Hockey World Blog NHL Power Rankings: Week 14

 Here are your Week 14 Power Rankings. We are just past the midway point of the season, and the All-Star game is two weeks away in Raleigh, N.C. The Red Wings claim the top spot this week (and for the first time all season) for the adversity they have overcome to injuries to Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Mike Modano, Dan Cleary, Brad Stuart, Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard. With those seven players out they are missing 45 goals, 55 assists, and 27 goaltender wins. The injured players are expected to return early to mid-February.

Rank Team Last Week Team Notes
1 DET 2 When you continue to win games facing the type of adversity they have faced this month, you can overcome just about anything. Just hope the injury bug doesn’t bit this week as they travel to Pittsburgh.
2 PHI 1 The Flyers have the leagues best road record at 16-5-3. They also have the most balanced scoring attack as 19 players have contributed to the teams 152 goals, a league-best.
3 VAN 4 First regulation loss of 2011 came Thursday as they lost 1-0 at Madison Square Garden. The second one came yesterday at Minnesota. They return from 5-game road trip Thursday when they host San Jose.
4 DAL NR The Stars keep winning as they try to keep the Coyotes out of the division lead. This week they host Los Angeles before heading out on the road for three games.
5 NSH 5 They split the weekend series with Chicago. Sunday was more painful as they led 3-2 before losing 6-3. This week they continue a six game road trip as they hit Phoenix and Denver for games.
6 PHX NR They have won four straight and they carry a 7-1-2 in last 10 games. On New Year’s Eve they were 13th in the conference, today they are fifth.
       
25 MIN NR Just like the Red Wings, both starting goalies are injured. The difference is Detroit keeps winning while Minnesota lost three before beating Vancouver.
26 TOR NR Saturday’s game against Calgary was the 6,000th in team history. On Dec. 19, 1917, the Toronto Arenas played the first, a 10-9 loss to the Wanderers in Montreal. Toronto’s record as the Arenas, St. Patricks and Maple Leafs is 2,617 wins, 2,520 losses, 783 ties and 80 overtime losses.
27 NYI NR In each teams’ last 10 games, the Islanders (5-4-1) have earned more points than the Penguins (4-4-2). This week they face Buffalo twice and three times in a nine-day span.
28 NJ 30 Any time the Devils don’t lose three consecutive games this season seems like a big accomplishment. They can make it four when they travel to Long Island this afternoon.
29 OTT 29 The Silver Sevens have lost four of last five games. The only win came at the expense of the Islanders. With Jason Spezza injured, they have gone 2-26 on the Power Play.
30 EDM 28 If the season ended today, they could end up with the no. 2 pick the Draft. They got young forwards in Hall, Eberle, and Paajarvi for years to come. If they can land a young, top notch goalie they will be closer to contending for a playoff spot.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *