Looks like we’ve got ourselves a new television sitcom this winter: The Chicago Blackhawks and Some Other Hockey Teams.  The Blackhawks continue to outshine every other NHL team and have gained quite a bandwagon of followers.  The question now becomes; do they lose before they get to the Cup or will they remain undefeated all season?

*Rankings based upon scores and stats through Tuesday night


1.  Chicago Blackhawks (-)

The Blackhawks continue their NHL record-breaking streak at 23 games without a regulation loss.  They actually haven’t lost at all since February 12th against the Ducks.  Though, they tried pretty hard to lose Sunday to the Red Wings but tied the game with 2:02 left and came back to win in the shootout.


2.  Pittsburgh Penguins (+1)

Moving back up to their second place spot, the Penguins continue to be fun to watch.  Although short players from injury and having a questionable backup goalie, Tomas Vokoun; the Penguins continue to hold strong.  Sidney Crosby has definitely stepped up his game this season and is a speedy goal scorer.  He currently leads the league at 36 points.


3.  Montreal Canadiens (+2)

Suffering a tough loss in Pittsburgh over the weekend, the Canadiens came back from behind to beat Boston on Sunday.  They’re still currently leading their division, but they have a lot of away games the rest of the season, so we’ll see how they hold up.


4.  Toronto Maple Leafs (-)

Although the Maple Leafs do lose games occasionally, they’ve made sure all season that they don’t turn into losing streaks.  They’ve at most lost two in a row this whole season.  They continue to play strong and look like serious contenders for a playoff bid, their first since 2004.


5.  Anaheim Ducks (+5)

The Ducks have a lot of skill this season on their team and they’re actually playing like top players.  They lost in a shootout over the weekend but were still 8-1-1 in their last ten games.  The Ducks also have an eight-point lead in their division.


6.   Ottawa Senators (-4)

Despite so many injuries, the Senators still manage to stay afloat.  They have winger Milan Michalek back now at least, but without three other top players it’s pretty questionable how long they’ll survive.


7.  Detroit Red Wings (+1)

The Red Wings definitely deserve some love after almost breaking Chicago’s win streak, if only they didn’t get that delay of game penalty.  However, that game was just one of many losses in their last ten games, only winning three.


8.  Boston Bruins (+9)

Boston continues to be one of the best teams in the East.  They’ve only had three regulation losses this season so far and continue to show what hard work can do.


9.  Carolina Hurricanes (+9)

Another injury prone team, the Hurricanes still lead the South, but without star goaltender Cam Ward anything is possible.  The whole team will need to join forces and keep them steady if they want to see the playoffs.


10.  Philadelphia Flyers (-3)

It’s never a good sign when your own players question the team, like goalie Ilya Bryzgalov who told reports last week “We’re not good.”  The Flyers have now lost more games than they’ve won and don’t really seem to show signs of potential for improvement.


11.  Phoenix Coyotes (+5)

Although their record is nowhere near stellar, the Coyotes continue to stay in the race for a top eight playoff spot in the West.  They have a pretty balanced team and have gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games.


12.  Vancouver Canucks (-1)

The Canucks continue to drop and with their losses, their lead in the division continues to diminish.  They lost a pretty disappointing game this past week to Calgary, which marked their sixth straight game without a power-play goal.


13.  New Jersey Devils (-4)

The Devils seem to be suffering a rough patch as well right now.  They’re out a few key players due to injury and have allowed nine more goals than they’ve scored.  They also happen to be 0-5-1 in their last six games.  Lucky for the team, they’re strong, so when they get their players back they’ll still be part of the playoff competition.


14.  New York Islanders (+1)

Wandering aimlessly seems to be a strong point for the Islanders.  They’re all over the place as a team and can’t seem to focus.  The team did pull off a nice win against Ottawa on Sunday but if the team doesn’t start working together, they’re in for some trouble.


15.  Nashville Predators (-9)

Nashville suddenly cannot find the net.  They’ve gone on a pretty deep losing streak and have managed to only score three goals in their last six games.  Not sure what’s going on with the team but they definitely need to get it together.


16.  Tampa Bay Lightning (-2)

The Lightning coach has been the brunt of a lot of criticism lately.  Although Steven Stamkos leads the NHL with the most goals right now, the Lightning defense has been playing awfully and the team as a whole has no balance.


17.  Minnesota Wild (+6)

While the Wild hasn’t managed to do anything spectacular yet this season, they are slowly creeping their way up in Division standings, just two points shy of leading now.  The Wild still needs to work on scoring goals if they have any hope but they’re coming together well as a team.  Ryan Suter even managed to score finally this season.


18.  Los Angeles Kings (+1)

The Kings were on a nice winning streak that abruptly came to an end after facing Vancouver this past week.  They’ve still gone 7-3-0 for their last ten and have a nice home game week ahead of them.


19.  St. Louis Blues (-7)

The Blues are at a shaky patch in their season.  Giving up a three-goal lead to lose 6-4 against the Kings is a perfect example.  They need to beef up their goals scored and work on their game at home.


20.  Buffalo Sabres (+6)

The Sabres are finally playing their best hockey.  They’ve been on a nice little winning streak and have some serious potential if they keep it up.  As for the class on their team, well the name Patrick Kaleta perfectly sums up their lack of.


21.  San Jose Sharks (-)

The poor guys might have finally found their way again.  After starting out the season hot, then disappearing off the face of the earth, the Sharks finally seem to be back and are winning again.  They’re tied for second in their division but need to step up goal scoring; they’re the leagues lowest team right now.


22.  Dallas Stars

The Stars are currently parked in last place in the Atlantic division.   That isn’t to say they aren’t without talent like Jaromir Jagr but as a whole the team needs to work together.  The Stars had a big win over the weekend against St. Louis so they just need to keep that up if they plan to move forward.


23.  Florida Panthers (+2)

Things are getting pretty bad in South Florida right now for the Panthers.  Although last year’s Southeast division champs, they stand in dead last this year by a large deficit.   Also, after losing two star players, it doesn’t look like they’ve got much room for growth.


24.  New York Rangers (-)

The Rangers keep slowly edging their way closer to playoff positioning as the season continues.  They had a nice from-behind win over Buffalo last week and are on a winning streak.  If they can get healthy again, they should move into a playoff spot soon enough.


25.  Winnipeg Jets (-5)

Another team edging it’s way into playoff position is the Jets.  They’ve had solid road success this past week with a minor loss to Washington.   Evander Kane keeps showing his worth to the team though, so I see them moving into a seed slot as well.


26.  Columbus Blue Jackets (+2)

Columbus is a team that plays hard; it just doesn’t show in the standings.  Twice this season they’ve almost topped the Blackhawks, which could have ended their streak a lot earlier.  A few losses where close games, so if the Blue Jackets could keep up their stamina for the whole game, they could win a lot more.  Who knows? Maybe they’ll move out of the dungeon soon….


27.  Edmonton Oilers  (-5)

The Oilers are a young, fun team to watch.  They’re everywhere all at once which is great as a spectator, but as their coach not so enjoyable.  They seem to be stuck in a rut right now though, moving one step forward and then one or two backwards.  If Coach Kreuger could harness their energy somehow they’d have a chance to move up a few places at least.


28.  Colorado Avalanche (+1)

The team continues to flounder in 14th thanks to their sad road record and instead of focusing on the currently playing players, the Avalanche chose this past week to stick their neck out again for Ryan O’Reilly.  Maybe now that they’re done worrying about him they can figure out a plan to win games and move forward as a team.


29.  Washington Capitals (+1)

The Capitals are starting to come together and look like a real team again.  They’re 7-3-0 in their last ten and continue to look stronger.  Perhaps they’re finally figuring out head coach, Adam Oates’ style.


30.  Calgary Flame (-3)

So, how about Ryan O’Reilly? Well that was embarrassing for the Flames.  However, they had a nice win over Vancouver last week to help overshadow that offer sheet fiasco.