NEWS BY DIVISION
- 2010-11 preview: Minnesota Wild Northwest
- 2010-11 preview: Los Angeles Kings Pacific
- Chelios retires, joins Wings' front office Central
- 2010-11 preview: Florida Panthers Southeast
- 2010-11 preview: Buffalo Sabres Northeast
- 'Boogey Man' no laughing matter Atlantic
COLUMNS
- For most rookies, stargazing is a popular pastime Justin Bourne
- Will Twitter create an even duller hockey player? Justin Bourne
- Can a defenseman play forward? Should he? Justin Bourne
| Power Rankings: Rare blowout kicks off rare week |
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| Features |
| Monday, January 25, 2010 06:43 |
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HPT Power rankings (Week 17): In this week's edition of When Backup Goalies Attack! ... well, keep reading. As far as who's number one at the moment, we have a new rule — win 9-1, you get the top spot. We're guessing no other building will find itself screaming "We want 10," as they were in HP Pavilion on Monday, when the Sharks drowned the Flames with the aforementioned three field-goal licking. They probably would have made it 10-1, too, if Jody Shelley weren't running the power play in the third period. Yes, it was a strange week in the NHL. 1. San Jose Sharks (35-10-8): The Sharks went 4-0 to retake No. 1 here, as well as in the overall league standings. They outscored their opponents (Flames, Kings, Ducks, Sabres) 22-5 this week. Patrick Marleau has four goals and eight points in the last five games. 2. Chicago Blackhawks (35-13-4): The Hawks went 1-2 this week to stumble a spot. Despite not recording a point, Duncan Keith played a heck of a game Saturday in Vancouver. He took eight shots and played more than 30 minutes. 3. Washington Capitals (33-12-6): The Caps have a five-game winning streak. They have a chance to keep that going with the Isles, Ducks, Panthers and Lightning on the schedule this week. Alex Semin has 10 points in the last five games (two goals, eight assists). 4. New Jersey Devils (34-15-1): The Devils went 2-2 this week and the injury front demands more patience: Dainius Zubrus is skating and should be back in the lineup sometime in the next week. David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, and Paul Martin are not skating yet. 5. Buffalo Sabres (30-13-7): The Sabres are doing better in the scoring department: Seven players have reached double digits in goals. Yet they have lost three straight and must face Vancouver, New Jersey and Boston this week. 6. Colorado Avalanche (29-15-6): The Avs extended their winning streak to six with Sunday’s win over the Stars. Chris Stewart is tied for the team lead in goals (16) and has five points in the last five games. 7. Vancouver Canucks (31-18-2): Henrik Sedin is having a tremendous January with four goals and 21 points — and there’s still a week left. Meanwhile, the Canucks are 7-2-1 this month and riding a four-game winning streak. But one question lingers: Who was telling the truth, Alex Burrows or Stephane Auger? 8. Pittsburgh Penguins (31-20-1): Sidney Crosby had two goals and four assists in a win over the Islanders this week. After a slow start, he is turning into the offensive force most observers (and fantasy hockey owners) were expecting. 9. Calgary Flames (26-19-6): The Flames went 0-3 this week, including an absolutely embarrassing 9-1 loss to the Sharks. That brought their losing streak to five. Captain Jarome Iginla only has two assists during his team’s drought. 10. Los Angeles Kings (29-19-3): The Kings kicked off their five-game, Grammy-induced road trip with a comeback win in Detroit. Anze Kopitar has two goals and four assists in the past five games with his team fighting to stay on the good side of the playoff bubble.
11. Phoenix Coyotes (29-18-5): The Coyotes sit in a distant second place in the Pacific division. After a hat trick in Thursday’s win over Nashville, Scottie Upshall now leads the team with 17 goals. The Coyotes will face the Wings, Flames, Rangers, and Stars to close out January. 12. Nashville Predators (29-19-3): The Preds slowed down this week by dropping three straight, to Toronto, Phoenix and Colorado. They’ll look to rebound this week against a pair of divisional opponents, Detroit and Columbus, on the road. 13. Ottawa Senators (28-21-4): The Sens have extended their winning streak to six straight with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza back in the lineup. They have Sunday and Monday off before hosting New Jersey, against whom Ottawa is 0-3 this year. 14. Detroit Red Wings (25-18-8): It is a very odd sight, the top eight in the West without the Wings. Injuries have played a major part but Detroit still has a chance to right its ship. Jimmy Howard is playing much better than Chris Osgood, but Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have a combined 23 goals on the year. Not good. 15. Philadelphia Flyers (26-21-3): The Flyers saw their three-game winning streak snapped Sunday against the rival Penguins. Someone needs to tell Dan Carcillo that he needs to chill … and that his moustache has its own Facebook page. 16. Anaheim Ducks (24-21-7): The Ducks are improving overall (8-2 in their last 10 games) and on the road (3-2 in their last five, with four still left on their current trip). The reason: They’re outscoring opponents 15-8 in the third period over their last 10 games. 17. Montreal Canadiens (25-23-5): The Habs swept the Devils and Rangers over the weekend and if the playoffs started today, they would be in. But there’s no way to save face by cutting George Laraque. It’s a double whammy: You throw $3 million down the drain and cut one of the few Haitian players in NHL history in the middle of a national disaster. 18. Boston Bruins (23-19-8): The Bruins extended their losing streak to four straight by falling to the lowly Hurricanes on Sunday. While the offensively toothless Bruins slip quietly, they’re getting passed up in the Eastern Conference standings. 19. Minnesota Wild (25-23-4): The Wild are four points behind the eight spot in the West but aren’t likely to make much headway unless they can improve on an atrocious 8-17-2 record away from home. Or break above .500 (5-5-1 so far) in January. 20. New York Islanders (23-21-8): The Isles are in last place in a very competitive Atlantic Division. At the moment, they sit only one point out of a playoff spot. John Tavares has seemed to cool off lately but Matt Moulson is picking up the slack. Rick DiPietro has been solid in goal since his return but how long will his knee last? 21. New York Rangers (24-21-7): Your “what just happened?” moment of the season: The Blueshirts scored six and eight goals in back-to-back games last Sunday and Tuesday, then got shut out in their next two. Will the real New York Rangers please stand up? 22. Dallas Stars (22-18-11): The Stars sit only three points out of a playoff position at the moment and will draw the Avs twice, and the Flames and the Coyotes once, to close out January. Will Marty Turco still be in Dallas by then? 23. Atlanta Thrashers (22-21-8): It’s no fun being Don Waddell right now. Does the Atlanta GM trade Ilya Kovalchuk for young talent and risk missing the playoffs? Or do they go for it, keep Kovalchuk, but risk losing him for nothing in the off-season? 24. Florida Panthers (22-21-9): The Panthers’ playoff hopes took a huge this week when Nathan Horton fractured his tibia. He’ll miss the next four weeks. The Cats have the Habs, Caps, and Isles this week. 25. St. Louis Blues (22-21-8): On Monday, it was Minneosta's Josh Harding and Dallas' Steve Ott. On Wednesday, Carey Price made it two backup goalies to run the other team’s agitator when he went after the Blues’ Cam Janssen. The Blues go to Northwest Canada for games against the Flames, Canucks, and Oilers, before returning home to face the Blue Jackets. 26. Tampa Bay Lightning (21-20-10): The only hiccup in a 3-1 week was an embarrassing 8-2 loss to the Rangers. The team has two more home games this month and is 4-1 in January on home ice. 27. Columbus Blue Jackets (20-25-9): Antoine Vermette is making the Senators miss him. The forward has played over 20 minutes in the past five games and has two goals in the last two. Ken Hitchcock can’t be feeling much better about his job security during a 2-5 stretch. 28. Toronto Maple Leafs (17-26-10): The only thing keeping the Leafs from being the worst team in the East is Carolina. They’re 1-6-1 away from home this month. 29. Carolina Hurricanes (15-28-7): The Hurricanes have a new captain, Eric Staal. Staal is a 25-year-old Olympian and Brind’Amour is a 39-year-old in the middle of a career-worst season. Finally, the ‘Canes got something right. 30. Edmonton Oilers (16-28-6): The Oilers have still not won a game in 2010. They are 0-7-2. Look for the Oilers and Hurricanes to kick off the first pre-deadline fire sales. hockey news, 2010 NHL Trade Deadline, olympic hockey coverage, hockey headlines, hpt radio, nhl news, nhl power rankings, hockey video, podcasts, world hockey, hockey headlines |
