Monday, January 16, 2012

NHL Power Rankings - Week of January 16th, 2012

Well, it's that time of week again.  It's time to randomly shuffle all 30 teams into an order that seems logical in some ways and illogical in other ways.  I like to believe that this isn't random and that it's my DGA NHL Power Rankings.  For last week's rankings, click here.


1. Boston Bruins (--) - Their recent loss to the Hurricanes hurts their chances at scoring double the amount of goals as their opponent this season.  Another 9-0 win this week would get them back on track, though.

2. New York Rangers (--) - Henrik Lundqvist's ability to stop everything makes you wonder if someday, he can stop world poverty and hunger.

3. St. Louis Blues (+2) - Jaroslav Halak's recent shutout of his former team, the Montreal Canadiens, brought memories of his playoff run in Montreal and being a backup goal--...well, I guess some things don't change.

4. Vancouver Canucks (-1) - Only Roberto Luongo could have a puck hit him, roll down every piece of goalie equipment on him and steer itself into the net...

5. Detroit Red Wings (-1) - Jimmy Howard recently won his 100th career game, which isn't that much if you compare him to Chris Osgood, but it does make him the second-best American-born goalkeeper with the last name "Howard" right now.

6. Chicago Blackhawks (+1) - Jonathan Toews recently blinked, but it was only because he saw Patrick Kane only had 10 goals this season and thought he misread something.

7. San Jose Sharks (-1) - Patrick Marleau already has 5 game-winning goals this season, which is kind of a shot to the gut of Jeremy Roenick.

8. Nashville Predators (+1) - Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are often referred to as the "twin towers" in Nashville, although the tallest building in Nashville is someone's ranch house.

9. New Jersey Devils (+1) - Lou Lamoriello allows the media tremendous insight to his quest to re-sign Zach Parise.  He was recently overheard saying "status quo" a bunch of times.

10. Ottawa Senators (+4) - I'd hate to be an Ottawa goaltender right now.  You know, the only players on the team not invited to All-Star weekend...

11. Philadelphia Flyers (-3) - The All-Star Game just isn't interesting enough or have the cap space to invite Ilya Bryzgalov.

12. Los Angeles Kings (--) - They recently scored 13 goals during a 3-game span and they face Roberto Luongo Tuesday night, which is a decent chance to keep their powerhouse offense going.

13. Washington Capitals (+3) - The Caps seem to be getting on a roll lately, although I'm not sure that they can rely on Dmitri Orlov to be the offensive hero all season...

14. Colorado Avalanche (+3) - Erik Johnson is only -11 this season.  He continues to move closer to proving why he was drafted first overall.  At this rate, it'll take him until he's 77 years old to do so.

15. Florida Panthers (-2) - After Versteeg, Fleischmann and Weiss, the Panthers next three leading scorers are all defensemen.

16. Toronto Maple Leafs (-5) - Leafs Nation is starting to wonder if this season will be like each of the last 45 have ended for them.

17. Dallas Stars (-2) - The Stars are 22-10-1 in games not started by Andrew Raycroft.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins (+3) - Evgeni Malkin is proving that Russian superstars can carry a team on his own, just not every Russian superstar can, even if he's been voted into the All-Star Game again.

19. Minnesota Wild (-1) - The fact that Nick Schultz plays the Wild's power play tells you everything you need to know about the offensive woes of this team.

20. Phoenix Coyotes (--) - Despite being on pace for 40 goals this season, Radim Vrbata may not return to Phoenix next season.  Similarly, every other player on the Coyotes may not return to Phoenix next season.

21. Montreal Canadiens (+1) - Scott Gomez has returned to the Montreal lineup, but he keeps getting booed.  Perhaps he doesn't speak French.  No, that's not it...

22. Winnipeg Jets (-3) - If Winnipeg wants to make the playoffs this season, they'll need......who exactly does score goals on that team?

23. Calgary Flames (+2) - Brent Sutter lost to his brother, Darryl the other night, but they downplayed the significance of it.  Last time two teams downplayed the significance of a game, the two cities' media outlets went to war.

24. Carolina Hurricanes (+2) - The Bruins wouldn't want to see Carolina in the playoffs...again.

25. Buffalo Sabres (-1) - Just about everyone outside of Pominville and Vanek are having awful seasons for Buffalo this year.

26. Tampa Bay Lightning (-3) - Vinny Lecavalier seemed as angry at Evgeni Malkin last night as Guy Boucher seems all the time.

27. Anaheim Ducks (+2) - The Ducks are heating up lately.  Maybe it's time to cancel the fire-sale planned for next week?

28. New York Islanders (--) - Evgeni Nabokov must look up to Marc-Andre Fleury...at least when it comes to his puck-handling ability.

29. Edmonton Oilers (-2) - Somehow, Jordan Eberle has found a way to have a positive +/- rating this season, and +/- rating is not a "trade me out of Edmonton" meter.  At least I don't think it is.

30. Columbus Blue Jackets (--) - The Jackets finally won their first game of the season without James Wisniewski in the lineup.