NEWS BY DIVISION
- Northeast GMs still filling roster holes Northeast
- 'Boogey Man' no laughing matter Atlantic
- Halak must prove he isn't all hype Central
- Iginla likes Calgary signings of Jokinen, Tanguay Northwest
- If Kovy stays in the East, then what? Pacific
- FAs not expected to fly Southeast this summer Southeast
COLUMNS
- Drafting well: not an easy task Justin Bourne
- Stock Up, Stock Down Justin Bourne
- Beards And Bruises: The De-evolution of Looks Justin Bourne
| Power Rankings: An awkward moment rings loud |
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| Features |
| Written by J.P. Hoornstra |
| Monday, March 15, 2010 19:49 |
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HPT Power rankings (Week 23): If you missed Sunday’s possible finals preview between Washington and Chicago, you missed a great awkward broadcasting moment. Alex Ovechkin has just been thrown out of the game and Eddie Olczyk asks “are they throwing Ovechkin out?” — followed by a long silence during which you can just imagine he turns off the mic and asks Mike Emrick, “what are we supposed to do now?” In all fairness to Mr. Olczyk, now that Ovechkin has been suspended two games, the entire city of Washington is probably asking the same question. 1. Washington Capitals (46-14-9): First, the bad news: Ovechkin sits two games for his hit on Campbell. Anything less would have drawn the ire of 29 teams expecting their superstar to get away with anything similar. The good news: The Caps are 10-2 without Ovie in the lineup this season. 2. Vancouver Canucks (43-23-3): A colleague recently broke down the Western Conference playoff race like this: He can’t pick the Blackhawks because of their goaltending. He can’t pick the Sharks because they’re the Sharks. Phoenix, Los Angeles, Colorado and Nashville are untested, and he can’t pick the eighth seed because it’s the eighth seed. Using elimination, here are your front-runners. 3. Pittsburgh Penguins (41-23-5): Wednesday’s tilt in New Jersey is the ultimate four-point game, with the teams separated by four points atop the Atlantic Division. A season sweep to the Devils can’t sit well heading into the playoffs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks (44-18-6): There’s plenty to dislike here, starting with Campbell’s uncertain future, as well as back-to-back losses to Philadelphia and Washington. This week’s three-game road trip to Anaheim, L.A. and Phoenix doesn’t look like a cakewalk. 5. San Jose Sharks (43-15-10): Dan Boyle said it best after the Sharks lost their second straight game Sunday in Anaheim: “If we're going to coast in (to the playoffs), we're going to coast our way right out.” Not that we haven’t seen that before. 7. Los Angeles Kings (40-23-5): Justin Williams returned early from his broken leg, reuniting the formidable top line of Williams, Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth. Thursday’s game against Chicago will be a good litmus test. 8. Buffalo Sabres (36-21-10): Saturday’s overtime loss in Detroit, all things considered, wasn’t a bad way to start the Sabres’ five-game road trip (also known as the Ryan Miller Swoonfest for beat writers in Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Miami and Raleigh). 9. Colorado Avalanche (39-23-6): The injury bug is biting at a bad time. Already missing Brandon Yip, David Koci, David Jones and Ruslan Salei, linemates Cody McLeod and Stephane Yelle suffered leg injuries in the first period Sunday in Dallas and didn’t return. How much more can they take? 10. New Jersey Devils (40-24-3): It’s always tough to know what to make of this team, but especially this month (losses to Edmonton and the Islanders; wins over the Sharks and Penguins). In case you missed it, check out the vintage mask Martin Brodeur donned against the Pens on Wednesday. 11. Detroit Red Wings (33-23-12): Death, taxes, and the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs, right? Back-to-back wins have them back into eighth place in the standings. 12. Nashville Predators (38-26-5): Life ain’t fair when the Preds are able to score five goals in a single game – and the other team scores eight. Such was life on Thursday in San Jose. At least the wins over the Ducks and Kings allowed them to leave California with four of a possible six points. Not too shabby. 13. St. Louis Blues (32-27-9): Don’t look now, but the Blues are 4-2 since the Olympic break. Keep that pace up, and they will finish the season with 92 points. Could that be enough to steal a playoff spot from out of nowhere for the second straight season? 14. Calgary Flames (34-25-9): The Canucks halted the Flames’ four-game win streak on Sunday. Ian White (zero goals in 13 games) isn’t lighting the lamp like Dion Phaneuf, but you have to respect his plus-10 rating since arriving from Toronto. 15. Philadelphia Flyers (36-28-4): Before he scored this goal to beat the Blackhawks on Saturday, it was unclear whether Chris Pronger still had enough jump to jump up on a play at all. Also take note of Cristobal Huet’s windup as he attempts to throw his stick – the Cubs and White Sox may need bullpen help. 16. Montreal Canadiens (35-29-6): The league’s longest winning streak is up to five games. When Marc-Andre Bergeron and Michael Cammalleri return from their respective injuries, the Habs could really peak at the right time. 17. Ottawa Senators (37-27-5): A 1-4-1 start was not how the Sens wanted to begin their post-Olympic schedule. Some of it is their fault, some of it is a killer scheduling quirk that provides no back-to-back home games in March or April. 18. New York Rangers (31-29-9): The Blueshirts are 3-2-2 this month but, with the exception of the egg Henrik Lundqvist laid in Jersey, have challenged for the win in every game — and are looking more and more like a playoff team. 19. Boston Bruins (30-25-12): While the hockey world waits to see a Marc Savard revenge play Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the reality for the Bruins is that every game is tremendously critical now. Six teams are mathematically capable of knocking them out of the No. 8 position, and no one expects the Bruins can stay there without Savard. 20. Minnesota Wild (33-29-6): They snapped a four-game losing streak by pulling out a huge road win in Buffalo on Friday. With Nick Backstrom injured, the Wild needs Josh Harding to play like he did in Buffalo and Sunday against St. Louis. 21. Dallas Stars (29-26-13): Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think the Stars would be in better position today with Dave Tippett behind the bench instead of Marc Crawford. They can prove me wrong this Sunday, when the Coyotes play in Dallas. 22. Anaheim Ducks (31-29-8): San Jose was poised to sweep the season series Sunday against their rivals to the south, when Anaheim decided to end its five-game losing streak. The injuries to Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne might keep both forwards out of Wednesday’s game against Chicago. 23. Tampa Bay Lightning (31-29-8): Steven Stamkos’ 42-goal season has been a pleasure to watch. Teddy Purcell (goal, four points in six games) has been a pleasant surprise since arriving in a trade from the Kings. 24. Carolina Hurricanes (28-32-8): Strange stat of the week: Carolina is 14-5-1 in its last 20 games, including 9-2-1 without injured Cam Ward in net. That’s good news for next year, but probably means they miss the playoffs and get a less favorable draft pick this year. 25. Atlanta Thrashers (28-29-11): That they are giving any minutes at all to 48-year-old Chris Chelios doesn’t bode well for the Thrashers’ playoff hopes. It could make for an interesting final chapter in Cheli’s biography, but don’t be surprised if he leaves his time in Atlanta out of the book entirely. 27. New York Islanders (28-32-9): It’s a shame seeing the career of Doug Weight, one of the NHL’s all-time good guys, possibly end with an injury-plagued season for a bad team. Here’s hoping he recovers from his shoulder surgery, and the Isles recover from this season. 28. Columbus Blue Jackets (27-31-11): Speaking of having one less reason to watch a team at all: Rick Nash has missed three straight games with a lower-body injury. Remarkably, Columbus won two of the three. 29. Toronto Maple Leafs (23-34-12): J-S Giguere snapped a five-game losing streak Thursday against Tampa Bay. One more win with the Leafs, and he’ll equal his total (four) from 20 games this season with Anaheim. 30. Edmonton Oilers (21-40-7): It would be nice to say the Oilers hit the low point of their season Saturday in a 6-4 loss to Toronto. But there’s still 14 games left. |
