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Power Rankings: Wings poised for stretch run |
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Features
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Written by Blake Benzel
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Monday, February 06, 2012 01:15 |
The NHL season is starting into its final grind and teams are gearing up for their stretch run. With the NHL trade deadline less than a month off, the next few weeks will show us who will be buyers and who will be sellers. Until then, though, Detroit is again looking like the cream of the crop.
1) Detroit Red Wings (35-16-2) – With Jimmy Howard out with a broken finger, Detroit will have to lean on Ty Conklin to keep up its torrid pace. That’s not bad for Detroit though, because Conklin is a pretty competent goalie and we’re pretty convinced this team could win games with a parking cone in the cage.
2) Pittsburgh Penguins (30-19-4) – Thankfully for Evgeni Malkin, the news about Sidney Crosby’s neck injury has deflected from the fact that he has only two goals in three games since the All-Star break. Thank goodness for that, because this is a slump the likes of which the world has never seen.
3) Nashville Predators (32-17-4) – Pekka Rinne won again? And this guy wasn’t an All-Star, why?
4) Vancouver Canucks (32-15-5) – Cody Hodgson was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for the month of January. Just imagine what this guy could do if he got more than 15 minutes of ice time per night.
5) New York Rangers (33-12-5) – The New York Rangers would like to issue the following Public Service Announcement: Hey, we played on Sunday too, you know.
6) New Jersey Devils (30-19-3) – It was a rough week for the Devils. Adam Larsson suffered a bruised back after taking a check from P.K. Subban and Patrik Elias got fined $2,500 for boarding Mike Blunden. Not to mention that whole bankruptcy thing …
7) St. Louis Blues (30-14-7) – Jaroslav Halak has four shutouts in his last seven starts, otherwise meaning that Brian Elliott is again relegated to being the NHL’s best back-up goaltender.
8) Philadelphia Flyers (30-16-6) – Jaromir Jagr is considering signing on with the Flyers for one more year after his resurgence this season. His lead negotiator? Scott Hartnell.
9) Toronto Maple Leafs (27-19-6) – Taking a cue from the Super Bowl commercial for Budweiser Canada, the Leafs decided to surprise a rec team on their own time with Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly acting as coaches for the game. Unfortunately for the Leafs, Connolly dislocated his shoulder while drawing up a play on his whiteboard and is out indefinitely.
10) San Jose Sharks (29-15-6) – Former Sharks captain Owen Nolan will call his shot one last time as he is expected to announce his retirement from hockey in a press conference on Tuesday. While Nolan played a big part on many different teams, he is and always will be remembered best for his time with San Jose.
11) Boston Bruins (33-16-2) – After giving up 19 goals in their last six games, you’ve got to ask the question: Has Tim Thomas boycotted the rest of the season?
12) Chicago Blackhawks (29-17-7) – It seems that a goalie controversy is brewing in Chicago, with Ray Emery pushing Corey Crawford for the starting job. If Emery.jpg) supplants Crawford as the starting netminder, it will mark the fourth time in four seasons that the team has switched goalies during the stretch run. That they won a Cup during this stretch might be seen as nothing less than miraculous.
13) Ottawa Senators (27-21-7) – Suffice it to say that Kyle Turris is liking his change of scenery. In six games for Phoenix this season? Zero points and a minus-two. In 22 games for the Sens? 14 points and plus-nine.
14) Minnesota Wild (25-19-8) – That the Wild acquired Erik Christensen shows just how important the shootout has become in today’s NHL. That the team basically admitted as much, however, was an impressive display of candor, which is not necessarily the norm in today’s NHL.
15) Los Angeles Kings (25-18-10) – The more that people are looking into the dispute over the time clock in the Kings’ win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the more it’s appearing as if it’s happened before. Sounds like someone should buy the Staples Center a new watch for its birthday.
16) Florida Panthers (24-16-11) – With Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen holding down the crease in Florida this season, it seemed like a long shot that any goalie would get a look – at least not until next year. Thanks to injuries, though, Florida’s depth at the position has been unexpectedly showcased, the latest beneficiary being Brian Foster.
17) Washington Capitals (27-21-4) – First Nicklas Backstrom, now Brooks Laich. It looks like the Caps might be shopping for a center come Feb. 27.
18) Dallas Stars (27-22-2) – It was fitting that, on the night the Stars honored Ed Belfour, Kari Lehtonen put forth one of his best performances of the season to best the Wild 2-1 in a shootout. A few dozen more performances like that and Lehtonen might one day be honored also.
19) Tampa Bay Lightning (23-23-5) – This is a bit of a change. Once Marc-Andre Bergeron gets healthy, the Lightning’s blue line might be too crowded.
20) Anaheim Ducks (19-24-8) – With just over 30 games left, the Ducks are 12 points out of the last playoff spot and making a push for the postseason thanks, in large part, to Teemu Selanne and Jonas Hiller. That’s good news for when their Big Three start firing on all cylinders.
21) Calgary Flames (24-22-6) – Far be it from us to suggest that the Flames should tank the rest of their season, but the on-again, off-again winning streaks are going to make it a lot more difficult for Calgary to rebuild to their former greatness prior to the lockout.
22) New York Islanders (21-22-8) – Good news out of Nassau: The Isles are starting to get secondary scoring. Even better news, though, would be a new arena.
23) Carolina Hurricanes (20-25-9) – The ‘Canes denied everyone some good trade talk, signing Tim Gleason to a four-year extension. Of course, to think that he is the last of the tradeable members of this season’s miserable ‘Canes squad is a bit laughable.
24) Colorado Avalanche (26-25-3) – With all the snow in Colorado over the last few days, it looks like the talk about avalanches might not necessarily involve hockey.
25) Edmonton Oilers (21-26-5) – Sam Gagner’s last two games have seen him score six goals and 11 points. That’s more points than he had over his previous 21 games.
26) Buffalo Sabres (22-24-6) – With his win over the Isles, Ryan Miller is now the Sabres’ all-time wins leader, passing Dominik Hasek.
27) Montreal Canadiens (20-24-9) – You know someone is having a tough stretch when the fact that he almost scored, as Scott Gomez did against Winnipeg, is news.
28) Phoenix Coyotes (23-21-8) – So, now the rumor is that the Coyotes could be moved to Seattle? With the only other major sports franchises in the city being the Seahawks and the Mariners, it’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t make out like gangbusters.
29) Winnipeg Jets (24-24-6) – Dustin Byfuglien will likely head to trial for boating while impaired in Minnesota or, as it’s otherwise known, joining the crowd.
30) Columbus Blue Jackets (14-32-6) – As the Jackets found in Los Angeles, fate is a cruel mistress. The good news, though, is that Nail Yakupov will look mighty nice skating alongside Rick Nash.
Photos by Getty Images
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Last Updated on Monday, February 06, 2012 03:30 |
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