For the Minnesota Wild, a team that was struggling to stay relevant in the Western Conference, the first two months of the season have gone better than anyone expected. Fool us for one month, shame on you. Fool us for two months, shame on us if you're not No. 1 in this week's power rankings.
1 Minnesota Wild (16-7-3) — Maybe the main reason the Wild are one of the best teams in the league right now: They’re buying into coach Mike Yeo’s philosophy.
2 Detroit Red Wings (16-7-1) — The Wings have been rated as the fourth-most valuable team in the NHL behind the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens. There's three teams who can say they’re better at one thing than the Wings right now.
3 Boston Bruins (16-7-1) — The Bruins just locked up David Krejci, but that’s not all the work that GM Peter Chiarelli has left in front of him. Obviously, locking up Benoit Pouliot is very important for the future of the franchise.
4 New York Rangers (15-5-3) — Did you know that some Sean Avery fights aren’t completely terrible? It came as news to us.
5 Pittsburgh Penguins (16-7-4) — Apparently Matt Cooke doesn’t begrudge the NHL for not reviewing John Carlson's hit to his head. Not to belittle the seriousness of headshots, but by my count Cooke has a long way to go before the rest of the NHL gets even.
6 Philadelphia Flyers (15-7-3) — Hey, what do you know? Brayden Schenn is back from injury. That means he can go back to being ineffective on the ice.
7 Florida Panthers (14-8-4) — In case you haven’t realized, Stephen Weiss is having a good season.
8 Chicago Blackhawks (16-8-3) — Patrick Sharp is about to become a father. I’d say he’s handling the pressure pretty well so far.
9 St. Louis Blues (14-9-3) — David Perron returned to action after a long layoff Saturday and scored a goal on his first shot. Joe Thornton, who delivered the knockout blow more than a year ago and texted Perron his well wishes earlier in the day, is being credited with the third assist.
10 Vancouver Canucks (14-10-1) — Roberto Luongo is getting the start on Sunday against the Calgary Flames. Quick, someone get out the bike pump …
11 San Jose Sharks (14-8-1) — Dan Boyle doesn’t like how he’s started the season. My guess is that he isn’t alone in that sentiment.
12 Los Angeles Kings (13-9-4) — Uh-oh. Mike Richards is on the IR. Time to dust off Dustin Penner.
13 Toronto Maple Leafs (14-10-2) — It may have been a loss, but James Reimer started his first game Saturday since he first experienced “concussion-like symptoms.” Or, in NHL speak, an upper-body injury.
14 Dallas Stars (15-10-1) — In case you didn’t know, the Stars like to crash the net, which explains exactly why Eric Nystrom is one of their leading goal scorers.
15 Buffalo Sabres (14-11-1) — Ryan Miller returned from a concussion and got run again. If you watch the video, he must have gotten some advice from Tim Thomas on how to respond. Helmet or no, blocker punches to the side of the head can’t feel good.
16 Phoenix Coyotes (13-9-3) — Kyle Turris made his season debut against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. To recap: Turris doesn't get traded, doesn't get sent on a conditioning assignment, and debuts in a city where every Coyotes player was going to get booed mercilessly. Are the Coyotes trying to stick it to him for holding out?
17 Washington Capitals (13-11-1) — Can someone please return the Caps to an offense-first team?
18 Edmonton Oilers (13-11-3) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is just scary good.
19 Nashville Predators (12-10-4) — By now, you’ve seen Tootoo’s hit on Miller. He said he tried to jump out of the way. Do you buy it? I don’t.
20 Winnipeg Jets (11-11-4) — Someone fancies it time for Winnipeg to stop hating the Coyotes? Sure. Just move Winnipeg out of Canada.
21 Calgary Flames (11-12-2) — Not good: Mark Giordano will be out long term for the Flames.
22 Montreal Canadiens (11-11-5) — More bad news for Andrei Markov and the Habs. The star defenseman will need knee surgery. A lot can happen in three weeks he's expected to miss.
23 Ottawa Senators (12-11-3) — I’m not going to make any predictions about the future of Nikita Filatov, but when you get bumped by Chris Neil, that’s not a good sign.
24 Colorado Avalanche (12-13-1) — As is often the case when a team is struggling, people are coming out of the woodwork with trade ideas. The latest victim is Paul Stastny.
25 New York Islanders (8-11-5) — Nino Niederreiter left Saturday’s game with a concussion because of this hit. Looks like Isles fans are going to have to wait longer for El Nino to hit the Island.
26 Columbus Blue Jackets (7-16-3) — Agent Allan Walsh is at it again, this time bashing Scott Arniel about a lack of playing time for Derick Brassard. Here’s a thought: Instead of riding the coach for making your client a healthy scratch, ride your client to play better.
27 Tampa Bay Lightning (11-12-2) — Tampa locked down franchise defenseman Victor Hedman with a five-year deal. I like the move, but they need to get Hedman moving on offense more.
28 Anaheim Ducks (7-13-5) — Jonas Hiller once again has a really cool mask. Oh yeah, and the Ducks brought in some guy named Bruce to coach the team.
29 New Jersey Devils (12-12-1) — Is Martin Brodeur losing a step? Signs seem to be pointing to yes.
30 Carolina Hurricanes (8-16-4) — John MacLean has signed on to be Carolina’s assistant coach. If nothing else, having MacLean behind him will give Kirk Muller some good job security.
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