*Rankings based upon scores and stats through Tuesday night
Another week of hockey means another week of power rankings, folks. We’ve got both one and two remaining the same, but beyond that it’s almost all new teams this week! The Chicago Blackhawks are, not surprisingly, still in first place, racking up a bunch more wins this week and tying the NHL record for starting the season without any regulation losses at 16 games. Hey, another positive, besides the win, from last night’s game against the Canucks after Jannik Hansen forearm shived Marian Hossa in the back of the head.
1. Chicago Blackhawks (-)
Another week into the season the Blackhawks continue to show their dominance. Just about every player on the team is playing well, even back up goalie Ray Emery who stepped in this week after Corey Crawford got hurt.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (-)
Also remaining at the top this week, the Penguins continue to have a fully healthy team, with no one on the injured list. They’ve continued to prove they can win on the road, but now they need to do it for their home crowd too.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs (+1)
While the Maple Leafs are by no means the most skilled team, being coached by Randy Carlyle on coming ahead with simple wins has worked in their favor. They’re a bit of a magic show team, but it seems to be working well and if they could add some stronger players they could win with a lot less effort.
4. Nashville Predators (+10)
The Predators have made big progress from their very slow start this year. They’re looking much tougher now and have the current league-leading shutout goalie, Pekka Rinne.
5. Anaheim Ducks (+1)
The original team for going 16 games without a regulation loss in 2006, the Ducks are still playing strong. As far wins and points go, the Ducks are actually in second place in the league right now, but they with their aging team and questionable line depth I’m not sure they’ll hold out for the whole season.
6. Montreal Canadians (+13)
This season’s success thus far for the Canadians definitely can be attributed to their new General Manager and Executive Vice President, Marc Bergevin. I give them a lot of credit for playing so successfully with a rookie-laden team, but if Carey Price has to continue carrying them, their success will come to an abrupt stop.
7. Ottawa Senators (-)
All the debate the past few years about wearing Kevlar socks in the NHL fell upon deaf ears with the Senators, but if they’d added those to their equipment, Norris-trophy winner Erik Karlsson wouldn’t be out for the rest of the season. The Senators held it together still this week after his lacerated Achilles tendon injury but many, myself included, think that this isn’t just the end of the season for Karlsson, but for the Senators too.
8. New Jersey Devils (+1)
The Devils really need to step up both offensively and defensively. They’re almost even for goals scored and goals allowed in a game, which is unacceptable. The Islanders spanked them this past week; the rest of the season will look like that game if they don’t start scoring some goals.
9. St. Louis Blues (+3)
The Blues right now are in the midst of a goalie debate. Veteran, Jaroslav Halak is back from his groin injury, rookie Jake Allen has been playing well enough and kept the team going, and Brian Elliott is fighting for the position back as well. As for the rest of the team, they played a nice 3-0 road trip last week.
10. Phoenix Coyotes (-)
YAY! Goalie Mike Smith is finally back to his old self making amazing saves and serving teams with shutouts. The Coyotes are a solid team so far this season, playing all together as a unit, not as five hockey superstars fighting for the puck.
11. Detroit Red Wings (-8)
While the Red Wings were playing nicely the week before, this past week they went back to being just another hockey team. Jimmy Howard hasn’t been playing well in net, his defense has been of no help, and the offense isn’t scoring. Beyond that, the team is riddled with injuries.
12. San Jose Sharks (-7)
Just like I said when I wrote my article about the Sharks and their amazing start, their time was limited. It appears it ran out pretty quick after that first month. Their offense has fizzled, hardly scoring any goals in February and they just finally won a game Tuesday night against the Blues.
13. Vancouver Canucks (-5)
While in general I’m a fan of Canadians and their beloved sport, I have a serious problem with the Canucks the past few years; they play dirty and they have downright mean fans. I got into a tweet war Tuesday night with a fan during the Blackhawks-Canucks game who was berating every person that wasn’t a Canucks fan, going so far as telling others to get their guns out and go back to shooting people (referencing Chicago’s high crime rate). It continued after Jannik Hansen took out Marian Hossa in the third period and he tweeted wishing it had been a career ending blow. Focusing on their playing alone, the Canucks haven’t really proven themselves as of late either; they can’t seem to hold onto leads and although they have star defender Keith Ballard, the offense can’t seem to score goals.
14. Philadelphia Flyers (+1)
Although the Flyers have been having a rough season, something set them off this past week inducing their annihilation of the Islanders 7-0. While not stellar, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov continues to be one of the Flyers top players and things are continuing to look up with the return of winger Scott Hartnell.
15. Tampa Bay Lightning (+3)
Just like the past, the Lightning starts out strong and then their defense falls apart. They’re giving up as many goals as they’re scoring in a game, which will get them nowhere. The Lightning isn’t going to go far if they keep playing like this even with league-leading assister Martin St. Louis.
16. Dallas Stars (-5)
The Stars are hurting really bad right now without Kari Lehtonen. Although promised to be back soon, soon might not be enough for this team to make playoffs. They’re in pretty desperate need of good goaltending right now.
17. Boston Bruins (-4)
I’m probably one of the few people you’ll see with the Bruins ranked this low and in part this week it’s due to the little amount of games they’ve played this season compared to others. However, their dead even stats for goals scored and goals allowed per game isn’t helping them out one bit. The offense has cooled a lot since the beginning of the season and that is not helping them in the least.
18. New York Rangers (+8)
With mediocre scoring and face-offs won it’s not a huge surprise the Rangers aren’t doing well this season. Beyond that, questionable coaching by John Tortorella is not going to help their case. Nothing good will come from benching star players like Rick Nash and Brian Boyle.
19. Buffalo Sabres (-3)
Nothing seems to be going right for the Sabres this season. Wednesday morning the team booted their winningest coach, NHL’s longest tenured, Lindy Ruff. Though their season has been moving slowly, I can’t say their coach alone is the cause. Goalie Ryan Miller had quite a few choice words about his teammates and their incompetence and lack of talent after their loss Sunday night.
20. New York Islanders (+2)
I’d put the Islanders as team numero uno for most inconsistent in the league, ever. They beat a solid team, the Devils, 5-1 only to be creamed 7-0 a few days later by the Flyers. John Tavares has finally started to gain strength as a player, but until the team figures out how to be consistent they’ll never make it.
21. Minnesota Wild (-1)
Ryan Suter is continuing to grow as a player and could quite possibly be one of the league’s best defenseman this season. The Wild have a lot of room for improvement but they have shown skill in coming from behind, especially this past week scoring three unanswered goals with their 3-2 win over the Red Wings.
22. Carolina Hurricanes (+1)
Although statistically not the best team, the Hurricanes have been gaining ground on other NHL teams and have started proving their worth. Eric Staal was on an 11-game point streak and his linemate Alexander Semin has had his back with 10 points this season. Washington made a big mistake giving up him for nothing.
23. Winnipeg Jets (-6)
Though the Jets have serious talent in Evander Kane he seems to be causing more harm than good lately, especially after spouting off about racist critics this past week. A lot of people think he needs to be replaced with someone less stress inducing and I tend to agree; the team needs to regain focus on the sport of hockey not on critics and politics.
24. Edmonton Oilers (+1)
Another team with goal competition issues…Saturday Devan Dubnyk had a rough start in goal, allowing three goals from 12 shots, before being replaced by veteran Nikolai Khabibulin who didn’t allow another goal. Having a strong man in net seemed to work as they came back to win 6-4 with a team record 56 shots on goal. Hopefully the coach keeps Khabibulin in net and the Oilers start winning again.
25. Florida Panthers (-4)
As the Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said “We better figure it out soon,” the Panthers better get their stuff together. After dropping 3-0 to the Leafs (their first win in seven competitions with each other) and losing five out of six of their last games the Panthers are up the creek without a paddle. They need to figure out their defense and special teams if they have any hopes of ending the season not the laughing stock of the league.
26. Columbus Blue Jackets (+1)
Well, the Blue Jackets are questionably the worst team in the league this year. They did have a decent start to the season but it faded fast as they continue to rack up losses both home and on the road. At least they have a solid fan base and a few first round draft picks?
27. Washington Capitals (-3)
While winning a few games against Florida giving them some hope, the Capitals turned around and lost to the Rangers. In a normal season, they might have enough time for a comeback but with the shortened season it isn’t looking promising. As equally unpromising, Alexander Ovechkin is starting to look washed up.
28. Los Angeles Kings (+1)
Although a mere four points away from the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Kings are going to need to start playing together if they hope to get there. Their starting goalie, Jonathan Quick, has worse goals against and save percentages than his back up Jonathan Bernier.
29. Calgary Flames (+1)
Miraculously increasing their winning record without their main goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, the Flames could potentially go somewhere yet this season. One can hope that Kiprusoff stays injured and the Flames continue to step up for the rest of the season. They won’t make any playoffs but at least they’ll look better than they have.
30. Colorado Avalanche (-2)
“A coaches worst nightmare” would pretty accurately describe the Avalanche right now. They’re in the bottom of the league for goals per game, goals against, power play, and penalty kill. You can’t even blame their record on one part of the team; it’s the whole team. Matt Duchene has really stepped up as center and his love of both Colorado and the sport of hockey is quite inspiring, but without a solid defense he can only go so far.