Praise be to the digital-cable gods who were nice enough last week to bestow upon the hockey-watching world a taste of the NHL package. The only problem we had with the freebies? Jeremy Roenick's thespian skills in the spots that aired between games. How in the world did he ever get himself that soap-opera cameo?
| NHL Power Rankings |
|---|
| Rank |
LW |
|
Team |
| 1 |
1 |
 |
Ottawa Senators
In a sport that caters to its ironies, it should come as no surprise that this chapter of the saga finds the Senators, among the best-run franchises in professional sports, filing for bankruptcy and leading the NHL with 27 wins. |
| 2 |
4 |
 |
Dallas Stars
Considering their gaudy home record (15-1-3-1 versus a mortal 10-9-7-0 on the road), the Stars should enjoy playing 11 of the next 15 in Big D. |
| 3 |
2 |
 |
Detroit Red Wings
Brett Hull finds shooting holes most of us can't see, but is there any chance he meant to bank one off Phil Housley's rear end on Monday night? Either way, Hull's career goal No. 698 helped keep intact Detroit's nine-game streak of winning every other game. |
| 4 |
3 |
 |
Vancouver Canucks
Yes, they beat the Senators in the to-date Hyped Game of the Year, but Vancouver also had 14 power plays at home in that one, and lost the two games that followed (vs. Columbus and San Jose). |
| 5 |
6 |
 |
Philadelphia Flyers
We can't sweep Monday's 7-4 loss to Atlanta under the rug entirely, but we're generous enough to award this week's mulligan to the Flyers. After all, two daysearlier Philly had capped off a six-game winning streak with a win over Detroit. |
| 6 |
8 |
 |
New Jersey Devils
The five teams that have scored fewer goals this season than the Devils -- yes, only five -- have averaged 13.5 wins this season. Which makes New Jersey's plus-18 goal differential even more impressive. |
| 7 |
5 |
 |
St. Louis Blues
The shame of Petr Cajanek's broken fibula is that the NHL may now be less inclined to create yet another award, the Sergei Makarov Trophy. |
| 8 |
12 |
 |
Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Smyth, Todd Marchant and Mike York may have scored more than 30 points between them during their 4-1-1-0 streak, but it was Georges Laraque who absolutely took over a handful of shifts in Monday's 8-5 win over Columbus. Plus, Laraque gets extra credit for his goal celebrations. |
| 9 |
7 |
 |
Minnesota Wild
Between the middle of December and Jan. 14, they won six of 13 games. More alarming, however, is that three of those wins came by way of a 2-1 score. |
| 10 |
9 |
 |
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Sun pointed out after their 5-2 win over the Bruins (Jan. 7), that five weeks earlier the Leafs trailed Boston by 16 points in the standings. Toronto drew even with those two points, but since going 1-2-0-0 on the mini road trip that followed, the division rivals remained tied as of Jan. 14. |
| 11 |
17 |
 |
Washington Capitals
Jaromir Jagr, once the author of a goal celebration that included tossing his glove into the air and mock-shooting it with his stick, settled into a little Hulk Hogan routine Monday night, pulling his left hand to his left ear for the crowd after scoring his 11th point in two games. |
| 12 |
13 |
 |
Chicago Blackhawks
Too bad for Phil Housley that his two-point game against Detroit also included the own-goal. Still, even though Chicago's won only three times since Christmas, Housley's late goal against the Wings did push that game to OT, where the Blackhawks extended their 13-game point streak. |
| 13 |
10 |
 |
Boston Bruins
"At best, Boston goalie John Grahame was shaky."
-- Toronto Sun, Jan. 8, 2003
Now, at best, he'll play sparingly behind Nikolai Khabibulin. Meanwhile, his former teammates are reeling, having won only three of their past 16 games. |
| 14 |
20 |
 |
New York Islanders
A TV score panel aired between periods of a Canadian NHL broadcast on Monday night tacked an “e” on the end of Chris Osgood’s name. We’ve seen paycheque and honour and colour, but this one seemed odd. And it’s a shame he’s being forgotten in the midst of his team’s 7-1-0-2 streak. |
| 15 |
14 |
 |
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jean-Sebastien Aubin's three-game run of allowing 12 goals on 73 shots, which, not coincidentally, coincided with a three-game losing streak, led to Sebastien Caron's NHL debut on Monday night. Caron and the mostly Mario-less Penguins kicked off a five-game road trip in Boston with a 2-1 win. |
| 16 |
11 |
 |
Colorado Avalanche
Speaking again of goaltenders … In his past three startss Patrick Roy allowed a dozen goals on 48 shots, while the Avalanche dropped three straight. And here's a sentence you're not likely to see often this season: Thanks to David Aebischer, Colorado's three-game losing streak came to a close. |
| 17 |
15 |
 |
Tampa Bay Lightning
Maybe they deserve better treatment than slipping two places after chipping points out of Detroit (W), Atlanta (OTL) and New Jersey (T) last week, but we're still talking about a team that after winning three games since Dec. 18, is slipping in the Southeast standings. |
| 18 |
18 |
 |
Montreal Canadiens
Just when it appeared that Donald Audette was starting to enjoy life away from the scoresheet, he goes and ruins a perfectly good 21-game goal drought with a game-winner against Calgary on Monday night. The scoring slack has been picked up lately by Marcel Hossa, who has scored five times in his four NHL games. |
| 19 |
19 |
 |
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Poor Martin Gerber. In three recent starts (Jan. 3, 5, 8), Gerber has allowed three goals on 73 shots while his teammates scored a total of one in a 1-2-0-0 span. They've since won a pair of games against Colorado and St. Louis, which will keep them this week at No. 19. |
| 20 |
25 |
 |
New York Rangers
If their season really is turning around, they'll have Bobby Holik bobblehead night to thank. Holik scored twice on Jan. 8 to spark perhaps their best four-game effort of the season: 3-1-0-0, 15 goals for, six against. |
| 21 |
16 |
 |
Los Angeles Kings
Jason Allison made some early noise Monday night with a hard check on the first shift of the game, but he saved his best for last with a power-play OT goal to beat the Sharks and end a five-game home winless streak. |
| 22 |
21 |
 |
Carolina Hurricanes
They're only three points from a playoff spot, but the Hurricanes would have to leapfrog four teams, none of which had dropped six of nine games from Dec. 27-Jan. 12. |
| 23 |
22 |
 |
Phoenix Coyotes
Toward the end of a six-game road swing, they scored zero, zero and one goal before closing the trip with a 4-3 OTL in Nashville. And while some guys healed, Tony Amonte's ironman streak came to an end at 453 games. |
| 24 |
23 |
 |
San Jose Sharks
If they fail to reach the century mark by the end of the season, and with 41 points in 43 games it appears that they will, it would be the first time since 1994-95 that they failed to gain ground from the previous season. |
| 25 |
26 |
 |
Nashville Predators
While so many teams in this low-rent neighborhood are scuffling, the Predators and Blue Jackets actually played some decent hockey last week. And while Doug MacLean gave Columbus a boost, we're not forgetting the Predators' 5-1 win that put MacLean behind the bench in the first place. |
| 26 |
30 |
 |
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets scored four goals on their first seven shots Monday night in Edmonton. And lost. Prior to that, however, their newfound touch had torched opponents 12-5 in the team's season-high, three-game winning streak. |
| 27 |
24 |
 |
Florida Panthers
On Jan. 11, the Panthers allowed Washington a dozen goals. It's the same amount the Devils have allowed in this calendar year. But they battened down the hatches in the follow-up, cutting their goals against to six. |
| 28 |
27 |
 |
Calgary Flames
"The Flames' sudden surge not only improves their record to 14-18-6-3 but leaves them nine points out of a playoff spot."
-- Calgary Sun, Jan. 8, 2003.
There, in the rearview mirror, you'll see optimism of a five-game point streak. At present, the bumpy ride has returned, to the tune of being outscored 12-4 during a three-game losing streak. |
| 29 |
29 |
 |
Atlanta Thrashers
Hartley and Heatley, a sweetly hearty helping of harmonious hockey? |
| 30 |
28 |
 |
Buffalo Sabres
We began this week's session on Chapter 11, so we might as well end with it, too. You may now close your books. |
| |
