What you are sitting down to read right now will serve as the final edition of the 2002-03 NHL Power Rankings. We understand that there are a few games remaining in the regular season and that playoff races are worth examining, but this is it. The Power Rankings elves are union guys and the clock strikes midnight on April 6.
OK, that's a weak attempt to get back at those who have played more elaborate April Fool's Day jokes with one of our own. The truth? This is the penultimate regular-season NHL PR. Next week we'll wrap the whole thing up with a nice bow and put them to bed until next fall. Consider their coming absence as your first step toward a spring cleaning.
| NHL Power Rankings |
|---|
| Rank |
LW |
|
Team |
| 1 |
2 |
 |
Detroit Red Wings
Saturday night was all right for fighting in St. Louis, where the Wings walked away with a 6-2 win, after a game that generated one tossed from the bench, 243 minutes in penalties, a hefty fines and nearly as many macho postgame comments. Two nights later, Detroit wrapped up the month of March by wrapping up the Central Division. |
| 2 |
1 |
 |
Ottawa Senators
An exec at the Boston-based firm retained to find a suitor for the franchise (we've suggested Internet dating) expects a deal by the middle of May, according to the Ottawa Sun. The most interesting question is whether the Senators will be playing through the merry month. |
| 3 |
3 |
 |
Dallas Stars
To give further credence to the theory that Dallas' Presidents' Trophy chances might have been a lock had Marty Turco not been injured, the Stars are 37-12-11-2 excluding the 19-game span their No. 1 goaltender spent on the shelf. |
| 4 |
5 |
 |
New Jersey Devils
Of the snipers who have come and gone through the swamps, who would have thunk that Patrik Elias, after scoring four goals Sunday in a shutout of the wheezing Islanders, would tie a record held by John Madden, Randy McKay and Pat Verbeek? The 6-0 win upped New Jersey's undefeated streak to seven games. Hopefully all this talk of goals doesn't obscure the fact that Martin Brodeur became the first NHL goaltender to post four 40-win seasons. |
| 5 |
4 |
 |
Vancouver Canucks
With a rearview mirror full of the Avalanche on April 1 and two games ahead on the schedule, Vancouver need only win those two before getting back to the worries that are Dan Cloutier's knee, Todd Bertuzzi's "slump" (one point in three games after 29 in the previous 16), and the trophy races. |
| 6 |
8 |
 |
Colorado Avalanche
Their home unbeaten streak stretched to 16 with a Pacific Division plundering of the Kings (3-0), Coyotes (6-1) and Sharks (3-1) last week. |
| 7 |
6 |
 |
Philadelphia Flyers
They have a reasonable record over the past two weeks or so, thanks entirely to three wins over Pittsburgh (combined 13-3) and one versus Atlanta (6-2), but the Flyers went 0-2-2-0 from March 18-31 against the Sabres, Rangers, Predators and Bruins. |
| 8 |
7 |
 |
St. Louis Blues
After the Red Wings clinched the Central Division, St. Louis sent Dallas Drake and Matt Walker to Detroit to "send another message." |
| 9 |
10 |
 |
Minnesota Wild
This is exactly the kind of team that could give the high-scoring Canucks fits, which is how the amorphous Western Conference playoff picture shapes up as of April 1. |
| 10 |
11 |
 |
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Dallas and Colorado provide rather serious obstacles en route to reclaiming the No. 6 seed that was ceded to the Wild on Monday night. |
| 11 |
12 |
 |
Toronto Maple Leafs
In three games last week -- vs. the slumping Hurricanes, Islanders and Capitals -- Mats Sundin and Alexander Mogilny combined to score seven of the team's dozen goals. |
| 12 |
13 |
 |
Edmonton Oilers
While resting veterans for the playoffs, Craig MacTavish's Oilers used consecutive, furious, late rallies to earn ties in Chicago and St. Louis to finish the month 10-2-2-1. |
| 13 |
9 |
 |
Tampa Bay Lightning
While they are undefeated in a franchise-record 12 games, the Lightning won only twice between March 17-31. |
| 14 |
15 |
 |
Washington Capitals
They hovered between Nos. 10 and 12 in our rankings for seven weeks and had slipped to 15 before ending their final road trip of the season with wins in Montreal and Ottawa, and an OTL in Toronto. |
| 15 |
14 |
 |
Boston Bruins
So they didn't exactly storm into playoffs with a 2-2 tie vs. Tampa Bay, but Boston did rally in that one, a comeback spurred partially perhaps by an excoriation from the coaching staff between periods. |
| 16 |
16 |
 |
New York Islanders
Cries of "Get your playoff tickets here," perilously close to cries, with tears, of "Get your playoff spot here. Get your playoff spot here." It's for sale. But the Rangers may have spent all their money. |
| 17 |
17 |
 |
New York Rangers
Whether they finish in or out (and the smart money's on the latter), it can't be easy making a playoff run for fans who boo more loudly, and often more frequently, than they cheer. |
| 18 |
20 |
 |
Montreal Canadiens
They ended the month of March with their fifth win in 11 games; a feat made slightly less admirable by the fact that those five wins have come at the expense of Carolina (twice), Atlanta, Florida and Nashville. |
| 19 |
18 |
 |
Phoenix Coyotes
Their season-high winless streak hit six on March 31, by which point they'd already been eliminated from the playoffs, but at the very least, if one is to get a head start on his golf game, there are worse locations than Phoenix to do so. |
| 20 |
26 |
 |
Atlanta Thrashers
Pasi Nurminen, who seems spectacularly suited to making the frantic efforts required for life in the Thrashers' crease, did not discriminate last week. A handful of game-saving stops helped Atlanta gain a tie against one of the league's most solid teams (the Devils) and an OT win over one of the league's most shaky (the Rangers). In four starts between March 26-31, Nurminen, who saw an average of 39 shots in that span, is 3-0-1 and has saved 149 of 156 shots. |
| 21 |
21 |
 |
Los Angeles Kings
Great quote from a guy whose team has had it rough all season; this from Andy Murray, in reference to accepting an offer to coach Team Canada at the World Championships: "I told them I would work as a stick boy or a bus driver. Whatever they wanted, I would help in any way." |
| 22 |
22 |
 |
Chicago Blackhawks
Last Friday the Blackhawks gave up a 3-1 lead in Minnesota before losing to the Wild in OT. The next night, at home vs. Edmonton, the Oilers' come-from-nowhere tie left Chicago 6-15-3-2 since the All-Star break. |
| 23 |
27 |
 |
Buffalo Sabres
They withstood a Hurricane-force 39-15 shot deficit in Raleigh, N.C., including their own zero-shot third period, but snuck out of town to extend a four-game winning streak that ended Monday night in Dallas. |
| 24 |
19 |
 |
Nashville Predators
The Preds averaged 1.4 goals per game since March 1, in the process slipping from one game above to six games below .500 and off the playoff radar. |
| 25 |
23 |
 |
Calgary Flames
The Flames set a record on Monday night, but a dubious one. With a 3-0 loss in Minnesota, Calgary's first in 36 games, the Flames were shut out for the franchise-high 10th time this season. |
| 26 |
24 |
 |
San Jose Sharks
It had been more than a month since Teemu Selanne scored a goal until he found the back of the net against Dallas on March 29. What would have been his second goal since Feb. 24, a last-second connection in the third period of the same game, was called off when it was determined time had expired. If only the season could be so merciful. |
| 27 |
25 |
 |
Florida Panthers
A goal a game will pretty effectively keep the wins away. |
| 28 |
28 |
 |
Columbus Blue Jackets
We suggested reuniting Andrew Cassels and Geoff Sanderson when the Atlanta Thrashers had the expansion draft opportunity in 1999. It took the Blue Jackets a few years to catch on, and it took until March 29, 2003, for each to pick up five points in the same game. |
| 29 |
30 |
 |
Pittsburgh Penguins
It had been a month since the have-nots scored more than three goals, as they did March 26 against the haves in a 3-1 win over the Rangers. And that just about wraps up the good news in Steeltown hockey. Pittsburgh went on to lose the two games that followed, a home-and-home with Philadelphia, by a combined 9-1. |
| 30 |
28 |
 |
Carolina Hurricanes
The 'Canes were outshot by seven consecutive opponents between March 15-30 (the five most recent by an average of 14.2 shots) without a win. Remarkable stat of last week: Two goals in previous 102 shots. |
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