Saturday Power Ranking - Oct 19

Hey everybody, here is my 2nd version of my weekly power rankings.  There isn't too much change since last week, but with a full week's worth of action to look at, lets see where everyone is:

1. San Jose Sharks (6-0-1) - Last Week: 1

Still no regulation loss, still the most goals in the league, still #1 on my ranking.

2. Colorado Avalanche (6-1-0) - Last Week: 2

With only one loss so far this year, to a Detroit team that is quickly rising, the Avs still look like a legitimate team.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins (4-1-0) - Last Week: 4

Only one loss this season, and the best goal differential besides San Jose.  Crosby has been on fire, which is great news for the Penguins.

4. Anaheim Ducks (6-1-0) - Last Week: 11

They've allowed the least amount of goals this season, and have been able to shut teams down with their defence while using their scoring depth to win games.  If the Sharks aren't careful, the Ducks will have a chance to contend for the Pacific division title.

5.  St. Louis Blues (5-1-1) - Last Week: 5

Right on the heels of the Avalanche, St. Louis' defence-first game is paying off in wins for the team.  It also helps when depth players are giving lots of offence to help close out games.

6. Detroit Red Wings (6-2-0) - Last Week: 20

Since last week, they've found the offence that has been absent from the team's best players.  The line of Alfie-Datsyuk-Zetterburg seems too deadly for most teams to handle.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs (6-2-0) - Last Week: 3

Tied with their division-rivals and Winter Classic opponents in Detroit, they've been able to put up great offensive numbers, despite being heavily outshot in the last few games.  It's a good thing their goalies have played well, their defencemen sure haven't helped.

8. Chicago Blackhawks (4-1-2) - Last Week: 10

Most of their games have been close, and they still haven't had as good of a season as some of the teams below, but they've been playing well and getting offence from every part of the lineup. It wont take much for this team to shoot up the rankings if they start finishing their games.

9. Montreal Canadiens (5-2-0) - Last Week: 19

After a pretty miserable start, they've won 4 straight, and are looking like they could compete with Toronto and Detroit for the Atlantic division lead.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning (5-2-0) - Last Week: 6

Along with Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, and Boston, Tampa Bay is proving why the Atlantic Division will be the the toughest division to win.  As expected, most of their offence has come from Stamkos-St. Louis, and their goaltending has been good, but slightly worse than Montreal, so thats why they've sank a bit.

11. Vancouver Canucks (5-3-1) - Last Week: 16

While they've been getting the job done for offence, they've been allowing too many goals to be a dominant force in the Pacific division, especially with teams like San Jose and Anaheim who are playing like champions right now.  Luongo has had great nights, and poor nights, and needs to find consistency for this team to do well.

12. Calgary Flames (3-1-2) - Last Week: 7

Calgary only played one game since the last ranking, a close loss to Anaheim.  They shown that they can compete with the tough teams in the division, but goaltending consistency from their unproven netminders is important if they want to stay afloat this year.  Tonight's game against San Jose will be a real test of their ability.

13. Carolina Hurricanes (3-2-3) - Last Week: 12

They aren't exactly doing well, but they're the 2nd best team in a relatively weak Metropolitan division. Their future franchise player Jeff Skinner is finally playing to expectations, which is great news for the 'Canes.

14. Boston Bruins (4-2-0) - Last Week: 8

They're ranking probably takes a hit from not playing as many games as the other Atlantic teams, but they've played well and will be a tough team to play against.  Their physical style will be hard for some of the smaller, quicker teams like Toronto and Detroit to compete against.

15. New York Islanders (3-2-2) - Last Week: 15

They are still getting the scoring from their big 5 guys mentioned last week, but goaltending is still a huge question mark for this team.  Regardless, the Islanders are one of the hardest teams to play at their home barn this year, giving their fans something good to watch before their eventual move to Brooklyn.

16. Ottawa Senators (3-3-2) - Last Week: 13

So far on the outside-looking-in for a divisional playoff spot, but they're able to stay close despite not getting enough secondary scoring to support this team in the long run.  Either Spezza and Ryan have to carry this team, or their 3rd and 4th lines (a constant revolving door) needs to start scoring.

17. Phoenix Coyotes (4-2-2) - Last Week: 17

The good news is that they haven't lost a regulation game this week.  The bad news is that they aren't getting enough offence to be able to finish games off in the win column.

18. Los Angeles Kings (5-3-0) - Last Week: 18

Same problem as Phoenix, they play too many close games that they can't finish off.  Despite having a winning record and allowing a small amount of goals, they've scored even less themselves, which means they can't find the offence to win those close games.

19. Minnesota Wild (3-3-2) - Last Week: 23

They were 2-2 last week, and kept pace with the Jets.  The Wild still get the better rank because they've had some great goaltending so far despite the injury troubles they've had to deal with.

20. Winnipeg Jets (4-4-0) - Last Week: 24

While they haven't made a huge jump in the ranking, they were able to keep pace with their rival Minnesota, and pass a Dallas team that looked very solid at the start of the season.  Hope is far from lost on this team.

21. Nashville Predators (3-3-1) - Last Week: 26

At 2-0-1 last week (and currently leading the Montreal Canadiens), they're looking better than how they started, and are helping to create a mess of things in the Central division.  Seth Jones is making sure everyone knows he belongs in the league.

22. Dallas Stars (3-3-0) - Last Week: 9

While we're talking about the Central division (since the bottom of the Eastern conference is really weak so far), Dallas has dropped down quite a bit in my rankings, ending up at the bottom of the division.  It says quite a bit about the division when the worst team is playing .500 hockey.


23. Washington Capitals (2-5-0) - Last Week: 25

It was really hard choosing who deserves to be the best out of the rest of the teams, because the rest of the teams from here on out have really sucked.  Washington gets the nod for 23rd because Ovechkin is actually playing, and they at least won a game last week, which is more than most of the other teams can say.


24. Columbus Blue Jackets (2-4-0) - Last Week: 14

Columbus goes next, even though they lost 3 straight, because they've at least kept games close.  They haven't played well by any means, but they still look like a competitive team in the weak Metropolitan division.

25. New York Rangers (2-4-0) - Last Week: 28

It hurts me to put the Rangers up this high, because they've been nothing but terrible.  But they won last week, have yet to play a home game, and started the year against some really tough opponents, so they get a little bit of a pass this week.

26. New Jersey Devils (0-4-3) - Last Week: 21

Even though they haven't won a game yet (but looks like they will tonight), their goaltending has been fairly decent, and they appear to be competing in most games, just catching most of the unlucky breaks.  Their biggest problem is scoring, or lack thereof.

27. Edmonton Oilers (2-6-1) - Last Week: 27

I'll finally get to the Oilers, who appear to have given up on Dubnyk by igniting some early-season trade rumours.  Yakupov is under the same microscope.  If the team doesn't turn around, then the Oilers might be losing some key players as they try to retool and figure out what is stalling this team's success.

30*. Florida Panthers (2-6-0) - Last Week: 22
30*. Philadelphia Flyers (1-7-0) - Last Week: 29
30*. Buffalo Sabres (1-7-1) - Last Week: 30

The reality is, none of these three teams deserve any distinction better than worst, so they're I'll make them tied for the worst rank this week.  All 3 teams have really struggled, having troubles scoring and letting in tons of goals.  Florida has one extra win, and has scored more goals, but have been embarrassing defensively with allowing 31 goals.  Only Edmonton has allowed more, but they have 4 more goals than the Flyers and Sabres combined.  Overall, its looking like a long season for these 3 clubs.