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NHL

Power Rankings: New Year's Edition

Posted Jan 02, 2009 12:00PM By Ted Starkey (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NHL General, NHL Power Rankings

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With 2009 finally here, there's a new team atop the NHL, both in the President's Trophy race and AOL's latest power rankings.

The Bruins celebrated New Year's Day by completing a home-and-home win over the Penguins to vault them past the Sharks into first place overall in the league, as Boston has suffered just five regulation defeats so far as the season nears the halfway mark. Boston has been solid both offensively and defensively, leading the league in goals scored with 141 and fewest goals allowed with 84, so with the Sharks cooling off slightly, the B's took advantage and made the most of their chance to move into the top spot.

Still, despite the Bruins' rise, it's hardly due to the fact that any of the other top teams in the league have really cooled off. The Sharks only lost one regulation game in December - a rare 6-0 clunker at the hands of the Red Wings - but San Jose has picked up points in all but one game since Nov. 9. The Red Wings have won five of seven, including an important home-and-home sweep of the Blackhawks to hold off surging Chicago in the Central race. And the Capitals continue to defy the odds by winning 10 of 11 despite an injury-ravaged roster to move into second overall in the Eastern race behind the Bruins.

So, get the first ranking of 2009 after the jump.

  • 1. Bruins (Last Week's Rank: 3)
    With a home-and-home sweep of Pittsburgh, the Bruins take over the top spot in the power rankings, having won 10 straight games and having dropped just two points in the 16 games Boston's played since Thanksgiving Day.
  • 2. Red Wings (Last Week: 1)
    After a pair of wins over the Blackhawks, the Wings restore the breathing room they've enjoyed in the Central Division the last few years. And, after Ty Conklin appears in his third straight Winter Classic (or equivalent), the NHL should put him on loan to whomever plays in 2010's version.
  • 3. Sharks (Last Week: 2)
    The Sharks end 2008 with a 28-4-5 record, and having suffered just one regulation loss in the month of December - even though they suffered four overtime or shootout losses during the month. Still, collecting at least a point in 26 of their last 28 games is very impressive.
  • 4. Capitals (Last Week: 4)
    Thanks to a stellar month by both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, and with the Caps' goaltending playing well, Washington now has won 10 of their last 11 to open up a 12-point lead in the Southeast Division and move past New York into second seed in the Eastern Conference.
  • 5. Blackhawks (Last Week: 5)
    The Red Wings throw frozen water on the Blackhawks' nine-game winning streak. Chicago will need to find a way to solve Detroit to entertain thoughts of making run at one of the top seeds in the Western playoff picture, falling to 0-5 against its Original Six rivals.
  • 6. Canadiens (Last Week: 9)
    The Habs earn points in five of six games to get to 48 points on the season, but unfortunately for Montreal, it's in the same division as the Bruins. Despite having the fourth-most points in the East, Montreal also has the biggest deficit in the Eastern races in trailing Boston by 14 points.
  • 7. Flyers (Last Week: 6)
    The Flyers have been very good at home, but they've lost four of five away from Wachovia Center and dropped the first two of three. on their six-game road trip. However, Philly did contine its improbable win streak in Vancouver that dates back 20 years to when Ron Hextall was in net.
  • 8. Flames (Last Week: 11)
    The Flames enter the New Year, well, on a hot streak, as Calgary has dropped only one of their last six games and taken four straight victories to take the lead in the Northwest Division as the calendar flips to 2009.
  • 9. Rangers (Last Week: 7)
    The Rangers end a subpar holiday stretch by holding off the Islanders on Monday, then New York gets a couple of days off to try and fine-tune their game before hitting the ice Saturday night against the surging Capitals team that erased a 4-0 Rangers lead at MSG last week.
  • 10. Penguins (Last Week: 8)
    The Penguins find themselves in a midseason funk, scoring just seven goals in their last five games. Pittsburgh has lost four of those games and drops to just four games above the .500 mark with the team holding a players-only meeting to try and fix what's wrong in the Steel City.
  • 11. Devils (Last Week: 10)
    While Scott Clemmensen has been solid in the pipes allowing 12 goals in the last five games, New Jersey's offense has been very inconsistent, getting blanked in back-to-back games and scoring just a dozen of its own in a 2-3 stretch.
  • 12. Canucks (Last Week: 12)
    Vancouver hopes the arrival of Mats Sundin helps a team that has had trouble with its consistency, as the team hasn't put more than back-to-back wins together in over a month, something it'll need to try and claim a divisional title.
  • 13. Sabres (Last Week: 14)
    Buffalo gets back on track with a win up the QEW in Toronto, but the Sabres are going to have to play better hockey in 2009 to avoid back-to-back seasons without a playoff berth after finishing with the most points in the NHL in 2006-07.
  • 14. Hurricanes (Last Week: 15)
    Carolina will look to cut into Washington's formidable Southeast lead in January, as only five of the 'Canes next 13 games are against teams that qualified for the playoffs last season, although eight of those will come away from RBC Center.
  • 15. Avalanche (Last Week: 17)
    Another superstar in Colorado goes down with injury, but the Avs keep hanging in there. Paul Stastny is lost with a broken arm, yet the team has won four of six to enter the year holding the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
  • 16. Ducks (Last Week: 16)
    The Ducks can't shake their funk, losing four of five to end 2008. A team that began with high hopes now is trailing the Sharks by 19 points and needing to play decently in the second half to hold off a charging pack of teams hungry to take a playoff spot.
  • 17. Wild (Last Week: 13)
    Minnesota closes out a cold December on a positive note, but the big problem for the Wild is that Marian Gaborik, the team's biggest bargaining chip, might be done for the season and really puts the team's hopes of going deep in the playoffs this season in doubt.
  • 18. Coyotes (Last Week: 21)
    With the Coyotes' long-term future is in serious jeopardy, the team appears like they're going to hang around in the playoff picture for the near future, as they have allowed just six goals in their last three games to finish 2008 on a positive note - at least on the ice.
  • 19. Stars (Last Week: 23)
    Dallas is playing better as of late, winning five of seven games to climb to within a win of catching the Avalanche for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference after their disastrous start and the whole soap opera with Sean Avery came to a merciful end.
  • 20. Predators (Last Week: 15)
    The Preds lose four of five games to fall back to the .500 mark, and, more importantly, out of the top eight in the Western Conference. Even more worrisome in Nashville is that the team hasn't won a game away from home since the day after Thanksgiving.
  • 21. Blue Jackets (Last Week: 24)
    Steve Mason continues his terrific rookie campaign, delivering three straight shutouts to lower his goals-against to 1.69. His strong performance has put the keeper in the conversation for the Calder Trophy, as he has recorded 12 of the Jackets' 17 wins so far this year.
  • 22. Oilers (Last Week: 19)
    Edmonton loses three straight, wins three straight, and now has lost two straight heading into Saturday's game in Dallas. This meansif the streak continues, the Oilers should fall to .500 as the team's offense continues to have trouble with its consistency.
  • 23. Panthers (Last Week: 9)
    The Panthers have dropped four in a row, falling four points behind Carolina for second in the Southeast. More importantly, that's Florida's margin of error that finds it outside of a playoff spot if the season ended today.
  • 24. Senators (Last Week: 11)
    What a difference a year makes, as the Senators were on top of the NHL on New Year's Day in 2008, but after posting 31-43-6 overall record during the year, Ottawa opens 2009 in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a playoff berth.
  • 25. Kings (Last Week: 25)
    Thanks to Jonathan Quick, the Kings only allow four goals in four games. Unfortunately for Quick, the Kings can only win two of those games as Los Angeles falls below the .500 mark for the year after getting blanked by the Blue Jackets.
  • 26. Maple Leafs (Last Week: 26)
    Toronto's flirtation with one of the last playoff spots in the East falls flat after Toronto loses four of five to fall five points behind the Hurricanes and drop into 11th place overall in the Eastern Conference.
  • 27. Blues (Last Week: 27)
    Another tough year gets tougher in the Gateway City, as Paul Kariya is likely done for the year and St. Louis has lost nine of 11 to throw pretty much assure it will throw its name into the running to draft Canadian phenom John Tavares this summer.
  • 28. Lightning (Last Week: 29)
    Mike Smith has a pair of bad giveaways as the Lightning can't take advantage of a sloppy performance by the Capitals to hand the division leaders a rare loss. Still, new Tampa coach Rick Tocchet has as many wins as Barry Melrose had before he was hired.
  • 29. Thrashers (Last Week: 28)
    With trade rumors to Minnesota apparently gone with Gaborik's injury, the question is how much longer with Atlanta keep Ilya Kovalchuk on the roster with the team now nine games below .500 and badly needing upgrades elsewhere.
  • 30. Islanders (Last Week: 30)
    The Islanders can only be happy the month of December, an ugly display on the Island where New York went just 2-10-2 to take a slim lead in what right now is a five-team race for the worst overall record in the NHL.
Check out the last rankings here.

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