[SPORTS] NHL Power Rankings – January 20th, 2011

Published on by DJ Sullivan

DJ on ICE: Hockey coverage with DJ Sullivan

Team Current Prior Record
Vancouver Canucks 1 5 29-9-6 The Canucks are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.  The Sedins have a total of 115 points between them and Ryan Kesler has a healthy 25 goals.
Philadelphia Flyers 2 4 30-11-5 Danny Briere wasn’t even invited to the All-Star game until Jarome Iginla said No Thank You.  Maybe that’s why he punched Rangers’ Brandon Prust from the bench last week.  Philly is #1 in the NHL standings.  Chris Pronger seems to be waiting until playoff time to turn his game up.  He’s currently out with a foot injury.
Pittsburgh Penguins 3 12 29-14-4 Sidney Crosby is out with a concussion but the wins keep coming for the Pens.  The Pens recently showed the Red Wings who’s boss with a 4-1 win.
Detroit Red Wings 4 3 28-12-6 Tomas Holmstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and goalie Jimmy Howard are out with injury but the deep Red Wings are holding steady.  The Wings look to bounce back from a 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh with games against St. Louis, Chicago, and New Jersey.  Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 51 points.
Boston Bruins 5 10 26-13-7 The Bruins have won 5 of 6 including 7-0 and 6-0 wins over Ottawa and Carolina.  Goalie Tim Thomas leads the NHL in GAA 1.83 and save % 0.945.  Milan Lucic has 17 goals to lead the B’s.
Dallas Stars 6 15 28-13-5 Everyone keeps waiting for the Stars to fall but they keep shining.  Brad Richards, James Neal, and Brenden Morrow each have 18 goals.  Goalie Kari Lehtonen has been ‘good enough’ with a 0.918 GAA.
Washington Capitals 7 2 25-14-8 The Caps haven’t scored more than three goals in a game in 2011, but they’re still one point back for the division lead.  Alex Ovechkin has twice as many assists (30) as goals (16).  Alex Semin has 18 goals.
Chicago Blackhawks 8 13 25-18-4 The defending Cup champs are clinging to the 8th playoff spot in the West.  Patrick Sharp leads the team with 25 goals.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier with Detroit and Philly on back to back nights this weekend.
Nashville Predators 9 23 25-15-6 Nashville is 6 points behind Detroit.  Wouldn’t that be something if the Preds dethroned the Wings.  Defenseman Shea Weber leads the team with a modest 28 points.  Matthew Lombardi, Cal O’Reilly, and Steve Sullivan are out with injuries.
Anaheim Ducks 10 11 26-19-4 The Ducks are beating up on bad teams.  Forty year old Teemu Selanne has 14 goals and 27 assists.  Corey Perry has 50 points (24+26).  Jonas Hiller has been solid with a 0.927 SV%.
Phoenix Coyotes 11 19 23-15-9 The Coyotes are in 6th position in the West.  After winning 6 of 7 the Coyotes dropped 2 in a row to San Jose & Nashville.  A defenseman named Keith Yandle leads the team in points with 37 (7+30).
Los Angeles Kings 12 1 24-21-1 The Kings are just 2-7 in 2011.  Goal scoring has been the main issue.  Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Ryan Smyth, and Dustin Brown need to step it up and stop the free-fall.
Carolina Hurricanes 13 26 22-18-6 Eric Staal has help in the form of 2nd line Center, Jeff Skinner (16 goals).  Goalie Cam Ward is somehow in the All Star game despite average stats (2.72 GAA, 0.919 SV%)
New York Rangers 14 9 26-18-3 Brandon Dubinsky (17 goals) has been a pleasant surprise and Brian Boyle (15 goals) has been an absolute shock.  Rookie Derek Stepan has been inconsistent but still has racked up 27 points.
Atlanta Thrashers 15 24 23-18-7 Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien may be on his way to the Norris Trophy with 16 goals and 25 assists.  The Thrashers hope they’re on their way to the playoffs as they currently hold onto the 8th spot.
Montreal Canadiens 16 6 26-17-4 The Canadiens are holding onto the 6th playoff spot, but injuries to injuries to Michael Cammalleri and Max Pacioretty have the Habs running out of healthy forwards.  Captain Brian Gionta has 15 goals to lead the team.  Goalie Carey Price has shaken off the critics… for now.
Tampa Bay Lightning 17 20 27-15-5 The Lightning are only several points out of first place in their division, but they also lost twice in one week to the Devils.  Steven Stamkos leads the NHL with 35 goals.
Colorado Avalanche 18 21 24-16-6 Rookie defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has 5 goals and 16 assists while Matt Duchene leads the team with 43 points.  The 7th place Aves welcome back Chris Stewart who missed 20 games with an injury.
San Jose Sharks 19 7 23-19-5 The Sharks went on a six game losing streak but have recovered with two wins.  They’re going to need better than that to get back into the playoffs.  Logan Couture leads the team with 20 goals.  Big Ryan Clowe is out with a leg injury.
Minnesota Wild 20 14 23-18-5 Defenseman Brent Burns is tied for the team lead in goals with 13.  Cal Clutterbuk is the other 13 goal scorer.  LW Guillaume Latendresse is out with a groin injury.  4 wins then 3 losses, then 2 wins.  The Wild are alternating weeks of Winning and losing.
Florida Panthers 21 18 21-20-3 7 out of 8 points following three straight losses has the Panthers clinging to playoff hopes.  Too bad nobody is there to see the games.  The only name (Brian McCabe) on a team of no-names is out with injury.  Stephen Weiss leads the team with 13 goals and 20 assists.
Buffalo Sabres 22 22 20-20-5 The Sabres have been consistently average this season.  Ryan Miller continues to hold the club above water while an ownership change seems imminent.  Derek Roy’s season ending injury is the first dagger in the Sabres playoff hopes.
St. Louis Blues 23 8 22-17-6 2-5-1 in January has the Blues falling from the NHL’s elite.  Young star TJ Oshie and Andy McDonald are out with injuries which is hurting St. Louis’ chances to solidify a playoff position.
Calgary Flames 24 25 20-20-6 It’s cold in Calgary and the Flames aren’t helping anything.  They’re 3-2-3 in January.  That level of achievement won’t be enough to overcome the Flames terrible start.  Rene Bourque (15 goals) is the only person not named Jarome Iginla (19 goals) who’s scoring goals.
Toronto Maple Leafs 25 27 18-21-5 If fan support counted for anything the Leafs would be #1.  But it counts for nothing.  Clarke MacArthur leads the Leafs with 37 points.  Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin have also been a pleasant surprise contributing 18 and 16 goals respectively.
Columbus Blue Jackets 26 17 21-20-5 The Blue Jackets aren’t going to get out of obscurity by going 1-5-2 over an 8 game stretch.  Rick Nash continues to lead Columbus with 21 goals on the season.
New York Islanders 27 28 14-22-7 The Isles only bright spot is second year player John Tavares.  Tavares scored a natural hat trick in the Isles 5-3 win vs. Buffalo on Saturday.  LW Matt Moulson has 14 goals for the Isles.
Ottawa Senators 28 28 17-22-6 Coach Cory Clouston isn’t on the hot seat; his seat is on fire! The Senators’ only win in 2011 came against the Islanders who are just as pitiful as the Sens.  It’s only a matter of time before the Sens ownership fires coach Clouston and most likely GM Bryan Murray.  Daniel Alfredsson leads the Sens with a mere 27 points.  To put that in perspective, Sidney Crosby has 66 points.
Edmonton Oilers 29 29 14-22-7 The Oilers are working their way towards yet another lottery draft pick.  How many Taylor Hall’s will it take to get the Oilers out of the NHL’s cellar?  Edmonton’s power play is 2nd worst in the league at 13.1%
New Jersey Devils 30 30 12-29-3 New Jersey is the worst in record (27 points), worst in goal differential (-53) and in offense (85 goals).  The only bright spot is that they are #1 in the league in Shots allowed with 27.5 per game.  The Devils have officially abandoned ship on the season firing coach John MacLean and trading captain Jamie Langenbrunner back to Dallas.  Many fans wish they’d trade away Ilya Kovalchuk who has scored a mere 12 goals.

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