With Olympic rosters all but settled, barring injury, the NHL hits a nice five-week run before the 19-day break for the Sochi Olympic hockey tournament. There were certainly some disappointed players this week when their names weren’t chosen to represent their respective nations.

However, the three-week break will be a welcome reset for many clubs. For the bottom half of the league it’s an agonizing reminder that there are still two full months of hockey to play before they can shut the doors on a disappointing season.

This week there were several hot teams that stayed hot and couple of hot teams that cooled off considerably. No real movement from the teams at the bottom. Here are your eDraft NHL Power Rankings 13.0.

30. Buffalo Sabres-The Sabres keep chugging along like the “Little Engine That Can’t”. No truth to the rumor that their Tuesday game against Carolina was cancelled “Just Because”.

29. Edmonton Oilers-Sidney Crosby said that the Oilers “are close to being a really good team” or something like that. That should make Edmonton fans feel great as Sid racks up the stats in Edmonton Friday night.

28. Calgary Flames-The Flames looked like they were putting together a nice nucleus that could tease a playoff bubble. Then they went out and lost eight of their next ten games.

27. Winnipeg Jets-This is the Jets team I expected to see earlier in the season. Sadly, I think it will have to get worse in Winnipeg before it gets better. At least they fired their coach. A good start.

26. Florida Panthers-Those feisty Panthers are only four games under .500 and currently sit seven points out in the wild card picture. GET YOUR PLAYOFF TICKETS NOW!! THEY’RE MOVING FAS…….almost made it through that sentence without laughing. Not that the Panther make the playoffs, that they would sell all the tickets.

25. New York Islanders-Steady as she goes young Islanders. They have shown signs of life and received good news when Evgeni Nabokov was placed on injured reserve. The injury isn’t as serious as initially expected, so he’ll be back to ruin the Islanders’ playoff hopes. Impressive road wins are a sad reminder of a season that should've been.

24. Columbus Blue Jackets-The Jackets could end up being a playoff team if they could string together some wins. In a conference that is ripe with mediocrity, Columbus could feasibly weasel their way into the postseason. It’s time for the number one cop on the force to take charge. Get Sergei Bobrovsky on the phone! Update: Bobrovsky shutout number two as the top cop on the force stymies the Hurricanes!

23. Nashville Predators-The bottom part of the Western Conference is starting to resemble the east. Nashville has no business making plans for the postseason, but with Phoenix, Minnesota and now Vancouver rotating losing streaks, a .500 record keeps the Predators’ hopes alive.

22. Toronto Maple Leafs-The Leafs have million-dollar talent with a ten-dollar work ethic. All the talent in the world can’t seem to keep Toronto in the playoff picture. If Toronto misses the playoffs, Randy Carlyle could lose his job. It’s far from being his fault, but Toronto will need a scapegoat if this roster fails to meet expectations.

21. Detroit Red Wings-No chance of Mike Babcock losing his gig in Detroit, but the Wings playoff run is in grave danger. Too many injuries, heavy reliance on aging stars. The NHL has caught up to you Ken Holland, time to work some magic and revamp that roster.

20. Ottawa Senators-before they lost to the Avalanche on Wednesday, Ottawa had won five straight games and re-entered the world of relevance. With Detroit and Toronto struggling the Sens need another couple of wins to get back into the wildcard picture.

19. New Jersey Devils-Jaromir Jagr and Martin Brodeur continue their swan song into the sunset together comparing retirement plans. The Devils look to be more of a playoff spoiler than a participant, but are still viable if they can put some wins together.

18. New York Rangers-The Rangers have played themselves back into the playoff discussion. A lousy home record and awful goal differential are a better indication of the shortcomings of the blue shirts.

17. Phoenix Coyotes-Once upon a time the Coyotes were one of the better stories in the NHL. Their ownership was finally stabilized and they were playing some quality hockey. In their last 12 games Phoenix is 3-5-4, which explains why they haven’t gained any ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings

16. Dallas Stars-The Stars looked poised to climb the Central Division before their current four game slide. They had gotten close to Minnesota and Colorado, but have forgotten how to score over the last ten days.

15. Washington Capitals-To nobody’s surprise the Capitals have struggled mightily as Alexander Ovechkin’s production went down. Martin Erat is pouting from the bench again and the goaltending has been erratic. Since they jumped the Penguins at the top of the Metro on November 17th, the Capitals have gone 9-8-5 compared to Pittsburgh’s 20-4-1.

14. Vancouver Canucks-At one point Canucks coach John Tortorella could have been a coach of the year candidate. However the Canucks have lost five straight games and are looking to get back on track. A Friday night date with St. Louis is not exactly a slump buster.

13. Philadelphia Flyers-Too little too late for Claude Giroux’s Olympic dreams, but the Flyer’s captain has to be pleased with the play of his now-second place team. Philadelphia is playing at the level we expected them too and now have a captain with a chip on his shoulder.

12. Carolina Hurricanes-A five game roll turned the Canes from pretenders into playoff contenders. There is enough talent in Carolina to compete in the Eastern Conference, and certainly enough bad teams to climb over in the standings. If big Eric Staal can get his game on track the Hurricanes could be playing in the postseason.

11. Minnesota Wild-I had all but written the Wild off before the current four-game streak that Minnesota is riding. A ridiculous divide between home and away wins and a lack of consistent goal scoring could be the undoing of Minnesota’s chances of holding on to the final playoff spot out west.

10. Montreal Canadiens-The Candiens have taken points in seven of the last ten games and keep proving doubters (like me) wrong. Only time will tell if Montreal is really that good or the Eastern Conference is just that bad.

9. Colorado Avalanche-The Avalanche have yet to go on a crippling losing streak that everyone is waiting for. No one is ready to anoint them as legitimate contenders, but Colorado keeps winning. Strength in goal for the Avs has been the key all year with Semyon Varlamov, but Colorado is getting scoring now as well.

8. Boston Bruins-The gap is closing on Boston and the rest of the Atlantic Division. The Bruins have gone 6-6 in their last twelve games and have Tampa and Montreal closing fast on them.

7. Los Angeles Kings-Jonathan Quick returned to health and looks to be in all-world form. In three games since his January 4th return the Kings are 2-0-1 against opponents that would currently be in the playoffs. Quick has looked superb surrendering only four goals in the three games.

6. Tampa Bay Lightning-The Lightning have gone 8-3-1 in their last 12 games and look to be legitimate contenders in the Atlantic Division. Tampa seems to have circled their collective wagons since the Steven Stamkos injury. With their star sniper slated to return after the Olympic break, the Lightning have shown that they are viable Eastern Conference contender.

5. San Jose Sharks-The Sharks announced their re-arrival on the scene with an impressive come-from-behind shootout win over the Blackhawks in Chicago last Sunday. They slipped up in Nashville later in the week before pasting the toothless Red Wings at home Thursday night. There isn’t a whole lot to dislike about the “Sharkies” who three players Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle with something to prove after their own Olympic omission.

4. Chicago Blackhawks-Chicago probably just wants the regular season to end so they can get back to the playoffs with a relatively healthy roster. Corey Crawford was left off the Olympic roster, but could use the break. The Hawks have ten players headed abroad for the Olympics. The last time they sent players to represent their homeland Chicago ended their Stanley Cup drought. Coincidence?

3. Pittsburgh Penguins-The Penguins as mentioned earlier, have gone 20-4-1 since the last time they weren’t in first place in their division. With all of the injuries and man-games lost due to injury, you wouldn’t expect this type of dominance from the Pens. They are 15 points ahead of the second place Flyers and eight points in front of the rest of the Eastern Conference. After the way the season ended in 2013, this group looks determined to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

2. St. Louis Blues- St. Louis has been better than everyone in the NHL over the past two weeks. Well, almost everyone. The Blues have taken over the top spot in the Central with three games in hand. With Chicago put on notice, there is going to be a dogfight for the top spot in the division between the two elite clubs.

1. Anaheim Ducks-Anaheim is 15-1-0 in their last 16 games and have still not lost a regulation game at home. They are excellent in every area and keep rolling everyone that is put in front of them. Teemu Selanne will play in his 35th Olympiad (fourth actually) and with the way his club is playing could head off into the sunset with another Stanley Cup ring.