Pardon My Bias

Not hard to see how the Bruins are number one with Vezina, Norris, and Selke candidates. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – Boston Bruins (28-12-1) Last week: 3

This is getting a little too Red Sox-Yankee like for my taste.

2 – New York Rangers (28-11-4) Last week: 1

Should be quite the rivalry game when the Rangers and Bruins finally meet.

3 – St. Louis Blues (26-12-6) Last week: 4

They may have less wins then the Hawks and Wings, but the Blues don’t need the shootout nearly as often.

4 – Vancouver Canucks (28-15-3) Last week: 2

At this point, just crown them Northwest champs.

5 – Detroit Red Wings (28-15-1) Last week: 5

Kinda scary when the Wings could finish fourth in their division. Central is that tough this year.

6 – Philadelphia Flyers (26-13-4) Last week: 6

James Van Riemsdyke is just the latest Flyer to go down with an injury.

7 – Chicago Blackhawks (27-13-6) Last week: 8

You may be confused as to why the Hawks, despite being tied for the league lead in points are seventh. You are incorrect to assume it is because Dan Carcillo got shelved.

8 – San Jose Sharks (25-12-5) Last week: 7

The Sharks should look out for the Kings. Well, until the Sharks wind up playing some more games, as they have five in hand.

9 – Washington Capitals (24-17-2) Last week: 10

Slowly the Caps turned things around and are back on top of their division, which turned into the least crappy team contest again.

10 – Nashville Predators (25-15-4) Last week: 12

8-1 in their last nine, and winners of five straight. Next up is the Rangers however, so how’s that for test?

11 – Pittsburgh Penguins (23-17-4) Last week: 11

Crosby Watch: Visiting a chiropractor. Not a great sign.

12 – Dallas Stars (24-18-1) Last week: 9

The Stars are in a bit of tumble, though only two points out of playoff spot (along with basically three other teams).

13 – Florida Panthers (21-14-8) Last week: 14

They finally relinquished control over the Southeast, which for the Panthers still may be a landmark.

14 – Ottawa Senators (25-15-6) Last week: 17

You got to admit the Senators are completely exceeding expectations this season. Their roster on paper is a joke, but they are on a roll.

15 – Los Angeles Kings (22-15-9) Last week: 18

If the Kings keep playing like they have at this point they may finish the season with more OT losses than regulation ones. Under .500 with 100 points? Could happen.

16 – New Jersey Devils (25-17-2) Last week: 20

The very idea of trading Ilya Kovalchuk shouldn’t even be considered seeing how vital he is to their shootout success, and how vital that has been for the Devils’ success.

17 – Toronto Maple Leafs (22-17-5) Last week: 13

Looks like the Leafs are hitting a cold spell again.

18 – Minnesota Wild (22-16-7) Last week: 15

The death spiral for Minnesota continues.

19 – Calgary Flames (21-20-5) Last week: 22

Sutterfest part one ended with Darryl, the former coach and GM, besting his brother Brent, who is the Flames current coach, hired by Darryl. Thankfully, the active player Sutters weren’t involved.

20 – Winnipeg Jets (20-19-5) Last week: 16

As is the way of the Thrasher-Jet, Winnipeg drops three in a row to go from one point out of eighth, to five out.

21 – Colorado Avalanche (24-20-2) Last week: 21

Seymon Varlamov should at least get to participate in the All-Star game’s skill competition for the breakaway contest.

22 – Phoenix Coyotes (20-18-7) Last week: 19

The Coyotes’ record to start 2012? 1-5. And that’s how you become even less relevant.

23 – Buffalo Sabres (19-20-5) Last week: 23

All of a sudden the Sabres are in danger of dropping to dead last in their division.

24 – Montreal Canadians (17-20-8) Last week: 24

All of a sudden the Canadians are close to being out of the cellar in their division. Looks like trading Cammalleri solved everything.

25 – Edmonton Oilers (17-23-4) Last week: 26

It appears the Oilers have returned to being those Oilers.

26 – Tampa Bay Lightning (17-23-4) Last week: 25

It also appears that no matter how good Steven Stamkos is, the rest of his team really isn’t.

27 – Anaheim Ducks (15-22-7) Last week: 28

Threaten to trade guys, and the Ducks turn it on. Whether they can maintain that should be interesting, though they came on strong late last season also.

28 – Carolina Hurricanes (16-24-7) Last week: 27

At the bottom of a pretty bad division. Hopefully the Canes load up on draft picks so they can address their depth issues.

29 – New York Islanders (16-20-6) Last week: 29

The Islanders being the Islanders.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (12-27-5) Last week: 30

Maybe if you took the Jackets out of the Central they would be better. Or maybe they are why the rest of their division has such insane records.

The Rangers still are red hot three games into 2012. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – New York Rangers (26-9-4) Last week: 2

The Rangers have proven lately they are the team to beat in the Atlantic, and out east that is the top division by a landslide (outside of the Islanders).

2 – Vancouver Canucks (26-13-3) Last week: 5

The Canucks, who only have more points thanks to the Bettman system and having played more games, earn the two spot with a 4-3 win on the road against Boston.

3 – Boston Bruins (26-11-1) Last week: 1

Moving down only due to one team being hotter (the Rangers) and a defeat to a rival (the Canucks). Still, the Bruins are terrifying when clicking. 6-0, 8-0, 6-1, and 9-0 wins over the past few weeks spells dangerous clearly.

4 – St. Louis Blues (24-12-5) Last week: 6

Hitchcock continues to push more out of his squad then just about anyone thought possible.

5 – Detroit Red Wings (26-14-1) Last week: 7

A split with the Hawks, and solid past few weeks has the Wings back in the top five, but they better watch their backs.

6 – Philadelphia Flyers (24-12-4) Last week: 4

The Flyers’ defense has been a little worrisome lately, giving up almost four goals a game on average over the past two weeks.

7 – San Jose Sharks (23-11-4) Last week: 9

After two home losses to the Ducks and Canucks, San Jose goes on the road only to beat both of them and find themselves in a four game winning streak.

8 – Chicago Blackhawks (24-13-5) Last week: 3

Things go from bad to worse in Chicago with Patrick Sharp due to miss three to four weeks, while the team is in a four game skid.

9 – Dallas Stars (23-16-1) Last week: 10

For what it’s worth, the Stars haven’t been to the shootout in almost two months. In my book, that makes their wins more meaningful. Sorry, Colorado and New Jersey.

10 – Washington Capitals (21-16-2) Last week: 14

Up until a loss to the Sharks the Caps appeared to have found whatever they were lacking for so long, winning four straight in a fairly easy manner.

11 – Pittsburgh Penguins (21-15-4) Last week: 8

No Staal, no Neal, no Crosby, no Letang, no Martin, and no wins. Four straight losses, and barely averaging over a goal a game.

12 – Nashville Predators (22-15-4) Last week: 15

Nashville isn’t going away, making the Central division even tougher. Though, to be fair, the Preds have had some help with a rather easy stretch of games lately.

13 – Toronto Maple Leafs (21-15-5) Last week: 11

Thank god Tim Thomas won the fan ballot for the All-Star game. James Reimer isn’t an All-Star. He just isn’t. The rest of the team goes rather up and down, but look to be heading up again.

14 – Florida Panthers (20-13-8) Last week: 13

Only two wins in their last eight could spell trouble for the Panthers, but with the Southeast as big a crapshoot as it is their chances are as good as anyone’s still.

15 – Minnesota Wild (21-15-6) Last week: 12

With the Canucks running away with the division (again), the Wild are going to need to up their game to even get a playoff spot. One win in twelve games is a sure fire way to not get it done.

16 – Winnipeg Jets (20-16-5) Last week: 20

Slowly but surely, the Jets are turning into a bubble team. They probably won’t get much further than that with the lack of offensive depth on their roster.

17 – Ottawa Senators (22-15-6) Last week: 21

A Bettman point beneficiary. Also, proof as to why fans voting for anything is a bad idea.

18 – Los Angeles Kings (20-15-7) Last week: 18

Another Bettman point beneficiary. The Kings had earned points in every game under Darryl Sutter up until a loss to…Columbus? Oh, that is bad. Also, the offense is dead last. So much for a new direction.

19 – Phoenix Coyotes (20-17-5) Last week: 17

Only two wins in their last eight and those came against the likes of Minnesota and the Islanders.

20 – New Jersey Devils (23-16-2) Last week: 23

The Devils are extremely talented in the skills competition. 8-1 in the shootout. Only 15-17 outside of it.

21 – Colorado Avalanche (23-19-1) Last week: 22

The Avalanche are even more talented in the skills competition, going 7-0 in the shootout. They are also even worse outside of it, being 16-20 in game that ended naturally.

22 – Calgary Flames (19-19-5) Last week: 19

Rene Bourque is on a pace to be suspended for 30 games if he keeps it up.

23 – Buffalo Sabres (18-18-5) Last week: 16

If it wasn’t for Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville I don’t even know how bad the Sabres could possibly be the way they are playing currently.

24 – Montreal Canadians (16-18-7) Last week: 26

The first time in a long time I haven’t had the Canadians ranked 26^th. Erik Cole has gone from free agent bust, to top scorer, while Eric Staal has crapped out. It appears we all had that relationship backwards.

25 – Tampa Bay Lightning (17-20-3) Last week: 25

Win a few, lose a few. Unfortunately that won’t get Tampa out of the hole they dug for themselves. Really a shame Roloson blew his chance.

26 – Edmonton Oilers (16-22-3) Last week: 24

Speaking of blown chances, remember when the Oilers were the up and coming team this season? From November on, Edmonton has gone 9-21 and 4-12 from December. Ouch.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (14-22-7) Last week: 27

Still no Jeff Skinner, and somehow Cam Ward still hasn’t gone ballistic on how little help he gets in games.

28 – Anaheim Ducks (12-22-6) Last week: 28

At least they beat the Blue Jackets and Islanders. Apparently the Ducks are willing to listen to any trade suggestions (just no Selanne or Koivu).

29 – New York Islanders (14-19-6) Last week: 29

With a chance to move up in the ol’ rankings (since I know the Islanders are deeply invested), they blow it with loss to the Ducks and only a shootout win over the Canes (which I don’t count).

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (11-25-5) Last week: 30

I thought they already had fired a head coach once so far this season?

The Seguin-Marchand-Bergeron line has been arguably the top line in the entire league so far this year. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

1 – Boston Bruins (23-9-1) Last week: 2

The massive tear the Bruins have been on continues. Both Tuuka Rask and Tim Thomas have save percentages hovering around a gaudy 95%. And hanging eight goals on a division leading team doesn’t hurt either.

2 – New York Rangers (22-8-4) Last week: 5

The Rangers climb to the top of the east in points, though to be fair they got there with two wins over the Islanders. What was impressive however was the 4-2 win over the Flyers.

3 – Chicago Blackhawks (23-9-4) Last week: 3

Two easy opponents in Montreal and Columbus results in four points for the Hawks, but in their big game against the Penguins they failed to show up until the third.

4 – Philadelphia Flyers (21-9-4) Last week: 4

More injuries for the Flyers to fight through with the loss of Sean Courturier now. It doesn’t get easier either with two more road games (for a total of ten through December) until the Classic.

5 – Vancouver Canucks (22-12-2) Last week: 6

The Canucks finally claim the Northwest back from the floundering Wild. Alex Edler is making a case for Norris consideration, though it’s of the Mike Green variety, what with the lack of defense.

6 – St. Louis Blues (21-10-4) Last week: 7

The Hitchcock effect is still strong with the Blues, and it’s even helping disappointment of the year contender Jaroslav Halak, who has begun to finally start playing like a NHL goalie again.

7 – Detroit Red Wings (22-12-1) Last week: 1

The Wings are only 3-4 in their own division, and they get a real test with two contests against the Blues and one against the Blackhawks (finally).

8 – Pittsburgh Penguins (20-11-4) Last week: 8

Pittsburgh’s defense is getting a real test of their depth with no Paul Martin or Kris Letang. Interestingly enough, though not surprising, their goal against have improved during this span.

9 – San Jose Sharks (19-11-3) Last week: 10

So the Sharks are 5-2 against the Kings, Coyotes, and Stars, yet are somehow 0-3 against the Ducks who are in dead last of the Pacific. Jonas Hiller appears to have their number.

10 – Dallas Stars (20-14-1) Last week: 11

Dallas’s up and down defense trended downward this past week allowing twelve goals in three contests, and as a result the Stars go 1-2. A very fortunate offensive explosion against the Predators.

11 – Toronto Maple Leafs (18-13-4) Last week: 15

Fan balloting should be stopped just due to Leaf fans. There is no way James Reimer should be on an All-Star roster. Sorry.

12 – Minnesota Wild (20-12-5) Last week: 9

The Wild’s season seems like a relationship: New things, a great run up, things couldn’t be better, it gets more familiar, then boring, and now things flat out suck.

13 – Florida Panthers (18-11-7) Last week: 12

Looks like the Panthers may be going the same way as the Wild with three straight losses where they were outscored 14-4. Lucky for them, they at least got a Bettman point.

14 – Washington Capitals (17-15-2) Last week: 16

I am actually moving the Capitals up preemptively as I think they may be turning things around. It does all hinge on the Caps playing an entire game and not taking periods off however.

15 – Nashville Predators (18-14-4) Last week: 13

Looks like they are trying something new in Nashville. 30 goals combined in four games this past week. So much for a team with little offense and plenty of defense.

16 – Buffalo Sabres (17-15-3) Last week: 14

The lack of defense in Buffalo is certainly starting to affect Ryan Miller, who also appears to have lost his 2010 magic. It’s been almost has bad as the desertion by the offense.

17 – Phoenix Coyotes (18-15-3) Last week: 17

Very bad news for the Coyotes as goalie Mike Smith goes down with an injury. Jason Labarbera is a decent backup, but in no circumstances should be starting regularly.

18 – Los Angeles Kings (17-14-5) Last week: 19

2-0-1 under Darryl Sutter. A godsend? Well, Sutter’s hiring happened to coincide with Mike Richard’s return, Dustin Brown’s scoring onslaught, and the reappearance of Drew Doughty. So, no.

19 – Calgary Flames (17-15-4) Last week: 21

It wouldn’t be a real season unless the Flames did just enough to hang around on the playoff bubble. Every time they get hot they lose a bunch, then somehow get consecutive wins just to heat back up.

20 – Winnipeg Jets (16-14-5) Last week: 20

I really hope the Jets are happy with what they did, causing the whole realignment deal. Because I actually am. They’re also only two points out of a playoff spot, though that’s rather Atlanta of them.

21 – Ottawa Senators (17-14-5) Last week: 24

If you thought Leaf fans were bad for the All-Star game, Senator fans are on their way to replicating the travesty that happened with Montreal when they had the game.

22 – Colorado Avalanche (19-17-1) Last week: 25

Winners of five straight now (all at home), though the Avs did that back in October (all on the road) right before tanking. The shootout has been their saving grace.

23 – New Jersey Devils (19-15-1) Last week: 18

Speaking of the shootout being a team’s best friend, the Devils are 8-1 in that skills contest. Outside of that though, they are only 11-15.

24 – Edmonton Oilers (15-17-3) Last week: 22

The Oilers did break their four game skid with a win over the hapless Wild. Must have been hungover celebrating the win however as they got slammed for three goals in the first by the Canucks in their next game, losing 5-3.

25 – Tampa Bay Lightning (14-17-3) Last week: 23

The Lightning can’t put pucks in the net, can’t keep the puck out of their own net, and only Steven Stamkos appears to be playing worth a damn.

26 – Montreal Canadians (13-16-7) Last week: 26

Four straight losses, capped off with a 4-0 shutout against the Jets. And somehow the fans think it is because the coach doesn’t speak French.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (12-19-6) Last week: 28

You know I think Eric Staal is only playing like garbage because I have him on my fantasy team.

28 – Anaheim Ducks (10-19-6) Last week: 29

No matter how bad the Ducks are, they seem to always be able to beat the Sharks and at least put up a good fight against the Kings.

29 – New York Islanders (11-17-6) Last week: 27

In their last nine games the Islanders have only won twice, and both of those had to be done through the shootout. The Islanders do lead the league in most goalies used though. Inexplicably they go back to using Evgeni Nabokov.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (9-22-4) Last week: 30

The Blue Jackets are 3-3 in the shootout, which, given their record outside of the shootout at 6-23, should be all the reason why the shootout needs to be killed as an effective tiebreaking procedure.

Detroit has enough firepower to outmuscle most anyone, while the Penguins struggle with injuries. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – Detroit Red Wings (21-10-1) Last week: 1

The Red Wings at home have been diabolical to face lately, going 10-0 and outscoring opponents 51 to 15 since November 5^th.

2 – Boston Bruins (22-9-1) Last week: 8

The Bruins are the rare team that have the proper amount of points to actual winning percentage if you remove the shootout (aka, second). Also, a 6-0 win in Philadelphia is just down right impressive.

3 – Chicago Blackhawks (21-8-4) Last week: 2

Another week, another shootout win. While going 3-0 is impressive, including knocking off the Wild, Chicago is feasting on shootouts a ton primarily.

4 – Philadelphia Flyers (20-8-4) Last week: 4

Rough patch for the Flyers first getting pounded 6-0 by Boston and then a shootout loss to Colorado. And if you somehow missed it, Chris Pronger is done for the season. So who wears the C?

5 – New York Rangers (18-8-4) Last week: 7

The Rangers’ offense seems to be slumping again, as it is prone to, but the 4-3 win over Phoenix shows that Richards and Gaborik are capable of carrying the team.

6 – Vancouver Canucks (20-11-2) Last week: 6

Two stunning losses to Columbus (via the shootout) and Carolina squanders a chance for the Canucks to fly up the standings, but a 4-0 beat down over the Wild reestablishes who runs the Northwest division.

7 – St. Louis Blues (19-9-4) Last week: 9

Excluding the shootout, the Blues have the third best winning percentage in the league. If Ken Hitchcock doesn’t win the Jack Adams’ at this rate there is something seriously wrong.

8 – Pittsburgh Penguins (18-11-4) Last week: 3

A beating by the Wings, and Crosby and Letang still missing time does not bode well for the Penguins. A big help would be their defense tightening up, as they have allowed 13 goals in their last three contests.

9 – Minnesota Wild (20-9-5) Last week: 5

No longer looking like the surprise league leaders with four straight losses, Minnesota does catch a break by at least getting to the shootout.

10 – San Jose Sharks (17-10-3) Last week: 11

Points in all of their last four games. Though if it wasn’t for the Bettman point, and the shootout in general, the Sharks would be far lower in the standings.

11 – Dallas Stars (19-12-1) Last week: 13

Not a bad east coast swing for the Stars though their two wins were both one goal games. Still, that’s a big improvement for a team that has struggled in that department so far this season.

12 – Florida Panthers (18-9-6) Last week: 14

A week of nothing but shootouts and overtime. There’s a sure fire way to move up in the standings according to the Bettman system.

13 – Nashville Predators (17-11-4) Last week: 15

An up week for the Predators as they go 3-0, and winners of five straight. Very impressive that their win percentage outside of the shootout is comparable to the Penguins and Sharks.

14 – Buffalo Sabres (16-13-3) Last week: 12

The Sabres’ struggles continue, but at least they beat the Leafs. A lot of pucks getting past both Ryan Miller and Jonas Enroth, but that may be more due to the lack of defense in front of them.

15 – Toronto Maple Leafs (16-13-4) Last week: 10

One win in their last six games, and James Reimer is saying he needs to play better. 14 goals against in his four losses and I’d say I’d have to agree.

16 – Washington Capitals (16-14-1) Last week: 16

The Caps just can’t seem to get on track and are now hovering precariously close to .500. Things could improve if the feared Caps’ offense started scoring again, as they scored only one goal per game this past week.

17 – Phoenix Coyotes (16-13-3) Last week: 18

Over at Puck Daddy at “Yahoo!” they ran a piece that Coyotes GM, Don Maloney, was the best in the game. I know the Coyotes are a bargain team, but I still don’t think being .500 earns that title.

18 – New Jersey Devils (18-13-1) Last week: 21

Talk about a good week as the Devils go a perfect 4-0 (and only one win via the shootout). The big names for Jersey also exploding for offense shows what Lamoriello had envisioned last season.

19 – Los Angeles Kings (15-14-4) Last week: 19

At least they beat Columbus and Toronto, though just barely. On the flip side, they were pounded by Boston and Detroit. And the Darryl Sutter reign starts this week. Oh boy…

20 – Winnipeg Jets (15-13-4) Last week: 22

Slowly but surely the Jets are crawling into contention for a playoff spot. Largely because the rest of their division has been so damn disappointing.

21 – Calgary Flames (14-15-4) Last week: 20

The Flames followed up their week full of wins with a week full of losses, three of which came by one goal. Calgary would have fallen further, but two wins over their archrivals in Edmonton keeps them ahead.

22 – Edmonton Oilers (14-16-3) Last week: 17

The monster run by Edmonton seems like ancient history. 2-6 through December so far, and the Oilers are falling back to where many expected them to be. Kids don’t look quite ready enough.

23 – Tampa Bay Lightning (14-16-2) Last week: 23

First week in a while where the Bolts won more games than they lost. Still allowing far more goals than they should be.

24 – Ottawa Senators (15-14-4) Last week: 25

Jason Spezza has had a complete 180 this season compared to last year’s debacle. Unfortunately for Ottawa their goaltending has continued to be garbage ever since the team’s inaugural season.

25 – Colorado Avalanche (16-17-1) Last week: 24

If it wasn’t for the shootout the Avs would 10-17-1. So they would only be 26^th in the league instead of 23^rd.

26 – Montreal Canadians (13-14-7) Last week: 26

Montreal beats the Islanders and keep themselves from joining the cellar dwellers for the time being. At least three goals allowed each game this past week also, and until the Habs fix that they continue to be stalled in 26^th.

27 – New York Islanders (10-14-6) Last week: 27

The team’s healthy, so there isn’t any real excuses besides the fact that they aren’t that good.

28 – Carolina Hurricanes (10-18-6) Last week: 28

A couple of Bettman points and a stunner over the Canucks at least gives the Canes points to tie them for the title of worst in the east.

29 – Anaheim Ducks (9-19-5) Last week: 30

Not surprisingly, the only game where the Ducks don’t give up at least four goals, they win. The Kurtis Foster trade was also a pretty good call, so they move out of the cellar.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (9-20-4) Last week: 29

…Which means a return to the bottom for the Blue Jackets. It seems like the only way they win at all is if they go to the shootout. Remove that and the Jackets are 6-21. Yikes.

Detroit is back on top thanks to solid all around play, and goalie Jimmy Howard putting up Vezina type numbers. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – Detroit Red Wings (18-9-1) Last week: 2

The past two games by the Wings have been absolute clinics with a total of 12 goals for and only 3 against. That’s the Detroit everyone hates playing.

2 – Chicago Blackhawks (18-8-4) Last week: 3

Four out of the last five for Chicago has been decided in overtime or the shootout. Three out of four of these were wins. Two were against the Islanders. Why does it take that long to beat them?

3 – Pittsburgh Penguins (17-9-4) Last week: 1

And just like that Crosby is sitting back out. Two big losses to fellow eastern powers in Boston and Phily, and the only win comes against the Islanders. Not nice to tease the team with Crosby.

4 – Philadelphia Flyers (18-7-3) Last week: 6

Claude Giroux and Ilya Bryzgalov both go down with injuries and…apparently aren’t injured. Hm. Good news regardless, given how well the Flyers have played lately.

5 – Minnesota Wild (20-7-3) Last week: 7

The Wild now have THREE goalies that are studs with the emergence of Matt Hackett. If their goalies could just stay healthy, they could have some very useful trading pieces.

6 – Vancouver Canucks (18-10-1) Last week: 8

Winners of nine of their last ten, and now Luongo is playing well to go along with Cory Schneider. Oh, and the Sedin twins providing close to all the offense proves it doesn’t matter who else is on the team.

7 – New York Rangers (17-6-4) Last week: 4

It looks like Derek Stepan is ready to give the Rangers the deadly one-two combo down the middle that they have always sought. If only there was a way to redo the Gomez and Drury experiment…

8 – Boston Bruins (18-9-1) Last week: 5

A huge win against the Pens, and then the offense dries up against Florida and Winnipeg? To make matters worse, Chara is day-to-day with an injury. At least they beat Columbus.

9 – St. Louis Blues (17-9-3) Last week: 13

Three straight wins, only four goals allowed, and watching the Blues play puts me to sleep. They are winning however, but looking like Minnesota as they do so. Effective and boring.

10 – Toronto Maple Leafs (15-11-3) Last week: 10

Only one win for the Leafs this week, and the streaky offense is on the downturn again. James Reimer struggling doesn’t improve matters, and he isn’t ready to put his team on his back like other goalies.

11 – San Jose Sharks (15-10-2) Last week: 9

One win in their last five games, and the Sharks can’t seem to do anything right currently. Eleven goals in that stretch, and the top lines only have five of those, three of which came from Logan Couture.

12 – Buffalo Sabres (15-12-2) Last week: 12

They get offense, then get no defense. They get defense, then they get no offense. Then the Sabres get neither. Sabres should be damn thankful they came away with three points last week.

13 – Dallas Stars (16-11-1) Last week: 11

The Stars haven’t been playing well lately, but they got some help from the Kings, who are playing even worse.

14 – Florida Panthers (16-9-5) Last week: 16

Well, the Panthers looked good for half the week before looking like garbage.

15 – Nashville Predators (14-11-4) Last week: 18

The Predators have been the kings of comebacks so far this year in the west. Sadly they won’t get any recognition for it as the Flyers comeback from three down regularly and the fact it’s Nashville.

16 – Washington Capitals (15-12-1) Last week: 14

The Caps may be turning around their offensive issues a bit with thirteen goals in their last three games. Two wins also is a step in the right direction, but a ways to go before they are moving back up.

17 – Edmonton Oilers (14-13-3) Last week: 17

The falling back to the earth for the Oilers hasn’t been too kind, namely a 3-0 shutout against archrival Calgary.

18 – Phoenix Coyotes (15-11-3) Last week: 19

Rather hard to win games when you allow five goals in the first period.

19 – Los Angeles Kings (13-12-4) Last week: 15

A team with six former 30 goal scorers and eight guys capable of at least 20, and the Kings are dead last in offense. No wonder Terry Murray is about to get canned as coach.

20 – Calgary Flames (14-13-2) Last week: 25

Three wins in the week for the Flames, though they came against three opponents who are having a tough time also, but hey, top of the bottom.

21 – New Jersey Devils (14-13-1) Last week: 24

The Devils did their best to try and blow two games, coughing up a lead in one and blowing another lead with five seconds left…while they were on the power play. Oddly enough, they still won both.

22 – Winnipeg Jets (13-12-4) Last week: 23

A pretty impressive week, headed by a 2-1 stunner over the Bruins. Then the Jets got embarrassed 7-1 by Detroit. Might not want to subject your goalie to that sort of onslaught, as Pavelec allowed all seven.

23 – Tampa Bay Lightning (12-15-2) Last week: 21

The Lightning and the Kings are both vying for biggest disappointment of the year, but right now the Bolts have the edge. Signing Antti Miettinen probably won’t remedy things.

24 – Colorado Avalanche (13-16-1) Last week: 20

Three straight wins followed by…three straight losses, all to division rivals, including blowouts against Vancouver and Edmonton. Varlamov still looking like a train wreck.

25 – Ottawa Senators (13-13-4) Last week: 22

The fan base in Ottawa supports why fans should never be allowed to vote. You figured the NHL would have learned from the Montreal All-Star debacle.

26 – Montreal Canadians (12-11-7) Last week: 26

Speaking of Montreal debacles, you figure a team full of finesse forwards would be good at shootouts. Scoring zero goals in six tries seems to indicate otherwise.

27 – New York Islanders (9-12-6) Last week: 27

Not one defensemen is on the plus side with their plus/minus rating on the Island. Unless Evgeni Nabokov is miraculously in shape again, that likely won’t improve.

28 – Carolina Hurricanes (9-18-4) Last week: 28

At least the games are entertaining with a combined 27 goals in three games. Good to see Eric Staal is at least on the score sheet a little bit with two goals and two assists.

29 – Columbus Blue Jackets (8-17-4) Last week: 29

Give the Jackets credit for this at least, they are hanging tough in games lately.

30 – Anaheim Ducks (8-16-5) Last week: 30

I’ll say it takes about another week before Bobby Ryan is back on the trading block.

1 – Pittsburgh Penguins (16-7-4) Last week: 1

Crosby suffers the taste of defeat for the first time in nearly a year. And what? No goals? Only three points last week? Trade him. Should be a slugfest between Boston and the Pens, yet for some reason VS doesn’t have this one game televised. Odd, seeing how every other Penguins’ game is.

Not quite numero uno yet, but the Red Wings are on their way. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

2 – Detroit Red Wings (16-8-1) Last week: 3

They finally lost by, guess how, not starting Jimmy Howard. Games off are for the weak. 15-5-1 for Howard, and Conklin is now 1-3-0. Might need a new backup in Motown.

3 – Chicago Blackhawks (16-8-3) Last week: 2

Kind of a rough week for Chicago, especially for Corey Crawford. Barely got the win against Long Island, but when a rough week consists of going 2-1, you’re doing alright.

4 – New York Rangers (15-5-3) Last week: 7

Over a month since the Rangers lost at home and they are riding a five game winning streak on top of that. Just think if they had some left wings.

5 – Boston Bruins (16-7-1) Last week: 8

Keeping up the strong play by restating to Toronto that, “No. It is not your time quite yet.” Almost a perfect month, except for a shootout loss to Detroit. Being tops five-on-five can do that for you.

6 – Philadelphia Flyers (15-7-3) Last week: 4

I would typically say rallying from three down to win is impressive. But it was against the Ducks so it’s routine. Bryzgalov has to be happy with that win over Phoenix and his team chasing Mike Smith also.

7 – Minnesota Wild (17-7-3) Last week: 12

First place over a fourth of the way through the year. Who saw that coming? Funny what trap hockey and good goaltending can do for you.

8 – Vancouver Canucks (15-10-1) Last week: 10

The Canucks had quite second half of the month, going 5-0. Then Luongo AND Schneider blew it. And against Nashville’s offense of all things.

9 – San Jose Sharks (14-8-1) Last week: 5

With a week to turn things around following a tough loss to Vancouver, the Sharks should just be happy they snuck away with one win against the floundering Canadians.

10 – Toronto Maple Leafs (14-10-2) Last week: 6

After turning their slump around, the Leafs fall right back into one as Boston mops them twice, outscoring them with a total of 10-4.

11 – Dallas Stars (15-10-1) Last week: 11

Andrew Raycroft was actually playing well until he ran into the force known as Matt Moulson. The Stars are starting to look a bit vulnerable as the injury bug gets around.

12 – Buffalo Sabres (14-11-1) Last week: 9

Buffalo is becoming a haven for underachievers. Who do they think they are? Montreal?

13 – St. Louis Blues (14-9-3) Last week: 14

If the opposing team gets three or more goals the Blues are in big trouble. Seven out of their last eight they only scored two goals, but they still went 4-2-2.

14 – Washington Capitals (13-11-1) Last week: 13

There was a time when the Caps had one of the most exciting and dynamic offenses in the NHL. Now they score one goal per game, and only win after sneaking by Ottawa in overtime.

15 – Los Angeles Kings (13-9-4) Last week: 20

Tied for the second worst goal per game in the league, and they just lost their leading goal scorer Mike Richards. More pressure on Jonathan Quick.

16 – Florida Panthers (14-8-4) Last week: 16

Following a 2-1 loss to L.A., the Panthers’ coach Kevin Dineen said that the Kings played dirty, and his team didn’t get any calls to go their way. Except the eight penalties against L.A. compared to Florida’s four, while Sean Bergenheim concussed a guy and then turtled the rest of the game.

17 – Edmonton Oilers (13-11-3) Last week: 15

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks like superstar center already. Except that he can’t win a faceoff to save his life.

18 – Nashville Predators (12-10-4) Last week: 17

After a five game span of scoring no more than two goals a game, the Predators come back after blowing a 3-1 lead in Vancouver to win 6-5. Then they revert back to the way things were and lose 3-2.

19 – Phoenix Coyotes (13-9-3) Last week: 18

The return to Winnipeg resulted in a 1-0 loss to the new Jets. Dave Tippet tortures the crowd with a slow trap game per usual.

20 – Colorado Avalanche (13-13-1) Last week: 22

There was a discussion of who was the top center with Colorado between Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny. Try neither. Ryan O’Reilly leads his team in points and helped down Detroit for the first time in a long time.

21 – Tampa Bay Lightning (11-12-2) Last week: 19

If I was Tampa I’d be thinking of just sending Steve Downie to the AHL until he gets his miserable act together. Maybe do the same to Roloson also.

22 – Ottawa Senators (12-11-3) Last week: 23

Erik Karlsson leads the league amongst defensemen in scoring. It’s even more incredible given how he essentially only has one line of forwards to help.

23 – Winnipeg Jets (11-11-4) Last week: 25

Evander Kane is slowly becoming quite the overlooked star seeing how he is doing the majority of the goal scoring up in Winnipeg.

24 – New Jersey Devils (12-12-1) Last week: 21

Four game skid for New Jersey, and Martin Brodeur got roughed up plenty. Tough loss to the Jets also doesn’t inspire confidence.

25 – Calgary Flames (11-13-2) Last week: 26

Points in their last four games for the Flames until they got dismantled by Vancouver. No thanks to Jarome Iginla. Henrick Karlsson goes on IR, so someone else will have to keep the bench warm for Kiper.

26 – Montreal Canadians (11-11-5) Last week: 24

You know, if it wasn’t for Carey Price the Canadians would be truly awful. Too bad Price is rather inconsistent lately.

27 – New York Islanders (8-11-5) Last week: 29

3-0-1 for the Islanders their past few. Helps when Matt Moulson is scoring at a Gretzky like rate, including four goals in one game.

28 – Carolina Hurricanes (8-16-4) Last week: 27

Carolina is becoming the whipping boy for the other whipping boys with losses to Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Montreal. Staal’s +/- gets even worse (-17).

29 – Columbus Blue Jackets (7-16-3) Last week: 28

After the horrible eight game losing streak to start the season the Jackets have gone 7-11, which isn’t that good either.

30 – Anaheim Ducks (7-14-5) Last week: 30

Bruce Boudreau may have wanted to pass up that job offer. Ducks blow leads in two straight games under Boudreau. Not how you want to start a new job.

Crosby is like the Tim Tebow of the NHL, leading his team to new highs, except unlike Tebow he actually has talent and isn't ruining the sport. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – Pittsburgh Penguins (14-6-4) Last week: 1

3-0-1 since Crosby has returned, and he’s got nine points and is a plus seven. The east may be a runaway by January.

2 – Chicago Blackhawks (14-7-3) Last week: 2

It was not an easy road trip for the Hawks but rallying from three goals down in the third in Anaheim and winning the last game of the trip in L.A. is a mark of a team with a lot of character.

3 – Detroit Red Wings (14-7-1) Last week: 6

9-2 and a current five game winning streak after that six game skid and just like that everyone fears the Wings again.

4 – Philadelphia Flyers (13-7-3) Last week: 3

Pronger goes down with another injury, and it requires surgery on his knee. That may mean more Erik Gustafsson, though Staples keeps telling me he doesn’t exist.

5 – San Jose Sharks (13-6-1) Last week: 4

The Sharks have been winning lately with a tough defensive game, only allowing more than one goal in a game once in their past four, though that of course was a 3-2 loss. Well, ok, it was more Antti Niemi catching fire than anything else.

6 – Toronto Maple Leafs (14-8-2) Last week: 9

That little hiccup of losses and sputtering offensive displays quickly is dismissed as the Leafs go 3-0 on the week and score 16 goals in that span. And none out of Kessel?

7 – New York Rangers (12-5-3) Last week: 8

Following two losses to the Panthers and Canadians, the Rangers’ offense explodes against Washington, and then New York stifles the Flyers. Should make the game against Pittsburgh rather interesting.

8 – Boston Bruins (14-7-1) Last week: 13

The Bruins finally lose again, though it was in a shootout against the Red Wings. Remember when people were wondering what was wrong with this team? Helps when you score nearly five goals a game.

9 – Buffalo Sabres (13-9-1) Last week: 7

The Sabres are giving up a lot of goals as of late, and they can’t blame it on Ryan Miller currently. Brad Boyes and Ville Leino are very expensive useless players, putting pressure on Scott Gomez for title of biggest underachiever in the division.

10 – Vancouver Canucks (13-9-1) Last week: 14

Finally the Canucks see reason and are using Cory Schneider as their go to starter in net. Now to finalize the process and trade Luongo. Any takers? Anyone?

11 – Dallas Stars (13-9-1) Last week: 10

Kari Lehtonen goes on injured reserve which in my book spells doom for the Stars.

12 – Minnesota Wild (13-7-3) Last week: 11

It appears the goaltending duo of Backstrom and Harding is cooling off which also spells doom for the Wild. Never overvalue a team when just their goalie(s) get hot. So ignore the fact I have them ranked twelfth.

13 – Washington Capitals (12-9-1) Last week: 5

The Caps are playing like they are in the playoffs, Ovechkin is whining, and Bruce Boudreau gets fired (just like AO asked). Somehow in the NFL San Diego still employs that tool known as Norv Turner.

14 – St. Louis Blues (13-8-2) Last week: 17

Though apparently coaching changes do help as the Blues have been unstoppable (almost) under Ken Hitchcock. Only one regulation loss so far still (7-1-2).

15 – Edmonton Oilers (12-9-2) Last week: 15

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is easily looking like Calder trophy material lately and Ryan Smyth is playing like he isn’t due to retire at all.

16 – Florida Panthers (12-7-4) Last week: 16

3-5 against their own division and yet somehow the Panthers are in first. Given how bad the Lightning and Caps have looked at times it’s no wonder the Canes fired their coach when they could be in first. Instead it’s Florida and it makes absolutely no sense.

17 – Nashville Predators (10-8-4) Last week: 12

The Predators have been the most up and down team since 2008 it seems. Four straight losses and a total of seven goals in that span and seventeen given up. Might want to take back that contract to Mr. Rinne.

18 – Phoenix Coyotes (12-7-3) Last week: 19

Kyle Turris finally gets a contract with Phoenix, and also skates with the team. He is then sent to the AHL for a conditioning assignment. My guess is he stays there.

19 – Tampa Bay Lightning (11-9-2) Last week: 20

Remember when I said the Canucks should trade Luongo? I think the Lightning may be a team that would actually think about making that deal.

20 – Los Angeles Kings (11-8-4) Last week: 18

The Kings were toted as having some solid young depth. Unfortunately they have played more like the Ducks’ young depth and not Philadelphia’s young depth. Coach Terry Murray’s seat must be getting rather warm as the team still can’t score.

21 – New Jersey Devils (12-9-1) Last week: 22

Travis Zajac may be close to returning which may make the Devils’ lineup look less like a mashup of All-Stars from 2002 and AHLers.

22 – Colorado Avalanche (10-12-1) Last week: 21

Colorado used to be unable to win at home. Glad to see they fixed that. Now they are unable to win anywhere.

23 – Ottawa Senators (11-10-2) Last week: 23

Nick Foligno calls Crosby a hypocrite, as he received an elbow to the head from Sid. The league points out that Foligno’s face could have done severe damage to Crosby’s elbow and suspends him indefinitely.

24 – Montreal Canadians (10-10-4) Last week: 24

In the last three seasons Andrei Markov has played in 52 games, including seven last year. He is on pace for zero games this season. It may be easier to ask for a trade than just never playing for Montreal again.

25 – Winnipeg Jets (9-10-4) Last week: 25

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I don’t abide by this; I just have nothing to say about the Jets.

26 – Calgary Flames (9-12-1) Last week: 27

I think Jarome Iginla has given up. Which explains why the Flames are out to replace him with Blake Comeau.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (8-13-4) Last week: 26

Another coaching change, but not nearly the shocker as the Washington firing. More of a wakeup call, given that the Canes lost to Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. More specifically, a wakeup to Eric Staal.

28 – Columbus Blue Jackets (6-14-3) Last week: 29

At least Columbus was earning points for a while.

29 – New York Islanders (6-11-4) Last week: 30

Nabokov? No. DiPietro? Not a chance. It’s Al Montoya time and hopefully the Islanders remember that. Been far and away their best goalie.

30 – Anaheim Ducks (6-13-4) Last week: 28

It can’t get much worse in Anaheim. More on them later this week, but it may be time they explore trade possibilities, and not to try and turn their season around.

It will be interesting to see how Crosby and the Penguins do against an actual opponent and not the Islanders. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

1 – Pittsburgh Penguins (12-6-3) Last week: 2

In case you didn’t hear, Crosby is back. Two goals, two assists, and one bad mustache=trouble everywhere. The Pens are healthy and that alone vaults them to the top.

2 – Chicago Blackhawks (12-6-3) Last week: 1

Sure, their record is as good as Pittsburgh’s, but the Penguins weren’t blown out 9-2 by the Oilers.

3 – Philadelphia Flyers (11-6-3) Last week: 7

Sure half the roster is on the wrong side of 30, but 29 other teams are drooling over the young talent the Flyers got stockpiled.

4 – San Jose Sharks (12-5-1) Last week: 9

Talk about a top heavy team. The bottom six rotation of forwards for San Jose have a combined amount of goals equal to Joe Pavelski’s total.

5 – Washington Capitals (11-7-1) Last week: 3

Nothing like a little four game losing streak to knock you back down to earth. Alex Ovechkin sporting a none too impressive minus five.

6 – Detroit Red Wings (11-7-1) Last week: 8

The Wings still can’t beat San Jose, but they do a good enough job beating up on everyone else.

7 – Buffalo Sabres (12-8-0) Last week: 6

Tyler Myers replacement Mike Weber has done a great job replicating his play already with a comparable minus five and seven penalty minutes to Myers’ minus four and ten penalty minutes. Except Weber reached it in under a fifth of the games. Eek.

8 – New York Rangers (10-4-3) Last week: 10

The end of the seven game winning streak comes thanks to a 4-0 shutout to Montreal?

9 – Toronto Maple Leafs (11-8-2) Last week: 5

Two wins in six games sounds more like the Maple Leafs we all know.

10 – Dallas Stars (12-8-0) Last week: 4

The Stars finally snapped that five game skid they were on where they played horrendous. You know, just like how everyone thought they would.

11 – Minnesota Wild (12-5-3) Last week: 13

Two unbeaten weeks in the past three for the Wild, though they got some help by playing the likes of Anaheim and Columbus. Backstrom and Harding I would say have turned into the top goaltending duo in the league.

12 – Nashville Predators (10-5-4) Last week: 14

The Preds are getting healthy, giving them a semblance of offense yet again. No, seriously. They have earned a point in all but one game in their past eleven.

13 – Boston Bruins (12-7-0) Last week: 17

It appears the Bruins have remembered how to play hockey…By taking runs at players and getting away with it, cough*Lucic*cough.

14 – Vancouver Canucks (10-9-1) Last week: 12

Just think what will happen when the Canucks get into gear like the Bruins. Burrows needs to bite some fingers, pronto.

15 – Edmonton Oilers (10-8-2) Last week: 11

So after the six game winning streak, the Oilers go on a four game losing streak and have lost five of their last six. But that one win was a 9-2 demolishing of Chicago.

16 – Florida Panthers (11-6-3) Last week: 20

Behold the division leading Florida Panthers. The Fleischmann-Weiss-Versteeg is a wonder. Brian Campbell, Dmitry Kulikov, and Jason Garrison are point machines. The goaltending has been incredible. Too bad the other nine forwards are non-existent.

17 – St. Louis Blues (10-7-2) Last week: 21

Ken Hitchcock still has yet to lose a game in regulation and the Blues have won four out of six. Using Brian Elliot over the crashing and burning Jaroslav Halak improves the odds of winning of course.

18 – Los Angeles Kings (10-7-3) Last week: 18

2-1 last week, and even though the Ducks are crashing a home-and-home sweep has got to feel good.

19 – Phoenix Coyotes (10-6-3) Last week: 16

I just realized Shane Doan was set to a be a free agent this off-season, so Phoenix should start looking for a new franchise player I suppose.

20 – Tampa Bay Lightning (9-8-2) Last week: 15

The Lightning just can’t seem to find any consistency this season and their record reflects it. The production is there, but the goaltending isn’t. Wonder if they can pluck away Mikka Kiprusoff (nope).

21 – Colorado Avalanche (9-11-1) Last week: 19

2-11 over the past 13, and just like that the Avs are looking like the same floundering team from last season. Semyon Varlamov looking like a bust equally as fast.

22 – New Jersey Devils (10-8-1) Last week: 22

Seriously Brodeur, just retire for crying out loud. Zach Parise says his chances of re-signing with New Jersey depends on their chances of winning. The Devils don’t like their chances.

23 – Ottawa Senators (10-9-2) Last week: 23

Is Ottawa’s goalie of the future Robin Lehner? One game in and he already looks superior to Craig Anderson and Alex Auld.

24 – Montreal Canadians (9-9-3) Last week: 24

Is there a chance that Montreal accepts reality and actually unloads players to try and rebuild a little bit? Probably not.

25 – Winnipeg Jets (8-9-3) Last week: 28

Winnipeg gets their first three game winning streak for the photo album. It was also the productive their offense has been.

26 – Carolina Hurricanes (8-11-3) Last week: 27

Eric Staal has ten points and is -15. That’s a bad sign when you are being outpaced by Tuomo Ruutu.

27 – Calgary Flames (8-10-1) Last week: 25

A 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets can’t be good for your confidence. Look for the Flames to start clearing house soon. And I’d say everyone is available.

28 – Anaheim Ducks (6-10-4) Last week: 26

A home-and-home sweep by Los Angeles only further demotes the Ducks to an even further laughable state. Somehow Andrew Cogliano, George Parros, and Sheldon Brookbank are the only ones on the plus side with their +/- rating.

29 – Columbus Blue Jackets (5-13-2) Last week: 30

Back to back wins for Columbus gets them out of the cellar finally. Still should probably try and trade Carter and Nash, but finally not using Steve Mason could mean a turnaround.

30 – New York Islanders (5-10-3) Last week: 29

Pretty bad when Crosby’s first game back is confused for a minor league rehab assignment.

The Hawks almost look like a team that won a Stanley Cup two seasons ago. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

1 – Chicago Blackhawks (11-4-3) Last week: 4

Funny how good the Hawks can be when they are fully healthy and have competent depth.

2 – Pittsburgh Penguins (10-4-3) Last week: 2

Still no Crosby which buys the rest of the league a little bit more time. Well, until Malkin or Staal goes down with an injury again.

3 – Washington Capitals (10-4-1) Last week: 1

2-3 against Western conference teams, which proves just how tough the west is right now, even for the top of the east.

4 – Dallas Stars (11-5-0) Last week: 6

The injury bug has again avoided Dallas, with only Steve Ott out, so no great loss. Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk make the Hall of Fame, letting the Stars reminisce about times when they were popular.

5 – Toronto Maple Leafs (10-6-1) Last week: 3

The Leafs could have easily been 0-5 but luckily the shootout was there and had them sneak by with a win against the Blues.

6 – Buffalo Sabres (10-6-0) Last week: 5

Ryan Miller is out with a concussion. The way Jonas Enroth has been playing I think the Sabres are ok with that.

7 – Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-3) Last week: 7

Bryzgalov may be slowly turning things around, though it also appears the Flyers may have begun focusing more on defense lately also.

8 – Detroit Red Wings (9-5-1) Last week: 10

Slump? What slump? Three straight wins which gets a lot easier when Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk are producing.

9 – San Jose Sharks (9-5-1) Last week: 8

The Sharks are still rather mediocre against their own division. Well, except against L.A. That may be in part to the fact the Kings have looked terrible.

10 – New York Rangers (9-3-3) Last week: 17

Six straight wins for the Rangers. It helps when five of six of those games were against teams that have looked awful so far.

11 – Edmonton Oilers (9-6-2) Last week: 9

Talk about going cold. After the six game winning streak the Oil have gone 1-4 and been outscored 15-6 in three straight losses, losing all three by three goals.

12 – Vancouver Canucks (9-8-1) Last week: 12

A lot of travel with a cupcake schedule. 2-1 for the trip is pretty respectable.

13 – Minnesota Wild (9-5-3) Last week: 16

Josh Harding finally lost a game in regulation. If he cools off, expect a huge drop off in Minnesota.

14 – Nashville Predators (8-5-3) Last week: 11

Injury issues to David Legwand, Mike Fischer, and Martin Erat is not going to help a very shallow Nashville offense.

15 – Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2) Last week: 13

If the NHL even thinks a shot clock is a good idea I am going to punch Guy Boucher in the face. Shutout against St. Louis also?

16 – Phoenix Coyotes (8-4-3) Last week: 18

I would punch Dave Tippett also, but his trap approach is far more effective to the degree it is a work of art.

17 – Boston Bruins (8-7-0) Last week: 22

No suspension for Lucic. Why? He didn’t go out of his way to deck Ryan Miller. Didn’t exactly try to avoid him at all either when he had a chance to. Looks like the league still may be problematic with suspensions after all. Or Colin Campbell still pulls some strings…

18 – Los Angeles Kings (8-6-3) Last week: 14

How do you jump start an underachieving offense? Replace Dustin Penner with Colin Fraiser apparently.

19 – Colorado Avalanche (8-8-1) Last week: 15

After starting 5-1 the Avs have since gone 3-8. This seems to be the year of streaking. There has to be a better name for that…

20 – Florida Panthers (8-5-3) Last week: 19

A week after collecting three points in shootout losses, the Panthers win two games and lose one all in regulation. They get four points after winning two, and had gotten three after losing three. Seriously, fix the point system Gary.

21 – St. Louis Blues (8-7-1) Last week: 23

Ken Hitchcock takes over and the Blues seemingly up their game. Two wins and a shootout loss this past week so something is working.

22 – New Jersey Devils (8-6-1) Last week: 24

Without Kovalchuk the Devils win two out of every three games. I’m just saying…

23 – Ottawa Senators (8-9-1) Last week: 20

Ottawa can only beat the Maple Leafs when it comes to their own division.

24 – Montreal Canadians (7-7-2) Last week: 25

Peter Budaj looks like he may be stealing Carey Price’s job, which of course means he will get traded so little Carey can be left alone and not get picked on by the big, bad fans.

25 – Calgary Flames (7-8-1) Last week: 26

Things may be looking up for the Flames. Every team in the Northwest looks to be the leader at some point, so the Flames should win some more at some point.

26 – Anaheim Ducks (6-8-3) Last week: 21

Well, Anaheim finally won a game. Unfortunately that only makes them one win out of their past eight.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (6-8-3) Last week: 27

The Canes finally snapped their four game losing streak, and guess how. By scoring finally. Only six goals in the skid, and they get five goals in one game.

28 – Winnipeg Jets (5-9-3) Last week: 28

0-3 against the west so far this season and the east is clearly easier. If I was Winnipeg, I would be dreading the realignment coming next season.

29 – New York Islanders (4-7-3) Last week: 29

One win in ten games. In those nine losses the Islanders have been outscored 34 to 13. Ouch.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (3-12-1) Last week: 30

At least it wasn’t just the coaching that was the problem.

If this is what it takes to get Crosby back on the ice, Bettman will make it happen. Photo courtesy of puckinghockey.com

1 – Washington Capitals (9-3-0) Last week: 1

So do you think the Capitals will get bounced in the first round in six games, or will they take it to seven? The Caps do have the best winning percentage out east currently though. So yeah, first round exit.

2 – Pittsburgh Penguins (9-3-3) Last week: 3

Think the NHL is happy seeing that both the Caps and Pens are both hot? Well, Gary Bettman may be riding unicorns with sunshine shooting out of his butt in about a week given Crosby’s progress to return.

3 – Toronto Maple Leafs (9-4-1) Last week: 2

Sure, they beat the Penguins last week but you can’t get walloped 7-0 by your struggling division rivals. Especially on home ice. At least the Leafs got the easy wins against New Jersey and Columbus.

4 – Chicago Blackhawks (8-3-3) Last week: 9

The Hawks are starting to click, though they should see about winning in regulation for a change. Three out of four went to extra time, so the Bettman point has another beneficiary.

5 – Buffalo Sabres (8-5-0) Last week: 5

Ryan Miller seems to be riding the pine following a 3-2 loss to the Flyers where he was pulled in the first ten minutes. How did backup goalie Jonas Enroth do? Three goals allowed in three games, and he won his two starts.

6 – Dallas Stars (10-3-0) Last week: 11

The team that has the best winning percentage in the league overall? Dallas. Though six wins came against crappy teams, and another two from shootout wins against Phoenix. But I did think Dallas was supposed to be a crappy team too.

7 – Philadelphia Flyers (8-4-2) Last week: 6

Not a bad week overall, as the Flyers got points for in all three of their games, but their week was fairly light, and they got help from the Sabres spotting them a three goal lead after not showing up for the first period.

8 – San Jose Sharks (7-4-1) Last week: 4

San Jose squeaked out their one win of the week by downing Pittsburgh in a shootout, which is still no easy feat. The Sharks could probably send out a high school hockey team for their bottom two lines and still score plenty otherwise.

9 – Edmonton Oilers (8-3-2) Last week: 17

The real deal indeed until the Oilers got cooled off by the Coyotes. Still, a six game winning streak should wake the rest of the league up and realize the Oilers aren’t the team you beat up on anymore. For now.

10 – Detroit Red Wings (6-5-1) Last week: 7

Pretty scary win the Lions are playing better than the Wings and Barry Sanders isn’t on the roster. Are they busting their slump after pounding the Ducks 5-0? Maybe. Anaheim is really awful though, so it’s hard to tell.

11 – Nashville Predators (7-4-2) Last week: 15

Pekka Rinne is now the richest Predator ever. Which means what exactly for Ryan Suter and Shea Weber? Still no sign of Anders Lindback.

12 – Vancouver Canucks (7-7-1) Last week: 10

Feast or famine for the Canucks. Eleven goals in two wins, and three in two losses. And once again the Sedins are doing all the work. Also, it looks like Alex Edler is more than capable of filling in Christian Ehrhoff’s plenty-of-points-but-lousy-defense role.

13 – Tampa Bay Lightning (7-5-2) Last week: 16

The Bolts stole wins in overtime and a shootout, but they still can’t keep the puck out of their own net. Good thing they got plenty of offense as the trio of Stamkos, St. Louis, and Lecavalier has caught fire.

14 – Los Angeles Kings (6-4-3) Last week: 8

Reasons why you don’t sit your goalie after he has pitched three shutouts consecutively: The Kings have one win in their last six games. They also have scored three or more goals in a game only four times, won those four and are 2-7 when they don’t.

15 – Colorado Avalanche (7-6-1) Last week: 12

The Avalanche may want to figure out how to beat division rivals since they have gone 0-3 against them so far. Going 0-24 in those tend to hurt.

16 – Minnesota Wild (7-3-3) Last week: 20

Josh Harding has played in net for the Wild their past four games. He has four wins, and didn’t allow two goals in all four. I believe the Wild may have a new starter for the time being.

17 – New York Rangers (7-3-3) Last week: 25

After starting their six game home stand with two blown leads the Rangers shoot off four wins a row. It does help when you play Anaheim, Montreal, and Winnipeg for three of those.

18 – Phoenix Coyotes (7-4-2) Last week: 24

The Coyotes are set to have a John McCain bobble-head giveaway. Not a Ray Whitney, Radim Vrbata, Mike Smith, or even a Shane Doan bobble-head. McCain. Sure, hockey can last in Arizona. I don’t think the Predators will do an Al Gore giveaway.

19 – Florida Panthers (6-4-3) Last week: 13

Heart breaking week for the Panthers, suffering three consecutive shootout loses. But hey, they basically did the equivalent of going .500 with three out of six points. But sure, let’s keep the shootout and the point system. Sheesh.

20 – Ottawa Senators (7-7-1) Last week: 18

The Senators got knocked back down to earth with three straight losses, all in divisional games. So they can beat the leading Leafs, and lose to everyone else?

21 – Anaheim Ducks (5-6-3) Last week: 14

Remember when the Ducks were 4-1? Well, they have only won only once since then. They only have fifteen goals in their last nine, and their 41 year old Finn is the only guy still producing it seems.

22 – Boston Bruins (5-7-0) Last week: 19

One month in and the former champs are in last place of the eastern conference. Good thing they discovered how to score their past two games, most of it courtesy of that Seguin kid who wasn’t playing at times during their Cup run. Go figure.

23 – St. Louis Blues (6-7-0) Last week: 21

Ken Hitchcock returns to his stomping grounds around the mid-west to see if he can turn around the underachieving Blues. Columbus has to be pissed.

24 – New Jersey Devils (6-5-1) Last week: 22

The Devils won twice since Ilya Kovalchuk got injured. I would keep him out at this rate. It worked for the Devils for 15 years before he showed up.

25 – Montreal Canadians (5-6-2) Last week: 23

Scott Gomez is on his way back to joining the Habs, which of course expands their lead in the underachieving forward category.

26 – Calgary Flames (6-6-1) Last week: 28

On the bright side the Flames could be doing worse. On the other hand, they could be doing a hell of a lot better. A slow start for Jarome Iginla may have something to do with that.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (5-6-3) Last week: 27

If the Hurricanes want to turn their season around they may need to have some other people start scoring outside of Jeff Skinner. Chad LaRose and Tuomo Ruutu aren’t top six forwards.

28 – Winnipeg Jets (5-7-2) Last week: 29

2-2 at home and 3-7 on the road. This raises the question of why are the Jets on the road so damn much to start their season?

29 – New York Islanders (4-5-2) Last week: 26

The Islanders were once 3-1. They are 1-6 since then, but won their last game. And who was it against? The Capitals of course. Makes sense.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (2-11-1) Last week: 30

Still only two wins and Ken Hitchcock wants nothing to do with them. Better start that overhaul regardless.