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Power Rankings: Cup champs abound in top five |
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Features
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Written by Blake Benzel
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Sunday, November 27, 2011 20:43 |
The top five teams in the NHL are a veritable who’s who of recent Stanley Cup Champions. We’ll give you one guess at which team is the odd one out.
1
Detroit Red Wings (14-7-1) – A scary, scary moment on Saturday has turned a little less scary: The Wings released on their Twitter feed that forward Patrick Eaves will miss at least six weeks after having surgery to repair a fractured jaw. Not the best news in the world but, considering some of the alternatives, Detroit and Eaves should take it.
2
Boston Bruins (14-7-1) – Shane Hnidy returned to Boston on Saturday as an announcer, which stirred up memories of last season’s Cup run with the Bruins. It’s understandable, as the view from the press box at the TD Banknorth Garden is a pretty memorable view.
3
Pittsburgh Penguins (14-6-4) – Sidney Crosby returned this week. “Good for him.” In Ovechkin’s defense, he should be more worried about his game right now than Crosby’s.
4
Chicago Blackhawks (14-7-3) – Remember that Jonathan Toews guy? Apparently when he’s not checking youth hockey players, in his free time he’s a pretty good hockey player.
5
Minnesota Wild (13-6-3) – The Wild are playing strong hockey and some are considering Mike Yeo among the early favorites for the Jack Adams Award. Chuck Fletcher for Executive of the Year doesn’t sound quite so far fetched anymore, either.
6
New York Rangers (12-5-3) – Andre Deveaux has been suspended for three games for his hit on Tomas Fleischmann. Is anyone else surprised the Rangers’ first suspension of the season came to someone not wearing the number 16?
7
Vancouver Canucks (13-9-1) – A controversy is being created brewing in Vancouver between Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo in net. There are about six million reasons why Luongo will probably re-establish himself as the number one.
8
Toronto Maple Leafs (13-8-2) – One underrated story during the Leafs' resurgence is the red-hot play of Twitter superstar Joffrey Lupul. Something tells me the irrelevant one at this year’s All Star draft won’t be a Leaf (though some might be hoping for it – there is a car on the line.
9
San Jose Sharks (13-6-1) – Forward Jamie McGinn has been labeled a “Canuck hunter” by the Vancouver media. Apparently Vancouver doesn’t appreciate anyone who isn't in a Canucks uniform finishing his checks.
10
St. Louis Blues (12-8-2) – So Brett Hull wants to own a part of the Blues. That could certainly make Board of Governors meetings a bit more interesting.
11
Philadelphia Flyers (13-7-3) – Wait, there might be a goalie controversy in Philly now?
12
Florida Panthers (12-7-4) – Apparently Florida’s scoring has been a little top heavy. So that means they have more than one line?
13
Phoenix Coyotes (12-7-3) – This is pretty good coming out of Phoenix: Not only has Kyle Turris ended his inexplicable holdout, now he's not going to be re-assigned for a conditioning stint. Because apparently the best thing for a young player who hasn’t played in the NHL since the spring is to just throw him to the wolves.
14
Buffalo Sabres (13-9-1) – Paul Gaustad answered the bell pretty needlessly against the Bruins this week. Apparently the phrase "a day late and a dollar short" doesn’t really mean anything to him.
15
Los Angeles Kings (11-8-4) – Breaking News: Mike Richards is pretty good on the power play.
16
Edmonton Oilers (12-9-2) – For the first time in their last 17 tries, the Oilers won in Minnesota – all the more impressive considering how bad some of the Wild teams have been during that span.
17
New Jersey Devils (12-9-1) – Apparently, the fact that the NBA was locked out for the first few weeks of the season has hurt local businesses in Newark. People do know that the Devils are still there, yeah?
18
Tampa Bay Lightning (11-9-2) – Dana Tyrell has been recalled in hopes that he’ll bring what he did last season. I’m assuming that doesn’t involve any run-ins with Dion Phaneuf.
19
Nashville Predators (10-8-4) – It’s an election year, which means that even hockey is subject to politics.
20
Washington Capitals (12-9-1) – As goes Ovechkin, so go the Capitals. Ovi hasn’t been very good lately.
21
Dallas Stars (13-9-1) – Kari Lehtonen’s wonky groin has flared up again and one has to wonder if the Stars were riding him too hard this early in the season. The mature answer is that no, because he’s their starting goalie and was playing extremely well. For the juvenile answer, click here.
22
Montreal Canadiens (10-10-4) – Alexei Emelin apparently has some untapped offensive potential. To clarify, knocking players into next week still doesn’t qualify as offense.
23
Winnipeg Jets (9-10-4) – A fun time-killer if you’re bored: Search for articles about the Winnipeg Jets and count how many bad flight puns pop up.
24
Columbus Blue Jackets (6-13-3) – Maybe not so coincidentally, the Jackets have started playing better without Steve Mason in net. It’s a good thing they have a solid backup plan. Oh, wait…
25
Ottawa Senators (10-10-2) – Good for Bryan Murray for not handling Nikita Filatov with kid gloves. The down side? That approach hasn’t worked so hot in the past.
26
Colorado Avalanche (10-12-1) – Erik Johnson has been placed on IR by the struggling Avs. Not a good omen for a team looking to rebound, and not a great indictment on the return for Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk.
27
Carolina Hurricanes (8-12-4) – Tomas Kaberle was a healthy scratch Sunday. I guess he just really liked playing in Toronto.
28
New York Islanders (6-11-4) – The Isles will keep El Nino with the team, despite the fact that he’s sat the last four games in the press box. They took the same approach with Josh Bailey and that worked pretty well … OK, maybe not.
29
Calgary Flames (8-12-1) – Former Isles forward Blake Comeau was claimed off waivers by the Flames. Calgary, there’s your secondary scoring.
30
Anaheim Ducks (6-12-4) – The Ducks are starting to get frustrated with their losing ways, which I believe is Stage 2 for teams destined for a lottery pick in the Entry Draft.
Photos by Getty Images
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Last Updated on Monday, November 28, 2011 04:01 |
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