbers are excellent (1.90 GAA, .935 save percentage), and Minnesota is only one point behind Dallas in the Western Conference. The goaltending has been a big part of the Wild's success.

2. Kevin Weekes, Carolina Hurricanes: He has taken over the No. 1 job in Carolina and is playing spectacularly. He rarely gives up more than two goals a game and has a GAA of 1.93. The Hurricanes are the real deal, back to playing the way they did last year.

3. Marc Denis, Columbus Blue Jackets: He has played in all 19 games, and Columbus is battling for a playoff spot, something no one thought would happen. Denis deserves a ton of credit. The Blue Jackets got a point against Dallas last Sunday. The Blue Jackets were badly outshot (42-15), but Denis played great, getting the point on his own.

4. Marty Turco, Dallas Stars: At the start of the season, the only question in Dallas was about the goaltending, and Turco has been fabulous, leading the NHL in GAA (1.84). There was a lot of pressure on him to follow Ed Belfour. Sometimes, winning when you are expected to is harder than winning when you are not expected to. The Stars were expected to win, and they are in large part because Turco has been stellar.

5. Steve Shields/John Grahame, Boston Bruins: Goaltending was the perceived weakness in Boston. It was considered to be poor, but Shields and Grahame have shut everybody up. They are doing it by committee. Both have been solid, and Boston -- even with all its injuries, players lost and holdouts -- leads the Eastern Conference in points.

Biggest Surprise Player: Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Again, no one even knew about him, yet he's among the league leaders in the scoring. St. Louis has been a great story, and hopefully, the story will continue.

Biggest Surprise Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Minnesota was at least a competitive team last year and is a great story. But if the playoffs began today, the Lightning would be the third seed in the East despite finishing near the bottom of the conference last season. The Lightning are beating good teams on a consistent basis. They are for real.

Biggest Disappointment Player: Eric Lindros, New York Rangers
He has three goals and only one in his last 17 games. The Rangers are a good hockey club, and for him to go so long without a struggle is disappointing.

Biggest Disappointment Team: Washington Capitals
The Capitals started off well, but they have been terrible lately, going winless in their last five games. They are 28th in the NHL in scoring even though they have Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Peter Bondra and Sergei Gonchar. To have such good talent and score so little is a disappointment. After their disappointing season last year, I thought they would come out of the gates stronger under new coach Bruce Cassidy.

Barry Melrose, a former NHL defenseman and coach, is a hockey analyst for ESPN.