Feature Articles

NHL Power Rankings By James Meyerriecks

We have this set up in column form, but I'm just waiting for the go-ahead. We'll soon be leaving the Feature Article segment and headed for our very own hockey column here at FIC!

Though we're still working on a way to set up some space on the site where we can incorporate our player rankings, we can still set up all of you puckheads with an opportunity to scout your player's opponents for favorable and unfavorable matchups with our first power rankings of the year.

Figures are calculated based on a handful of factors, including:

- Team win/loss performance to this point in the season
- Team win/loss performance over the past ten games
- Team goals for, against, and differential
- Recent injuries that may have an effect on their upcoming schedule

1. Anaheim Ducks (1) - Settled for a split with intra-city rival Los Angeles last week, but also buried the top ten Preds 4-0. The Ducks have won eight of ten to take over the best record in hockey.

2. Buffalo Sabres (3) - They're looking human lately, going 6-3-1 in their past ten, including losses to perennial bottom-feeders Florida and Washington. They're still scoring more than half a goal more than their closest competitors.

3. San Jose Sharks (2) - The Cheechoo Train got rolling in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Preds, managing a point on all three goals. If Thornton and Cheechoo get going to go along with the dominant second line, they're one of very few teams that could challenge the Ducks out west.

4. Atlanta Thrashers (8) - Forget the 8-0 blowout loss to the Lightning on Thursday. The Thrash have at least a point in six of their last seven, including five wins. Hossa and Kovalchuk continue to carry the offense, while Kari Lehtonen's living up to the hype.

5. Detroit Red Wings (10) - Nothing like a home-and-home against the Blues to get a team going again. Outscored their opponents 14-5 this week as they went 3-0 and crawled back within a point of division-leading Nashville.

6. Calgary Flames (7) - Shut out the defending champs 3-0 this week in the Saddledome, and at least earned a point in thier OT loss to the Wild. Kipper continues to flourish, while Alex Tanguay has a point in ten of his last thirteen and Jarome Iginla has a point in fourteen of his last sixteen.

7. Dallas Stars (12) - Turco's starting to roll again. Dallas has won four of five to start December, including a phenomenal 1-0 win over the rival Sharks last week.

8. Nashville Predators (4) - Like so many before them, the Preds struggled on their West Coast trip, losing three of four on their trip through the Pacific. They've lost four of five overall, and are in danger of surrendering their division lead.

9. Montreal Canadiens (6) - Drop three spots after losing three of four, all by one goal.

10. New York Rangers (14) - Won three straight in anti-Ranger fashion. Rather than trying to win slugfests, the improved play of Henrik Lundqvist is letting them pull games out even when they're not scoring at will.

11. New Jersey Devils (17) - - Marty's just being Marty. Devils have won their first five in December, and outscored their opponents by a dominating total of 9-2 in the past week.

12. Edmonton Oilers (13) - Won three of four this week, including a nice signature win against the Stars and a little revenge in a rematch of last year's finals with a 3-1 win over the Hurricanes. Who needs Ryan Smyth or Ales Hemsky?

13. Ottawa Senators (5) - Struggling to find consistency. After winning eight of nine, they've dropped three in a row, including 6-2 blowout losses to the Caps and Blue Jackets.

14. New York Islanders (9) - Ted Nolan has to be an early favorite for the Jack Adams award, but the Isles came back to earth a bit this week by going 2-2.

15. Washington Capitals (20) - Forget Ovechkin (and even Semin). Who was expecting this kind of year out of Chris Clark or Matt Pettinger? Caps have won five of six to get themselves back into contention.

16. Minnesota Wild (24) - The return of one star has helped the Wild win three in a row. This team could easily be in the top ten with a healthy Marian Gaborik. The only question is if there is such a thing......

17. Colorado Avalanche (16) - Talk about your bizarre weeks. The Avs went 1-2-0, with losses to two of the worst teams in the league (L.A. and Columbus) and a win over the third-ranked Sharks. Jose Theodore can blame his hip flexor if he wants for the collapse in Los Angeles Saturday if he wants, but the fact of the matter is that Peter Budaj has outplayed him when Theo's healthy.

18. Carolina Hurricanes (11) - 'Canes continue to look terrific at home and extremely mediocre on the road. A three-game trip through the Northwest meant an 0-3 record this past week.

19. Boston Bruins (15) - Hannu Toivonen finally returned Saturday after Thomas appeared to be getting lit up for the third time in four starts. He looked good.. for about a period and a half before imploding in the final twelve minutes against the Devils. The goaltending is what's going to keep this team from making the playoffs.

20. Chicago Blackhawks (18) - Marty Havlat's back, and making his presence felt. Havlat's scored three in just two games since returning from the IR, and should help this team make a serious run at the playoffs. Unfortunately, while they've secured at least a point in their past seven games, they lost three of their four games this week in overtime.

21. Tampa Bay Lightning (22) - Rough recent stretch has seen them play three of the top four teams in the league in the past week. While they won the most important one in impressive fashion (8-0 vs. Atlanta), they've lost five of six overall.

22. Pittsburgh Penguins (19) - Had an impressive overtime win over the Thrashers to close out the week, but they've won just two of their last nine. Sid the Kid and Evgeni Malkin continue to be brilliant, but this team's not ready for prime time yet.

23. Columbus Blue Jackets (30) - It was clear that Ken Hitchcock was going to help pull this team out of the basement, but who would have guessed it would be this dramatic? Suddenly impressive Jackets have won four in a row by a combined 18-3 margin, including decisive victories over Edmonton and Ottawa.

24. Vancouver Canucks (23) - Brian Burke's quickly learning that it doesn't matter how good your goaltender is if you only have three guys capable of scoring. They're scoring a league-worst 2.20 goals a game.

25. Los Angeles Kings (25) - Won two of three, including an impressive win over Anaheim. However, they're still just 5-5 in their last ten and aren't winning big enough to make a jump based on goal differential.

26. Phoenix Coyotes (27) - Knocked off the front-running Preds and red hot Blackhawks, but lost their other two against the impenetrable Dallas defense. Still not scoring enough to have many fantasy factors up front, with just eight goals in four games this week.

27. Toronto Maple Leafs (21) - Have dropped all the way from number six in the past two weeks while losing seven in a row.

28. Florida Panthers (28) - Finally snapped a six-game skid with a win over Pittsburgh Tuesday, and carried it over to a surprising win over the Sabres on Thursday. Unfortunately, they followed that up by losing a couple more one-goal games. They've still won just two of ten.

29. Philadelphia Flyers (26) - The Devils own them, and that's not a good thing when they've played New Jersey in two of three. Scheduling quirk had them off for five days before playing back-to-back games against New Jersey and Washington, both two-goal losses.

30. St. Louis Blues (29) - Embarassing week saw the Blues swept by the rival Red Wings (including a 5-1 loss on the night they retired Brett Hull's number) and get annihilated 5-1 by Columbus.

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