1. Power Rankings: The Sharks are surging

HPT Power Rankings (Week 5)       1. Pittsburgh Penguins (11-3-0): The Pens lead the league with 11 wins after posting a 2-1 record this week, and remaining a perfect 6-0 on the road. Pittsburgh has a West Coast swing coming this week with games in Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Chris Kunitz flipped the switch finally and now has 11 points. He’ll play his old ’mates in Anaheim on Tuesday.       2. Colorado Avalanche (10-2-2): The Avs are still tied with the Pens for the best record in the NHL. Peter Budaj, who was supposed to split the goaltending duties with Craig Anderson, has the swine flu. Meanwhile, Anderson (10-2-2, 2.04 GAA) is making a case for Olympic inclusion. Ryan O’Reilly has thrown his name into the Calder Trophy discussion with 11 points in 14 games.   3. San Jose Sharks (10-4-1): After a busy week, the Sharks find themselves on a five-game winning streak. San Jose leaps up from 10th after going 4-0 and outscoring opponents 14-4. Defenseman Dan Boyle has 13 points in 15 games and is playing well with an ‘A’ on his jersey.   4. Washington Capitals (8-2-3): The Caps’ six-game win streak was snapped by a 4-3 OT loss to the Islanders. Alex Ovechkin has 23 points and is showing no signs of slowing down. Semyon Varlamov (3.20 GAA, .895 save percentage) is 5-0 and getting more goal support than Jose Theodore (2.66, .915).       5. Buffalo Sabres (8-2-1): Buffalo is looking like an elite team, and Ryan Miller (1.86 GAA, .936 save percentage) is my pick for the Vezina so far. Derek Roy still has no goals. Scoring is still a question, and who knows where the Sabres would be without Miller in goal?     6. Chicago Blackhawks (8-4-1): The Hawks went 2-1 this week with wins over Minnesota and Montreal. A five-day rest follows before back-to-back away games in Phoenix and Colorado. Defenseman Brent Sopel has fallen off the charts; he has played all but one game and has zero points.       7. New Jersey Devils (8-4-0): Will Devils fans stop showing up to home games? The Devils are 7-0 on the road and just 1-4 at home. Dainius Zubrus scored two goals in his last three games. The injuries are mounting, with Paul Martin, Jay Pandolfo, and Patrik Elias still out.     8. Phoenix Coyotes (9-4-0): The Coyotes are still playing good hockey and still getting NO support. Fewer than 7,000 people witnessed a 3-2 shootout win over Anaheim on Saturday. Their three-game winning streak will get tested in a busy week, with games against Los Angeles, Colorado, Chicago, and the Ducks.     9. New York Rangers (8-5-1): First, the good news: Marian Gaborik is healthy and scored the game’s only goal on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the Bruins. That win also stopped a two game losing streak. The bad news: Games in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary are next and threaten to push the Blueshirts closer to .500.       10. Los Angeles Kings (8-4-2): The Kings are looking like playoff contenders and people are noticing: The average attendance at Staples Center is around 16,000. Alexander Frolov is out of the doghouse and onto the score sheet, with 12 points in 13 games.     11. Calgary Flames (7-4-1): The Flames went 0-2 this week with losses to Detroit and Colorado. Dion Phaneuf is enjoying a productive season so far, with nine points and his usual complement of ridiculous hits. Jay Bouwmeester has six points in 12 games.       12. Ottawa Senators (6-4-2): The Sens are still playing average hockey. They unloaded 51 shots on Atlanta goalie Ondrej Pavelic on Saturday and lost 3-1. Jason Spezza still has no goals this year. The Heatley trade is starting to heavily favor the Sharks; Milan Michalek is playing well but Jonathan Cheechoo has no goals and 2 assists in 12 games.     13. Philadelphia Flyers (6-4-1): The Flyers have gone 1-2 this week as they are looking less impressive. The usual suspects (Simon Gagne, Daniel Briere) have been put on the injured list. Rookie winger James Van Riemsdyk is picking up some of the slack, with 10 points in nine games.       14. Dallas Stars (6-3-5): The Stars went 1-1-1 this week and are in fourth place in a very competitive Pacific Division. Captain Brenden Morrow is enjoying a productive, injury-free season so far with 13 points.     15. Edmonton Oilers (7-6-1): The Oilers were shut out three times this week — by the Bruins, Avs, and Canucks. Their only win came in a 6-5 win over Detroit. The Islanders and Rangers arrive this week, with a five-game road trip to follow Thursday’s home matchup with the Rangers.       16. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-5-1): The Jackets took a step back this week, going 0-2-1. Losses to the Kings, Coyotes, and Penguins bring them into their Sunday night matchup in D.C. Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason (.881 save percentage and 3.48 goals against average) is not playing like he did last year.     17. Boston Bruins (6-6-1): The Bruins certainly don’t look like the powerhouse of a season ago. Phil Kessel’s absence was noticeable in a 2-1 loss to the Devils and 1-0 loss to the Rangers this week. Their only win since Oct. 24 came on Halloween, a 2-0 win over Edmonton.     18. Montreal Canadiens (7-7-0): The Habs went 2-2 this week. Brian Gionta has cooled off and sits at eight points through the team’s first 14 games. Jaroslav Halak (5-2) is very close to winning the starting goalie position over Carey Price (2-5).     19. Atlanta Thrashers (5-4-1): Ondrej Pavelec is certainly the goaltender of the week. He was completely under siege in Ottawa on Saturday, facing 51 shots, and only gave up one goal. Pavelec is making sure the Thrashers don’t miss Kari Lehtonen (back surgery). Nik Antropov is trying to score his first goal of the season but Max Afinogenov (10 games, seven points) looks happy in baby blue.     20. Vancouver Canucks (7-7-0): The Canucks are experiencing an injury frenzy and are playing .500 hockey. Daniel Sedin, Roberto Luongo, Sami Salo, and Rick Rypien are still out of the lineup. The Canucks look to rebound from an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the lowly Ducks before blanking the red-hot Avalanche behind Andrew Raycroft.   21. Detroit Red Wings (5-4-3): The Wings appear to have woken up and start playing hockey in a 2-0-1 week. Pavel Datsyuk has turned on; he’s got 10 points and sits in second on the team in points.   22. Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-4): The Bolts went 1-0-1 this week, including a 2-1 shootout loss to the Devils in which they looked horrific. Tampa recorded 19 shots on goal while yielding 38. Tampa visits the Flyers, Leafs, Sens, and Habs this week.     23. St. Louis Blues (5-6-1): The Blues started off hot and quickly cooled, as they sit in last place in a less-than-impressive Central Division. The Blues have been shut out in back-to-back games by the Coyotes and the Panthers. They have four days to think things over before facing the Flames and Flyers at the end of the week.       24. Nashville Predators (6-6-1): The Preds are playing well of late, winning three straight. They are doing it without Jason Arnott, who has now missed six games. J.P. Dumont missed four games with dizziness and still holds the team lead in points.     25. Minnesota Wild (5-9-0): The Wild are tied with the Ducks for the worst record in the West. Their play on the road is going to have to get better (1-8-0). So will an offense, that’s averaging little more than two goals per game.       26. Anaheim Ducks (4-6-1): The Ducks are struggling and have the fewest wins of any team in the Western Conference. Handing Toronto its first win was the low point, though they gained some confidence by scoring seven on a decimated Canucks squad Friday. Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer and Saku Koivu have one goal each, and need to rescue this team out of the basement before it is too late.     27. New York Islanders (4-4-5): The Isles are starting to play some good hockey while making the Atlantic Division even tougher to play in. The Isles went 3-0-1 this week, including a very impressive 5-0 win over the Sabres on Sunday.     28. Florida Panthers (4-7-1): The Panthers are one of three teams yet to gain 10 points in the standings. Nathan Horton (goal, six assists in his last three games) must have read these rankings (or anyone’s) the past few weeks; he’s up to 10 points in 12 games.       29. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-8-4): The Leafs are getting some much-needed scoring in the lineup Tuesday, when Kessel is expected to make his debut in blue and white. Tomas Kaberle is having an impressive season so far as he leads the team with 17 points.     30. Carolina Hurricanes (2-8-3): The Canes now have nine losses in a row and are competing with the Leafs for the title of the league’s Most Ridiculously Awful Team. After last year’s playoffs, Cam Ward was throwing himself into the discussion for Team Canada’s No. 1 goaltender. Now he’s 28th in the NHL in goals-against average and has appeared in all but one game.

| News/Features | Monday, 02 November 2009 02:41 | Print | PDF

2. Victory is transcendent for Habs, White

BOSTON – While progress has come at a painful pace for the Boston Bruins this season, their archrival Montreal Canadiens — who have also been snakebitten by the injury bug — are moving in light years by comparison. And the Habs, compared to the rest of the NHL, are still moving at a turtle’s pace. In a game that saw the two original six franchises face off for the 700th time Thursday night, the Bruins (6-7) — despite losing one of their best scorers, David Krejci, to the H1NI virus — avoided their longest scoring drought in 80 years by 51.7 seconds. Meanwhile, despite the fact that Montreal (8-8) needed extra time to win the 2-1 shootout, at least they could take stock in the fact that rookie Ryan White collected his first NHL point in his first NHL game. “It wasn’t [pretty] but it’s my favorite one up to date I’ll tell you that,” White said of assisting on his team's only regulation goal. “It wasn’t like it was a nice backward pass or anything like that, but it was perfect and I wouldn’t want to get it any other way.” What was started with White's utilitarian assist was finished spectacularly by former Bruin Glen Metropolit. The first-period goal came after White fed Andrei Kostitsyn in the neutral zone, poking a puck that popped out of a collision between Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick. Kostitsyn drove to the net, which he wrapped around from the left to the right and dumped the puck off to Metropolit in front of the goal at the 17:32 mark. “It was beautiful; those guys made a great play,” White said. “I just made a little one in the zone but it worked out good.” About five minutes later the Bruins had a goal disallowed after a replay showed the net was jarred off the hook before Patrice Bergeron knocked the puck in. But Bergeron would finally get a goal, the team’s first in 192:06, by slamming home a rebound off Derek Morris’s shot. “Once again, it’s like a broken record,” Blake Wheeler said. “We say the same thing over and over again, night in, night out. You’ve got to be tired of it. You look around; we’ve got a lot of guys who can score goals and all of a sudden we are going on nine periods of no goals. We’ve got to take that to heart. We’ve got to take it personally.” While the Bruins were glad to finally see the end of their goal-scoring drought, the game also marked the end of a losing streak for Habs goalkeeper Carey Price. “I hadn’t won in six games, and that was not the time to get upset,” Price, who finished with 42 saves for his third win of the season, said of allowing Bergeron’s goal. “I had to refocus in a hurry because if I let it slip, then I lose another game.” In the shootout Price stopped Wheeler, Bergeron and Mark Recchi while Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri beat Bruins netminder Tim Thomas on the only shootout goal to improve the Canadiens’ overtime mark to 7-0. In the end, a game billed as a matchup between teams that are shadows of their previous selves transcended mediocrity through the sheer intensity of their historic rivalry. “It’s always fun,” Metropolit told reporters before a which was the first meeting between the two teams since Boston knocked Montreal out of the playoffs last season. “Who knows what kind of rivalry we’ll start tonight?” NOTEWORTHY: Wheeler was on the Krejci’s left wing Tuesday night, a day before Krejci was diagnosed with H1N1. “Kind of took me by surprise, like everyone else,” he said. “I guess that’s the way the word is today. You’ve got to be careful. Obviously we wish him the best and a speedy recovery.” The Bruins were quick to point out they had no plans to be vaccinated for the swine flu, unlike the Calgary Flames, who recently took heat for jumping ahead of eligible Alberta citizens who were waiting for innoculations. “We do the best we can. David Krejci is not around the team, and hopefully that’s where it will stop, but there is no guarantee,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “We are all vulnerable to it, we just have to deal with it the best way we can.”

| News/Northeast | Friday, 06 November 2009 19:07 | Print | PDF

3. Power Rankings: A change at the top

HPT Power Rankings (Week 6): It seems to happen once a year. Richard Zednik. Adam Burish. Clint Malarchuk. Teemu Selanne. This week, Cam Ward joined the list of hockey players who found themselves on the wrong end of skate blades, and we hope it's the last one we see this year. It's more bad news for a Carolina team that seems mired at the bottom of the rankings. The defending Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, once mired at the top, are slipping thanks to injuries of their own. Who  dethroned the champs this week? 1. San Jose Sharks (12-4-2): The Sharks went 2-0-1 this week and got Joe Pavelski back in the lineup in a 5-0 romping of the Penguins on Saturday. The trio of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Dany Heatley have combined for 63 points just 18 games into the season. 2. Colorado Avalanche (12-3-2): The Avs are still playing some terrific hockey, tied with the Sharks for the best record in the league. Peter Budaj is healthy but, unfortunately for him, it doesn’t look like he’s the team’s number one choice in net. 3. Pittsburgh Penguins (12-5-0): The Pens went 1-2-0 this week. Evgeni Malkin is nursing an injury and the Pens won’t be able to stay on top for long without him. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up five goals to Los Angeles on Thursday before giving up four and getting pulled in San Jose on Saturday. 4. Washington Capitals (10-3-4): Besides a loss to the Devils, the Caps don’t seem to have missed a beat without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. The team swept a weekend home-and-home with the Florida Panthers with 4-1 and 7-4 wins. The Caps have three days off until the Islanders and Wild come into D.C. on Wednesday and Friday. Ovechkin eyes a Saturday return in New Jersey. 5. New Jersey Devils (11-4-0): A five-game winning streak and an 8-0 record on the road is darn impressive considering Patrik Elias, Rob Niedermayer, Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, and Johnny Oduya were out of the lineup Saturday in Ottawa. Elias was impressive Friday but rested Saturday and will look to return full-time Wednesday. Andy Greene has stepped up to look like a number one D-man in the absence of Martin and Oduya. 6. Los Angeles Kings (10-5-2): Following a 2-1 week, Anze Kopitar is the league leader in points and Ryan Smyth is looking like he did in Edmonton, with 20 points in 17 games. The Kings have a tough week coming up with four road games in six days. 7. Calgary Flames (10-4-1): The Flames finished a 3-0 week by beating the Rangers on Saturday. Rene Bourque still leads the team in points with 17. Dion Phaneuf (six goals) is playing very well after coming under fire by fans and media. 8. Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-1): The Flyers go into their four-day break riding a four-game winning streak. Besides the injuries, the flu bug has hit the Flyers locker room. Ray Emery has played all but one game this season and still looks solid. 9. Buffalo Sabres (9-4-1): The Sabres went 1-2 this week, including losses to the Flyers and Bruins. Losing three of their last four, is this team slowing down? The Sabres remain in first place almost by default, in a Northeast Division where no team is on fire. 10. New York Rangers (10-7-1): In a 2-2 week, the Blueshirts lost Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky to injury. They’ll get four days to recover before hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal continue to be two of the most productive players in the league. 11. Chicago Blackhawks (8-5-2): The Hawks dropped out of the top eight in the West this week, losing both of their games. Next week doesn’t look to get any easier as the Kings and Avs visit. The Hawks better look to right the ship by Sunday’s home game against the Sharks; they only have two wins on the road and a six-game road trip follows. 12. Phoenix Coyotes (10-7-0): The Coyotes lost three of four this week, and all signs point to a slowdown in an increasingly tough Pacific Division. If only 5,855 people saw the Coyotes lose to the Kings last Monday, then did it really happen? 13. Columbus Blue Jackets (9-5-2): The Blue Jackets have been on a tear lately and now sit on top of the Central Division. While that’s impressive, they’ll have a tough time staying there with a goals for-to-goals against ratio of 51-to-54. The Steve Mason of last year is going to have to make an appearance to right the ship. 14. Vancouver Canucks (10-8-0): The Canucks went 3-1 this week despite being hit hardest by a league-wide injury bug. Henrik Sedin’s foot injury was just a false alarm. He hasn’t missed a game and still leads the team in points. Ryan Kesler has 16 points and is enjoying his best season so far. Andrew Raycroft has been a solid replacement while Roberto Luongo is healing. 15. Ottawa Senators (7-5-2): The Sens blew a 2-0 lead Saturday in a home loss to New Jersey, but are still playing well. Jason Spezza only has one goal this year and the team would benefit greatly if he were able to start finding the net on a regular basis. Jonathan Cheechoo: 14 games, 0 goals. 16. Dallas Stars (7-4-6): The Stars sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division after a 1-1-1 week. The team has four days off before taking the ultimate test by traveling to the Shark Tank on Thursday. Loui Eriksson is the latest youngster to step up as he has 15 points in 17 games. 17. Detroit Red Wings (7-5-3): The Wings went 2-1 this week, getting two strong starts (and one bad one) from Chris Osgood. Scoring is still a concern: Nick Lidstrom is averaging a point every three games and Pavel Datsyuk is still not at the top of his game. 18. Boston Bruins (7-7-2): The B’s are doing a decent job of staying afloat until the injured players (Savard, Lucic, Krejci) can return to the lineup. The Bruins will face the Penguins twice following a 1-1-1 week. 19. Montreal Canadiens (8-9-0): The Habs fell below .500 with a 1-2 week. Brian Gionta scored his seventh goal in a loss to visiting Tampa Bay on Saturday. It’s hard to believe that one player, Andrei Markov, could influence the team so much with his absence. 20. Edmonton Oilers (7-8-1): The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday with a 5-3 win over Colorado. Ales Hemsky only has four goals through 16 games, and the team is 12th in the league at 2.94 goals per game. Denis Grebeshkov stands out in a bad way in the plus/minus column with a minus-8 stat. 21. Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-5): The Bolts sit in second place in the worst division in hockey, seven points behind the first-place Capitals. Vinny Lecavalier only has two goals and Martin St. Louis has three. If it weren’t for Steven Stamkos, this team would be lucky to score at all. 22. Atlanta Thrashers (6-6-1): The Thrashers went 1-2 this week as they continue to play without superstar Ilya Kovalchuk. Rich Peverley leads the team in points and Nik Antropov is still looking for his first goal. Johan Hedberg may be seeing more action soon as Ondrej Pavelec is like an on/off switch in net. He’s either Patrick Roy or Dan Cloutier on any night. 23. New York Islanders (6-6-5): The Islanders got some bad news Wednesday, when Radek Martinek was pushed into the boards awkwardly by Zach Parise and will be out for the season. The Isles are playing some good hockey at home with a 5-2-2 record. Matt Moulson (who?) is tied with John Tavares for the team lead in goals. Dwayne Roloson has looked good in net; Martin Biron has not. 24. Nashville Predators (6-6-1): The injured Preds fell down to Earth in a 1-1 week, losing to the Ducks and beating the Kings on a Southern California swing. Scoring is even more scarce without leading scorer J.P. Dumont, who hasn’t played in November because of an upper-body injury. 25. Anaheim Ducks (6-7-2): Scott Niedermayer won’t get to play his brother Wednesday in New Jersey as Rob is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Ryan Getzlaf (one goal) seems too content to pass. Jonas Hiller remains the number one goalie with J.S. Giguere sidelined with a strained groin, though Giguere is expected to return, at least as a backup, on the four-game road trip. 26. St. Louis Blues (5-6-4): The Blues are closing in on the basement of the Western Conference. It’s not a good sign when your leading scorer is 37-year-old Keith Tkachuk, with nine points in 15 games. Patrik Berglund was a player on everyone’s radar to begin the season but he has been disappointing so far (four points in 14 games). 27. Minnesota Wild (6-10-0): The Wild sit at the bottom of the Western Conference with six wins. If things don’t improve, expect Marek Zidlicky and Andrew Brunette to draw interest from contenders. The Wild now have a four-game road trip with stops in Toronto, Tampa, Washington, and Carolina. 28. Florida Panthers (5-9-1): The Cats got pounded in a home-and-home with Washington this weekend by scores of 4-1 and 7-4. They have four days to regroup before traveling to Boston on Thursday, then returning home Saturday for a date with the Islanders in the “Battle For Relocation Rights!” matchup. 29. Toronto Maple Leafs (3-7-5): The Leafs are out of the Eastern Conference basement and are playing some decent hockey for a change. The Leafs head west this week to face the Wild, Blackhawks and Flames. Phil Kessel has three points in his first three games of the season. 30. Carolina Hurricanes (2-11-3): Guys, I know you like to start off slow and then pick things up later and surprise everyone in the playoffs, but this isn’t funny anymore. The Canes are just flat-out terrible. To make things worse, Cam Ward (gruesome leg cut) is expected out of the hospital Monday and will miss at least four weeks. Also, former Selke winner Rod Brind’Amour is a minus-12. Who saw that coming?

| News/Features | Monday, 09 November 2009 03:15 | Print | PDF

4. Power Rankings: The Pens are mightier

HPT Power Rankings (Week 3) 1. Pittsburgh Penguins (7-1-0): The Pens continue their impressive start, going undefeated this week and extending their win streak to five. Evgeni Malkin leads the team with 10 points in eight games. Only two players on the roster aren’t on the happy side of the plus/minus column. Marc-Andre Fleury boasts a .922 save percentage with a 2.09 goals-against average. 2. New York Rangers (7-1-0): It looks like Michael Del Zotto will be losing a year of restricted free agency. There’s no way the Rangers can send him back to juniors after his hot start (eight games, eight points — fourth on the team). Vinny Prospal is proving to be an absolute steal on the free-agent market with 11 points. 3. Chicago Blackhawks (5-2-1): The Blackhawks are holding onto first place with the Blue Jackets on their tails. Brian Campbell is trying to silence critics, notching seven points through eight games. Cristobal Huet is having a rough time in net but is being bailed out by his offense. The Blackhawks staged one of the best comebacks in NHL history last Monday, overcoming a 5-0 first-period deficit to beat Calgary 6-5 in overtime on a Brent Seabrook goal. 4. Columbus Blue Jackets (5-1-0): The Jackets have won three in a row and are 3-0 at home. Rick Nash has 10 points in six games, but Raffi Torres and R.J. Umberger need to start producing to keep the team afloat. Nikita Filatov has been disappointing so far too, with only one point. In goal, Steve Mason boasts a 2.35 GAA and .925 save percentage. 5. Calgary Flames (5-2-1): Jarome Iginla continues his slow start, with only four points in the early going. As a team, the Flames have given up 28 goals in eight games so far — a troubling stat for a blue line boasting Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester and Robyn Regehr. Thosee three are a collective minus-5. Calgary rebounded after the embarrassing Chicago loss. 6. Ottawa Senators (5-2-0): The Sens are proving critics wrong as they sit atop the Northeast division. Alex Kovalev scored a goal in his emotional return to Montreal on Saturday night, when the Sens handed the Habs their fifth straight loss. Milan Michalek now has four goals. Jason Spezza is underperforming with four points on Ottawa’s top line. 7. Washington Capitals (4-2-2): Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom are all among the league’s top 10 in scoring with 16, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Mike Knuble, Brendan Morrison and Brooks Laich are providing solid secondary scoring. This is an explosive team. Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov are still splitting the starting duties. 8. Colorado Avalanche (6-1-1): The Avs are still playing some impressive hockey after being slated to be a bottom feeder at the beginning of the season. Kyle Quincey is looking good on the back end with six points and a plus-3 rating. Matt Duchene scored his first NHL goal in a shootout win in Detroit Saturday. 9. San Jose Sharks (4-3-1): Joe Thornton (second in the league in points) is being his usual self. Patrick Marleau has six goals and Dany Heatley has 10 points to head up a powerful offense. Devin Setoguchi scored a pretty goal as the Sharks defeated the Islanders on Saturday, but this team needs Joe Pavelski to be healthy. 10. Philadelphia Flyers (3-2-1): The Flyers have lost three in a row and won’t get a quick fix with have three games in the next 14 days. Ryan Parent will miss over a week with a lower-body injury. At least the light schedule favors his recovery. Matt Carle is the team’s top scoring defenseman with eight points so far. 11. New Jersey Devils (4-3-0): After starting 0-2, the Devils have gone 4-1 as play on both sides of the puck is getting better. Head coach Jacques Lemaire was impressed with play from rookies Nicklas Bergfors and Matt Halischuk after a 2-0 win over Carolina on Saturday. Travis Zajac has been the Devils’ strongest forward, while Rob Niedermayer has been the most pleasant surprise. He has five points and was put on the team’s top line, between Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner, for Saturday’s game. 12. Buffalo Sabres (4-1-1): The Sabres’ defense is playing very well as a whole, but Ryan Miller is playing out of his mind. The team has only yielded 12 goals in six games so far. The team’s only regulation loss came with Patrick Lalime in net, while Miller has a 1.58 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Just don’t ask about the offense: Clarke MacArthur now leads the team with six points and Derek Roy has yet to score a goal. 13. Atlanta Thrashers (4-1-0): How about those Thrashers? Coming off an impressive victory in New Jersey on Friday, they traveled up to Buffalo to hand the Sabres a 4-2 defeat. Maxim Afinogenov treated his former team to some fireworks with a pretty goal, and Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice. Rich Peverley (seven points in five games) is playing some impressive hockey. Ondrej Pavelec looks pretty good in goal. 14. Dallas Stars (3-1-3): Rookie Jamie Benn (seven games, six points) is impressing so far, while Brad Richards, Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and James Neal are operating a point-per-game pace. Loui Eriksson and Toby Petersen are adding powerful secondary scoring. Is Marty Turco’s job in trouble? Alex Auld has two of Dallas’ three wins. 15. St. Louis Blues (3-2-1): The Blues so far are avoiding the injury bug that plagued them last year. Youngsters David Perron (0 points) and Patrik Berglund (2 points) are not living up to expectations so far. The Blues have a tough game in Pittsburgh coming up Tuesday before returning home Friday and Saturday for games against the struggling Wild and the impressive Stars. 16. Detroit Red Wings (3-3-1): Although Chris Osgood is playing very well in net, the Wings are looking rather ordinary. Detroit will look to go above .500 against hot Coyotes on Thursday in Glendale. The Wings desperately need a healthy Pavel Datsyuk in the lineup to get the ball rolling. 17. Vancouver Canucks (3-4-0): As the injuries pile up, the Canuckleheads panic. Daniel Sedin will still be out for another few weeks and Sami Salo has now joined him on IR. So has Pavol Demitra, Jannik Hansen, and Mathieu Schneider. If all goes well, the Canucks will finally enjoy a full lineup in late November. They barely hung on to defeat the struggling Wild 2-1 on Saturday. 18. Boston Bruins (3-4-0): The baby bears are averaging less than three goals per game. Milan Lucic and David Krejci need to pick things up to help the offense but Lucic will have to wait; he was placed on long-term injured reserve Sunday with a broken finger. Marc Savard scored two of the three goals in a 3-0 win in Dallas last week. 19. Edmonton Oilers (4-2-1): The Oilers have been making the fans happy so far. Mike Comrie continues to produce, while Denis Grebeshkov and Gilbert Brule are adding to a fast and young offense. Fernando Pisani’s injury doesn’t hurt as much with contributions coming from the bottom two offensive lines. Losing Sheldon Souray, however, will take away a big shot from the point. 20. Phoenix Coyotes (5-2-0): I’m running out of jokes. While we all wait for the Coyotes to fall to last place, they are actually playing pretty well. The fans aren’t doing their part however. Opening night was a sellout/whiteout. Home game number two, however (official attendance: 6,899) was abysmal. Saturday’s win over Boston was witnessed by under 10,000 as well. Martin Hanzal and Peter Mueller are still struggling. 21. Anaheim Ducks (3-3-1): The ugly ducklings are sitting in last place in the Pacific Division. The offense (16 goals in seven games) has been AWOL outside of a 6-1 win in Boston; Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry account for half of the team’s goals. Bobby Ryan, Saku Koivu, and Joffrey Lupul have been disappointing so far. The Ducks were shut out 3-0 and 5-0 by the Rangers and Blues last week. 22. Montreal Canadiens (2-5-0): Habs fans panic after one loss, so how about five in a row? Brian Gionta has cooled off as Tomas Plekanec has taken over the team lead in scoring (six points in seven games). The team has called up Marc-Andre Bergeron to help on the blue line. He will surely help the scoring from the defense, but also stands just 5-foot-9. Surely the Canadiens were in need of small players. 23. Carolina Hurricanes (2-4-1): The lack of production from Eric Staal is not good for this team; he has two points in seven games. Cam Ward stood on his head in New Jersey on Saturday only to get no offensive support in front of him. The team is only averaging around two goals per game, which should frustrate Ward and the coaches. 24. Los Angeles Kings (4-4-0): The Kings have a lot of firepower in their lineup, but eight goals in 28 games isn’t enough to compensate for shaky defensive play. Erik Ersberg was not impressive in his one start, but it might be beneficial to give him another chance; Jonathan Quick isn’t really getting the job done. The Kings have a tough week coming up with a home-and-home with Dallas and a trip to Phoenix. 25. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-3-2): The Bolts have lost two in a row and goal scoring has been scarce. The offense has been held to five goals in the last three games. Vinny Lecavalier is without a goal this year. Signing Alex Tanguay looked like a good move but has not panned out that way (one point in seven games). Things won’t get easier right away as the Sharks invade Hockey Bay on Thursday. 26. Nashville Predators (2-4-1): “Welcome to Smashville” is the new catch phrase for the Predators. I think it means the amount of drinking done by Preds fans after having to endure two and a half hours of Predators hockey. The team has scored 10 goals in seven games. 27. Florida Panthers (2-4-0): Three players share the team lead with two goals. Nathan Horton still has not woken up yet to realize that the season is six games old and he has two points (and has put just 14 shots on net). Scott Clemmensen notched a win in his first start in a Panther uniform, tying him for the team lead. He should be considered more often. 28. New York Islanders (0-3-3): The New York media is making a big deal out of John Tavares’ first NHL penalty. That’s about all the news coming out of Long Island on the ice. Off the ice, owner Charles Wang is battling for the Lighthouse project to move forward. Queens and Brooklyn look like possible destinations, should the Islanders have to leave the Hempstead-Uniondale area. Matt Moulson leads the team with seven points. 29. Minnesota Wild (1-6-0): The State of Hockey is now the State of BAD Hockey. The Wild have lost five in a row while lulling crowds to sleep with 15 goals in seven games. Thankfully, the fans in Minnesota have only seen one game: a win. The Wild are 0-6 on the road and cannot wait to get home. If this continues, fans might find themselves ice fishing on game nights. 30. Toronto Maple Leafs (0-6-1): Fans and media were talking playoffs a month ago. I’m still laughing.

| News/Features | Sunday, 18 October 2009 21:33 | Print | PDF

5. Sabres' Miller Makes Good First Impression on Wilson

Northeast Division notebook: At the helm of the worst team in the NHL, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson not only got an up-close look Friday night at one of the best teams in the league, the Buffalo Sabres. He also got a glimpse of his new netminder. Well, his goalkeeper for the Olympics, that is. Wilson, the head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, watched his Toronto team (1-8-2) fall 3-2 on Friday night after Tim Connolly netted a power-play goal 1:04 into overtime. On the bright side, Wilson watched Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller make 33 saves. Taking a 1.60 goals-against average and .944 save percentage into Friday night, Miller (8-0-1) has led his squad to a surprising 8-1-1 start. “I’m well aware of how well he’s played this year,” Wilson told reporters before the game. “We expect him to be one of our goalies, if not the starting goalie. “I just hope Buffalo doesn’t wear him out.” The Maple Leafs, who came in with the best power-play unit in the league, finished 0 for 4 with the man advantage on Friday night. Toronto completes a five-game road trip against Montreal on Saturday. BUFFALO Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier announced that rookie defenseman Tyler Myers will stay with the Sabres indefinitely. Regier said on Thursday that Myers, who still has junior eligibility remaining, will “remain with the team for the foreseeable future.” Myers’ three-year, entry-level contract officially began against Toronto on Saturday night. He had two goals and three assists through nine games. … The Sabres are 9-2 in their last 11 games against Toronto, including six straight wins. ... Buffalo defender Toni Lydman missed his third consecutive game on Friday with a groin injury. ... Before returning home to take on the Leafs, the Sabres swept a three-game road trip, including a 4-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night. BOSTON Despite a 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Thursday night that dropped the B’s record to 5-5, the underperforming team was pleased to come 86 seconds away from playing a complete game. “I can’t say I’m disappointed with the way we played but [I’m] definitely disappointed with the outcome, Bruins coach Claude Julien said told the media after his team gave up the game winner to Dainius Zubrus with 1:26 to play. … The first meeting between two original-six teams will be on Sunday, when the Bruins travel to New York for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Rangers. It is the second in a stretch of three games in four nights for Boston. MONTREAL After having a four-game win streak broken by a 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night, Montreal looked to get back on its feet with a win against Chicago on Friday. After coming back from a 2-0 deficit, the Habs fell 3-2. Before its win streak, Montreal (6-7-0) had lost five straight. ... Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the date former Montreal goaltender Jacques Plante altered hockey forever. On Nov. 1, 1959, after taking a shot to the nose off the stick of New York Ranger Andy Bathgate, Plante became the first goalie in pro hockey history to wear a mask. OTTAWA The Ottawa Senators fell victim to their own success on Thursday night, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 just two weeks after beating Tampa by a count of 7-1. “We definitely used that as motivation,” Lightning center Steven Stamkos told reporters after scoring two goals and three points.

| News/Northeast | Friday, 30 October 2009 23:18 | Print | PDF

6. Winless Leafs Thinking Happy Thoughts

Northeast Division notebook: With the lowly New York Islanders finally picking up their first win of the season Wednesday, a 4-3 shootout victory against Carolina, the Toronto Maple Leafs remain the only winless team in the NHL. But the mood around the Leafs remained upbeat Thursday as they left for a five-game road trip, including Saturday night’s game against the Canucks, who were 4-5 as of Friday. “It's all about staying positive,” defenseman Mike Komisarek told the Canadian Press. “It's easy to get caught up in the negativity if you follow what the media (are saying). You can’t let it get to you, you have to stay positive. The results haven't been there and you have to build somewhere -- and that starts in practice for us.” The 0-6-1 Maple Leafs flashed smiles and joked around with each other as they packed up for the road trip after wrapping up a four-day stretch of practice that Leafs coach Ron Wilson tried to keep lighthearted. Wilson reserved time for a 3-on-3 tournament during practice to try to pump life back into his team. But the big question mark remained: Would goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, who went through his first full practice Thursday since injuring his groin on Oct. 6, return on Saturday? Wilson told a Toronto radio station that he had his “fingers crossed” that Gustavsson could play. “It's getting better and better,” Gustavsson told the Canadian Press. “I'm not sure about Saturday. We'll see what happens.” MONTREAL Center Glen Metropolit finally returned to the lineup on Thursday night after missing six games with a rib injury. He collected two assists in a 5-1 victory against the New York Islanders. … The win against the one-win Islanders was an ugly one. New York took seven penalties, turned the puck over 23 times and allowed Montreal to rifle 43 shots at goaltender Martin Biron. … Team president Pierre Boivin called for a Quebec hockey symposium on Thursday, noting that the province has had a tough time developing its youth players for the NHL. The speech came just after ex-NHL player Bob Sirois released a controversial book arguing that discrimination still exists in the NHL against French-Canadians. BUFFALO Starting the season 5-1-1, the Sabres are leading a charmed season thus far. Despite not scoring in the final two periods against Florida on Wednesday night, the Sabres still pulled out the victory -- because they registered five goals in the opening 20 minutes of the contest at Bank-Atlantic Center. “We weren’t ready to play,” Florida coach Peter DeBoer told the Miami Herald. ... Playing for the first time in eight days, Thomas Vanek returned from an upper-body injury to score a goal against the Panthers. ... Defenseman Toni Lydman missed practice Friday with a groin strain and could be replaced by Nathan Paetsch in the lineup Saturday in Tampa, the Buffalo News reported on its Sabres Edge blog. BOSTON Daniel Paille has taken quickly to his new home in Boston. After being traded by Buffalo on Tuesday he logged an assist in Boston’s 3-2 victory against Nashville the following day. “It was a little bit of a shock, but I'm also excited at the same time,” Paille told the Boston media after joining the team. “It was just to a point where I wasn’t playing in Buffalo, and Buffalo thought I deserved to play, whether it was with them or with someone else. They thought somebody else, and I'm more than happy to be here. It's exciting for me.” ... Paille is the first player ever to be traded between the two franchises. ... Brad Marchand was recalled from AHL Providence for Wednesday's game and picked up an assist in his NHL debut. OTTAWA The Senators were happy to leave with a point on Thursday night against Nashville after erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period. The 6-5 OT loss improved their record to 5-2-1, putting them tied in the points category (11) at the top of the division with Buffalo. ... G Pascal LeClaire (flu) and F Milan Michalek (upper-body) were doubtful for Saturday's game against Boston, the Ottawa Citizen reported. ... F Jesse Winchester was assigned to AHL Binghampton on Friday for conditioning. ... D Matt Carkner signed a two-year contract extension on Tuesday. ... Binghamton Sens forward Ilya Zubov, the club's leading scorer last season, was loaned to the Russian Kontinental Hockey League.

| News/Northeast | Friday, 23 October 2009 12:47 | Print | PDF

7. Power Rankings: A Crack in the Igloo

HPT Power Rankings (Week 4) 1. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-2-0): Despite a 4-1 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the Pens are still the best team in the league. They embarrassed the Blues and snuck by the Panthers. Alex Goligoski (nine points) continues to impress on the blue line, and will need to continue this play in the absence of Sergei Gonchar. 2. Calgary Flames (7-2-1): The Flames won both of their games this week — 6-3 over Columbus and 5-2 over Edmonton — in a display of offensive depth. The Flames now boast a 3-0 lead in the Battle of Alberta and a 5-1 record at home. 3. Colorado Avalanche (8-1-2): Tied with the Penguins for the best record in the league, the Avs have yet to descend from the stratosphere. They seem intent on disappointing critics all season long. Darcy Tucker will be out 10 days after receiving a dirty hit from Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu, who was suspended for three games. 4. New York Rangers (7-3-1): Losses to the Sharks (7-3), Devils (4-2) and Canadiens (5-4) this week bring the Rangers back down to Earth. Vinny Prospal’s impressive play is earning some big ice time (20:13). Ales Kotalik (five goals, 11 points) is averaging a point per game. 5. Washington Capitals (6-2-2): The Caps won both games this week without Alexander Semin, who is nursing an illness. Jose Theodore is playing very well in net and seems to be closer to claiming the starting spot. Free-agent signee Brendan Morrison (eight points in 10 games) has been a nice surprise. 6. Chicago Blackhawks (6-3-1): Losing Jonathan Toews for any amount of time will hurt the Hawks; the captain suffered a concussion in a 3-2 loss to the Canucks on Wednesday. Cristobal Huet was excellent in net Saturday in a 2-0 victory over Nashville. 7. Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-1): The Flyers had a two-game win streak halted Sunday night against San Jose, as Brian Boucher spelled Ray Emery for the first time this season. Should Mike Richards have been suspended for his hit on David Booth? Yes. There was a clear intent to injure. 8. New Jersey Devils (6-3-0): The Devils are 5-1 since dropping their first two games, and posted impressive wins this week against the Rangers and Penguins. Injuries are the issue here: Mike Mottau, Jay Pandolfo, and Paul Martin have joined Patrik Elias in the trainer’s room. Elias is due back in two weeks, but the club can’t survive without Martin for long. 9. Buffalo Sabres (6-1-1): The Sabres went 2-0 this week and are now sitting atop the Northeast. Drew Stafford, Jason Pominville and Tim Connolly are playing well. Derek Roy has yet to score a goal, but is leading the team with seven points, all assists. Ryan Miller is 6-0-1 with a .940 save percentage. 10. San Jose Sharks (6-4-1): Ryan Vesce has four points in his first four NHL games, making a strong case to stay in the league. Now playing his natural center position, Patrick Marleau leads the team with nine goals. Somehow, the Sharks only sit in third place in a competitive Pacific Division. Defense is an area of concern: San Jose is allowing an average of three goals against per game. 11. Ottawa Senators (5-2-2): The Sens suffered two losses this week but gained a point in each, a 6-5 overtime loss to Nashville and a 4-3 shootout loss to Boston. Have Jonathan Cheechoo (two assists) and Ryan Shannon (no points) realized the season already started? 12. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-3-0): The Jackets went 1-2 this week, giving up 16 goals in three games. Steve Mason has a troubling 3.14 goals-against average, while backup Mathieu Garon gave up five goals in a loss at Edmonton. Jakub Voracek is surprising everyone with eight points and a plus-5 rating in nine games. 13. Dallas Stars (5-2-4): If the Stars can get this overtime thing figured out, they’d have one of the best records in the league. James Neal is an impressive youngster and captain Brenden Morrow has 10 points in 11 games. Getting Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen back from IR will only make this team better. 14. Edmonton Oilers (6-3-1): Though they’re generally playing well, the Oilers are going to have to beat the Flames eventually if they want to challenge for the division crown. They’ve lost three times to the Flames already. Edmonton got Luongoed in Vancouver, 2-0 on Sunday night, and faces the surging Avalanche on Tuesday. 15. Phoenix Coyotes (6-3-0): The Coyotes went 1-1 this week and are still playing some good hockey. A total of 7,968 showed up Saturday night to witness a 5-3 loss to the Kings. Fans clearly seem disinterested in keeping their team; Quebec City here we come? 16. Los Angeles Kings (7-4-0): The Kings went 3-0-0 this week to climb atop the Pacific Division. Anze Kopitar has a ridiculous 19 points in 11 games and Ryan Smyth seems comfortable wearing purple. After a questionable start, Jonathan Quick is starting to look like a true number one between the pipes. 17. Boston Bruins (5-4-1): The Bruins went 2-0-1 this week but will be without the services of offensive stalwarts Marc Savard and Mlian Lucic for a while. It’s troubling to see that defenseman Derek Morris is tied for the team lead in scoring. The team has four days off before the Devils come to town on Thursday. 18. Montreal Canadiens (5-5-0): The Habs have brought themselves back to .500 and, in turn, brought some fans back away from the ledge. Mike Cammalleri had a great game in a 5-4 overtime comeback win on Saturday over the New York Rangers. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is proving to be a solid pickup, with three points in his first three games. 19. Vancouver Canucks (5-5-0): Christian Ehrhoff is proving to be a solid pickup with eight points from the back end. Kyle Wellwood (one assist in 10 games) needs to step it up. Mason Raymond scored twice in a win over Toronto on Saturday. After a slow start, Roberto Luongo has won three straight and finally pushed his save percentage north of .900. 20. Atlanta Thrashers (4-3-1): The Thrashers are another early surprise team that seems to be leveling off. The best news in an 0-2-1 week is that Ilya Kovalchuk seems interested in signing long-term. A rejuvenated Maxim Afinogenov (six points in eight games) has been a big help on offense. 21. St. Louis Blues (4-4-1): Bad news away from the ice during a 1-2 week: T.J. Oshie is out indefinitely after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. David Backes, recently a considered an Olympic squad sleeper, isn’t helping his cause, with just two points in nine games. 22. Detroit Red Wings (3-4-2): The Wings have lost three in a row. Pavel Datsyuk has yet to score this season and Henrik Zetterberg only has one goal. If this is the year the Wings fall from the top, is it time to rebuild? 23. Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3-3): The Bolts went 1-0-1 this week. Vinny Lecavalier got his first goal of the year and Steven Stamkos continues to impress. Alex Tanguay (two assists, no goals in nine games) lacked offers this summer and is helping to confirm opinions among NHL general managers. 24. Anaheim Ducks (3-5-1): The Ducks have lost three in a row at home. Jonas Hiller had been keeping the team afloat, then was pulled midway through a Wednesday loss to St. Louis, then Jean-Sebastien Giguere tweaked his groin Saturday and may have to go on IR. Add that to a list of problems that includes Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Saku Koivu (one goal each). 25. Carolina Hurricanes (2-5-3): The Canes struggled through an 0-1-2 week. Tuomo Ruutu has been suspended three games by the league for a dangerous, inappropriate hit on Darcy Tucker in Colorado on Friday. Eric Staal only has four points. 26. Nashville Predators (3-6-1): The Preds are not going anywhere this season. They have scored a laughable 18 goals in 10 games. J.P. Dumont is the leading scorer with seven points. Already this year, 27 different players have suited up. 27. Minnesota Wild (3-7-0): The Wild went 2-1 this week, as this team may be turning the corner with Cal Clutterbuck off IR and Chuck Kobasew in from Boston. Martin Havlat’s injury was not serious and remains in the lineup. Clutterbuck had a highlight-reel overtime goal in a win over Carolina on Saturday. 28. New York Islanders (1-4-4): The Isles got their first win of the year in a 1-1-1 week. Carrying their share of the burden, Matt Moulson, John Tavares, and Kyle Okposo are becoming a bona fide top scoring line. The goaltending picture hasn’t cleared up, with duties still being split between Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron. 29. Florida Panthers (2-6-1): The Panthers sit in last place in the division after going 0-2-1 this week. If they don’t get David Booth (concussion) back for an extended period, things will just get worse. Steven Reinprecht leads the team with six points. It may be time to get off the Nathan Horton train. 30. Toronto Maple Leafs (0-7-1): When the consensus is that the Leafs played their best game of the year in a 3-1 loss to Vancouver, it speaks volumes. So do the fans wearing paper bags on their heads. The Leafs’ ECHL-affiliate Reading Royals could probably beat them right now.

| News/Features | Monday, 26 October 2009 04:25 | Print | PDF

8. Bruins' 2018 draft pick lined up?

Northeast Division notebook: The Boston Bruins might not be giving fans much to cheer about on the ice — they were 3-3 heading into Saturday night's game in Phoenix — but Oliver Wahlstrom has. The 9-year-old has become a YouTube sensation after he scored a dazzling goal during an Oct. 4 “Mini One-on-One” tournament taped at TD Bank Garden. The goal, in which the Maine resident picks the puck up on the side of his blade, spins and then flicks it into the net, appeared on ESPN. It had received more than 300,000 views on YouTube by Saturday. The boy also appeared on the CBS Early Show on Friday. Wahlstrom told the Boston Globe he modeled the move after University of Michigan’s Mike Legg’s 1996 goal in which he carried the puck on his blade before popping it in the net. “I call it ‘The Michigan,’ ” he said. “I just dreamt it up.” MONTREAL Despite having seven men on the ice in the final moments of a 3-2 loss to Colorado earlier this week, the Canadiens couldn’t net the equalizer. The Habs sent out an extra attacker but, when Hal Gill’s penalty ended in the final minute, Gill remained on the ice and the officials didn’t realize the Canadiens had an extra man. ... A similar situation went down in Game 3 of the Staley Cup Finals last year when Pittsburgh had six skaters on the ice for 21 seconds before beating Detroit 4-2.  … It does not appear that the team will discipline Georges Laraque for endorsing an alcoholic energy drink. The Canadiens enforcer appeared in an Internet ad for the drink Octane 7.0 — playing street hockey with scantily clad women — despite the fact the league prohibits players from sponsoring alcoholic beverages other than malt-based beverages, such as beer. The Habs say sanctions will have to come from the NHL, which has not commented on the issue. ... Prime Minister Stephen Harper helped unveil a set of commemorative stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Center on Saturday. He was accompanied by hockey legends Rejean Houle and Guy Lafleur and Habs president Pierre Boivin. TORONTO One of two winless teams as of Friday (the Islanders being the other), the Maple Leafs attempted to lighten things up during Thursday’s practice. Coach Ron Wilson introduced activities such as dodgeball with tennis balls and relay races. He also sent players through a length-of-the-ice gauntlet while the rest of the team shelled them with pucks. ... The Leafs did, however, get some good news this week: Thursday was also Phil Kessel's first day back to practice after an injury. ... And some bad news: defenseman Mike Van Ryn will have major knee surgery in late October, removing him from the lineup for the season and possibly ending his career. OTTAWA Milan Michalek collected a hat trick in the most spectacular fashion Thursday night, not just scoring once in each period of a 7-1 victory against Tampa Bay, but by scoring twice short-handed and once on a power play. ... Head coach Cory Clouston told the Ottawa Sun that defenseman Filip Kuba, who has missed five games with a groin injury, was to skate Saturday with an eye towards returning Thursday when the Senators host the Nashville Predators. ... Defenseman Anton Volchenkov had 18 blocked shots through Friday, tied for fourth in the league. BUFFALO The “upper body injury” sustained by standout winger Thomas Vanek kept him out of back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Vanek left Wednesday’s 6-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings with 12:46 to go in the second period and did not return. After the game his coach, Lindy Ruff, said it was possible Vanek would be out for “weeks.” ... Ryan Miller ranked second among all starting goalies in goals-against average (1.58) and third in save percentage (.938) through Saturday. The Sabres' eight goals allowed through Saturday were the fewest in the league.

| News/Northeast | Sunday, 18 October 2009 00:00 | Print | PDF

9. Power Rankings: Let the Games Count!

How much movement can there be in the preseason? Ask Theo Fleury. (Last week's rankings in parentheses) 1. Montreal Canadiens (1) The Habs finished out the preseason with a 4-2-1 record. The new faces have made their mark, but Carey Price still remains somewhat of a liability. Scott Gomez, Michael Cammalleri, and Brian Gionta looked solid in the 4-3 win over the Penguins on Sept. 21. 2. San Jose Sharks (4) Manny Malhotra is an underrated signing. He’s a good two-way center that will help the Sharks out on both sides of the puck. Jamie McGinn, 20, has a shot at making the team. Dany Heatley has posted one point, but Patrick Marleau’s effort shows he’s trying to earn the captain’s C back. 3. Pittsburgh Penguins (2) Is Sidney Crosby hurt? He missed the preseason finale with a groin issue. The Pens also only managed to record one victory in six tries, an overtime victory over Columbus on Sept. 15. 4. Vancouver Canucks (10) The Canucks went 7-1-1 in the preseason. They look terrific and Roberto Luongo seems to be on top of his game. This will be a good year in Van City. 5. New Jersey Devils (5) The Devils are 3-0-1, with only a home game against the Islanders remaining in the preseason. Nicklas Bergfors looks like he is going to make the team, as is Yann Danis, who was given the only opportunities to be the backup goaltender. Only time will tell if Rob Niedermayer was a good signing. Either way, the Devils had better pray that Patrik Elias is healthy. 6. Boston Bruins (7) Even though it’ll take some convincing that trading Phil Kessel wasn’t a horrible idea, this team looks built for a strong postseason run. Goal-scoring is the question mark: The Bruins scored more than two goals only twice in eight preseason games; one was a win. 7. Chicago Blackhawks (3) The Hawks have had a less than impressive preseason, though they only played four games through Sunday. They’re now in Europe tuning up for the season opener. While most clubs are close to deciding their opening-night roster, the Hawks still have spots open. 8. Calgary Flames (6) Nothing out of the ordinary in Calgary: After being reinstated by the league, Theo Fleury was given a tryout on the understanding that, if he wasn’t going to be used as a top six forward, he’d be cut. On Friday, he was cut. 9. Philadelphia Flyers (9) Ray Emery had a good preseason, and he better be ready for a full season: Brian Boucher left in the middle of the first period against the Devils on Saturday. If that injury is serious, the Flyers may have a goaltending issue. Other than that, this club looks strong coming into the season. 10. Detroit Red Wings (8) The Wings never had much of a full roster at any time during the preseason, but there aren’t many questions about who will be on it opening night. Questions about their goaltending and speed weren’t answered but youngster Justin Abdelkader has impressed. He was thrown into the fire during the playoffs last year. Let’s see what he can do with a full season. 11. New York Rangers (14)   We may see a very young lineup on opening night. Matt Gilroy. Enver Lisin, and Artem Anisimov look to have played their way onto the team. Marian Gaborik needs to stay healthy. He was very impressive in the games he’s played so far. 12. Washington Capitals (11) Life is good: The Caps went 4-2 in the preseason, and Alex Ovechkin is healthy. Alexander Semin will force people to notice him this year. 13. Anaheim Ducks (16) The Ducks have a very strong team coming into the season. The Chris Pronger trade seemed better for them than for the Flyers on draft day. Strong preseasons by Luca Sbisa and Joffrey Lupul (three goals, second on the team) have only reinforced that. The blue line is fast on a team with some BIG guys. 14. St. Louis Blues (12) The Blues are young, fast and have good leadership in Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk. Maybe everyone will have a career year: Thirteen players are in a contract year. 15. Buffalo Sabres (19) The Sabres haven’t made much noise this preseason. Besides role players Mike Grier and Steve Montador, their roster looks the same as it did last year. Without Ryan Miller in net, the Sabres don’t touch the postseason. With him, they have a chance. 16. Carolina Hurricanes (15) The ’Canes had a short, four-game preseason and went .500. This team has an almost certain opening-night lineup and there should be no surprises here. 17. Dallas Stars (13) Dallas will have up to 14 players looking for new contracts next season, which might be extra motivation for everyone — including goaltender Marty Turco. The Stars will need to score more goals in order to push for a playoff spot. 18. Edmonton Oilers (18) The Oilers have a young and very fast team, but talk about a mediocre preseason: 2-2, 13 goals for, 13 goals against. Nikolai Khabibulin makes this team look more playoff-worthy. 19. Minnesota Wild (20) Martin Havlat is having a lot of fun on his new team. Petr Sykora is also a welcome offensive addition. The Wild will be interesting to watch this year as they look to become stronger on the offensive side of the puck. 20. Ottawa Senators (17) The Sens had two wins this preseason as they looked less than impressive. You can’t judge fully from preseason games, but this team has a long way to go to get back in the playoffs. 21. Columbus Blue Jackets (21) The Jackets had a loaded eight-game preseason schedule; they won four. This gave the staff a good look at some of the young guys, especially 19-year-old Nikita Filatov, who notched a goal and four points in five games. Martin Skoula hopes his efforts (in camp on a Pro Tryout Contract) will result in a spot on the blue line. 22. Los Angeles Kings (22) The Kings can go either way, but have the young talent to really cause some damage. Some, like checking-liner Wayne Simmonds (five preseason games, five goals) look like they’re ready. Goaltending is still a question mark, as neither Jonathan Quick or Erik Ersberg are proven starters. 23. Tampa Bay Lightning (24) Looking past the ownership circus, the Lightning had a decent preseason. For once, there’s enough talent on the roster to challenge in the division. If Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman play above their age, this team will be dangerous. 24. Nashville Predators (27) Although the schedule was light, the Preds looked better than expected in the preseason, winning four out of six. Rookie center Mike Santorelli (two goals, four points in four games) looks ready to be the second-line left wing. 25. Toronto Maple Leafs (26) Ron Wilson, three days before cutting Nazim Kadri: “If I keep Kadri, you guys will say it's a stupid decision. If I send Kadri down, you guys will say it's a stupid decision.” If you insist. … Phil Kessel adds much-needed scoring. Is it enough? Not if Kessel doesn’t suit up until December. 26. New York Islanders (23) All eyes were on John Tavares this preseason. He has one point. Where is DiPietro? (Maybe check the trainer’s room.) Kyle Okposo was the recipient of a Dion Phaneuf flying attack (read: dirty hit), and the Isles hope he’ll recover quickly. 27. Atlanta Thrashers (25) The Thrashers have looked less than impressive with two wins in six tries. Ilya Kovalchuk has the front office wrapped around his finger. Thrasher fans hope that the situation doesn’t make him bigger than the team. If keeping him is going to be such a problem, they should trade him before he becomes a free agent in a Heatley-type deal and stock up on quality players. 28. Florida Panthers (28) There is not enough firepower on the Panthers’ roster. The Southeast Division is getting a lot stronger, and the ‘Cats may have let themselves sink to the bottom. Sixteen goals in seven games? Then again, it’s still the preseason. 29. Colorado Avalanche (29) The Avs are averaging 2.5 goals per game through six preseason games. That’s not enough for a team with a suspect defense and Craig Anderson in goal. 30. Phoenix Coyotes Wayne Gretzky stepped down as head coach. Anyone that thinks this will impact the team negatively forgets that, without skates, Gretzky is just a name. Dave Tippett is a much better coach, but that won’t help things in the desert.

| News/Features | Monday, 28 September 2009 03:40 | Print | PDF

10. ATLANTIC

| RokTabs/RokTabs | Monday, 28 September 2009 09:46 | Print | PDF