NHL Power Rankings - Week of October 16th, 2011

We're now over a full week into the 2011-12 NHL season, and every team has played at least a handful of games already, so let's take a look through DGA's first ever NHL Power Rankings.


1. Detroit Red Wings - Red Wings are 4-0 this season, including a pair of shutouts against Colorado and Vancouver, and those two teams have been strong offensively.  I just have one question: if Nicklas Lidstrom wins the Hart Trophy, Norris Trophy, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup this season, will he retire?  I doubt it.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins - Pittsburgh may have lost their first game in regulation last night, but in case you haven't heard, they do have two superstars expected to return to their lineup pretty soon.  And then there's this: if you mess with Pittsburgh's superstars, Arron Asham will most definitely ruin your face.

3. Washington Capitals - The Caps haven't lost yet, although they tried to hand Ottawa a win last night.  Of course, with Ottawa being Ottawa, they refused.  If Tomas Vokoun stops doing his best Washington Capitals goalie imitation, the Caps may be on their way to a deep playoff run this season: at least 8 games.

4. Philadelphia Flyers - The Flyers have only used one goaltender so far this season, which is remarkable, considering they've played more than one period this season.  Jaromir Jagr and "Baby Mario" have been exciting to watch, but what happens when Michael Leighton sneaks into the Flyers' locker room and decides that he's back?  It'll be all downhill from there.

5. New York Islanders - The last time I saw the Islanders fifth in anything, it was fifth in the Atlantic Division, but now, that's not the reason.  Sure, "franchise goaltender" Rick DiPietro is injured again........again, Al Montoya and Evgeni Nabokov have done the job so far.  And then there's John Tavares, who thinks he's Wayne Gretzky.  Who knows, maybe he is...

6. Colorado Avalanche - The Avs have been storming through eastern Canada this week, following a win against the defending champs.  Their offensive firepower was aided by Carey Price doing his 2009 Carey Price impression and facing the Ottawa Senators, but give the Avs credit.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs - Not to pick on Ottawa anymore, but the Leafs nearly let a 5-goal lead slip away in the third period against the Sens recently.  Nonetheless, the Leafs are 3-0 and Phil Kessel looks like he bought himself a supercharger over the summer.  Perhaps this is the year the Leafs make it back to the playoffs?  Well, winning 79 more games would certainly help their cause...

8. Dallas Stars - The Stars are 4-1.  Who needs Brad Richards anyway?  The young sensation return of Sheldon Souray has stabilized Dallas on the back end, too.  Still, the Stars got off to a terrific start last season and then collapsed down the stretch.  It's way too early to buy into them as far as playoffs are concerned.

9. Buffalo Sabres - The Sabres bounced back from a tough loss to Carolina Friday to win in Pittsburgh Saturday.  It seems like Christian Ehrhoff plays the entire game, and Tyler Myers plays the rest these days...if that made any sense at all.  If Thomas Vanek decides that he wants to score 40 goals this season, Buffalo is going to be tough.  Oh yeah and their goaltending isn't that bad, either.

10. New Jersey Devils - The Devils have faced Bryzgalov, Ward, Quick and Rinne this season, yet they've lost just one game.  That's quite an improvement from last season.  Ilya Kovalchuk isn't likely to be a healthy scratch this season, but he is likely to play more minutes per game than Mattias Tedenby will play all season.  The problem is, the Devils are only the 4th best team in their own division right now.

11. Los Angeles Kings - Philly West beat Philly East last night in the return of Mike Richards (and Simon Gagne again) to Philadelphia.  The Kings will finally get a chance to play at home on Tuesday, but the injury to Drew Doughty is concerning.  Let's hope he doesn't use his time off to start working on a new contract...

12. Anaheim Ducks - If hockey teams were made up of two forward lines and two defensive pairings, Anaheim might be the best team in hockey.  Well, except for the fact that none of their top three forwards (Perry, Getzlaf, Ryan) have recorded a point this season.  In all likelihood, those three will have to get going, because it is unlikely that Maxime Macenauer is going to carry Anaheim offensively this season.

13. Boston Bruins - So the Bruins have Stanley Cup hangover...  They edged the Blackhawks last night in Chicago, so perhaps they're on the right track.  If they aren't, I wouldn't recommend firing Peter Chiarelli or Claude Julien to bring in Theo Epstein or Terry Francona.  Or John MacLean for that matter...

14. Minnesota Wild - Dany Heatley resembles Marian Gaborik in many ways: both take games off whenever they feel like it, both are completely unaware of the defensive zone and both possess tremendous offensive skill.  Heatley, Koivu and Setoguchi may be Minnesota's best offensive threat in years.  They better hurry up and win, though, because you never know when Dany Heatley's annual trade request may come.

15. Nashville Predators - Sure, Suter and Weber are a dangerous duo back of defense, but once you get to their forwards, there isn't much to admire.  Let's put it this way: Cal O'Reilly and Matt Halischuk were Nashville's two shooters in their shootout loss to New Jersey last night.  I think you get the point...

16. Chicago Blackhawks - If you're taking this power ranking seriously, you're probably mad that I've ranked the Hawks this low.  Also, if you're taking this seriously, well there's your problem.  The Hawks are eventually going to have a strong season.

17. Vancouver Canucks - The Canucks have been far from dominant to start this season.  Roberto Luongo is still convinced that the playoffs are going on, and his performance this season proves that. 

18. Phoenix Coyotes - Shane Doan has played his entire career with the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise.  He also beat Winnipeg last night.

19. Carolina Hurricanes - Cam Ward isn't off to the greatest of starts to this season, but Jeff Skinner is playing very well.  Skinner seems absolutely determined to win his second straight Calder Trophy.  He's so innocent, isn't he?

20. Florida Panthers - The Panthers signed more free agents than Glen Sather and Paul Holmgren combined this past off-season, which is great, but losing Tomas Vokoun in the same off-season has to off-set some of the signings.

21. Edmonton Oilers - Gotta show the Oilers a little love after beating the Penguins and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' first career hat trick.  It'll take a really bad season for the Oilers to land Nail Yakupov this coming June.

22. St. Louis Blues - Jason Arnott got off to a good start in St. Louis.  Give him a few weeks, and Jamie Langenbrunner will ruin him.  Again.

23. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Lightning are among the worst defensive teams in the NHL so far this season, joining teams such as Carolina and Columbus.

24. San Jose Sharks - San Jose just got shut out by the Anaheim Ducks, and this isn't even the playoffs...

25. Montreal Canadiens - Erik Cole isn't Montreal's savior...at least yet.  Carey Price must be having 2009 nightmares, because he was downright awful last night against the Avs.

26. Calgary Flames - Not much to say here.  It's eventually going to be a long and painful rebuilding process in Calgary.  In Toronto, it's taken 40 years, just to put things in perspective...

27. New York Rangers - Brad Richards has clearly saved the NY Rangers.  Okay, so it's been a tough start.  They'll be fine this season, but geez, they take more penalties than Zenon Konopka per minute.

28. Ottawa Senators - Well, they're coached by MacLean, which could be part of the problem.  Or they're just downright awful right now...

29. Columbus Blue Jackets- Jeff Carter's stint with the Jackets isn't off to a great start, because well, he's not playing right now.  Getting James Wisniewski back will help, but not enough to actually make a difference.

30. Winnipeg Jets - I wonder when the Jets' fans honeymoon phase will end and they start to become frustrated, if not already.  On the bright side, they're the early favorites to land Nail Yakupov next summer.

Comparing the Devils start from this season to last season

Besides the obvious (the Devils have two more wins than at this point one year ago), the Devils are off to a much better start than last season.  If you don't believe me, and even if you do, just see below for proof.


Last season: Ilya Kovalchuk thinks he's set up for a breakaway pass, but then realizes that he's in the defensive zone while the play is at the other end of the rink.
This season: Ilya Kovalchuk has fixed the play in the other end of the rink part, but he's taking shots at his own goalies now.


Last season: The Devils tried everything last season: getting blown out, not scoring and blowing two-goal leads.
This season: So far, the not scoring is still a problem and they haven't yet had a two-goal lead...to blow.


Last season: The Devils cleared a roster spot to call up a forward to replace healthy scratch Ilya Kovalchuk.
This season: Adam Henrique was just sent down to Albany, which clears a roster spot for.......oh please, not again.


Last season: John MacLean had the team work extremely hard in practice, in the sense that renting a party bus for the night is hard work.
This season: Peter DeBoer is working much harder than MacLean, such as trying to figure out how long Cam Janssen will last on the ice without being called into Brendan Shanahan's office.


Last season: Johan Hedberg pulls to within 610 wins on the Devils' all-time goaltender wins list.
This season: With his opening night loss to the Flyers, Martin Brodeur pulled to within one loss of the all-time goaltender loss record.


Last season: Mattias Tedenby is thought of by some Devils fans as the Swedish Prodigy, but obviously not by Jacques Lemaire.
This season: Tedenby is stripped of that title, as Adam Larsson is now the Swedish Prodigy.  As for Jacques Lemaire, well he's retired......for the time being.


Last season: In his usual hatred for the Devils, Scott Burnside predicted that this would be Zach Parise's final season as a Devil.
This season: Okay, well some things haven't changed since last season........


Last season: The coach gave Ilya Kovalchuk a lot of ice time late in the season because he scored a lot.
This season: The coach is giving David Clarkson a lot of ice time because he falls a lot.


Last season: "Let's throw that out" was John MacLean's favorite saying after a blowout loss.
This season: "Let's throw that out" is Peter DeBoer's way of saying that he wasn't happy with someone's shift.


Last season: Nine Devils scored their first career goals, which accounted for nearly half the team's goals last season.
This season: Adam Larsson will eventually score his first career goal, and his ice time accounts for half the game.

Weighing the NHL's Reallignment Options

Today, TSN's Bob McKenzie reported that the Detroit Red Wings could move to the Eastern Conference for the 2012-13 season.  While that is not set in stone, there will be a team moving east as Winnipeg moves out west.  So here's a look at some of the NHL's reallignment options for next season and beyond.


Winnipeg Jets - Eastern Conference to Western Conference

Pros - The Edmonton Oilers will finally have a fair opponent four times per season.
Cons - Roberto Luongo will have to see Dustin Byfuglien more often again, unless Cory Schneider starts.


Detroit Red Wings - Western Conference to Eastern Conference

Pros - Classic rivalries, such as Wings-Leafs, can be renewed...until the Wings show that it isn't really a rivalry anymore.
Cons - The Caps couldn't choke out of the playoffs...as the East's number one seed.


Nashville Predators

Pros - Nashville wouldn't have to worry about facing Vancouver.  Or Chicago.  Or Detroit.  Or any of those teams in the first round or two in the playoffs.
Cons - Mike Fisher would actually have to go back to Ottawa from time to time.


Columbus Blue Jackets

Pros - Columbus to the East means more home games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Cons - Columbus to the East means less home games for the Blackhawks and Red Wings.


Verdict: From a geographical standpoint, it would make the most sense to move Nashville to the Southeast division, which is exactly why that won't happen.  In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if say, Vancouver moved to the Southeast division.

Impact of reallignment: Following the dramatic move of a franchise from Atlanta to Winnipeg, re-alligning the divisions is necessary to restore logical and geographic order in the league...until Phoenix inevitably moves the following season and we do this all over again.

What's next?  Once the NHL re-alligns the divisions, they're unlikely to want to re-allign them again because well, it takes work to move teams around.  However, the league should look into making moves now, rather than wait.  Quebec City, Kansas City, Seattle and Mexico City (I have no idea how that got there...) are all cities that could handle an NHL franchise.

Prediction: Gary Bettman gets a bad headache from the whole reallignment thing and moves Winnipeg back to Atlanta and thinks he's saved hockey.

A review of the Jets' return to Winnipeg

Vintage Phoenix Coyotes logo...

http://www.yourwinnipegjets.com/2011/06/20/winnipeg-nhl-team-name-announcement-iminent-will-be-the-jets/

It was a positive day in Winnipeg, as the city had a chance to cheer on an NHL team for the first time in 15 years.  The Montreal Canadiens weren't even able to spoil the party by beating the Winnipeg Jets, 5-1 at the MTS Centre.  Let's take a look at the day that was.  *Please note: all times are estimated.

3:00 PM (Eastern time): The zamboni driver is late.  He's been trying to get out of an Atlanta jail for many months now...

4:47 PM: Jets head coach Claude Noel gives his team a pre-game pep talk, warning them not to get caught up in all of the excitement and hype of the crowd, especially because most players on the team have never played a home game in front of as many as 15,000 people before.  He then turns to Kyle Wellwood and throws out his box of doughnuts.

4:50 PM: Dustin Byfuglien puts his jersey on and wonders why they had to put an airplane on the logo instead of something more his type, such as a boat.

4:57 PM: A fan asks Gary Bettman for his autograph.  Bettman flinches, expecting to be tackled by the fan, then asks what an autograph is.  There's a first for everything, I guess.

5:03 PM: Don Cherry steps onto the ice.  As he does, Ron MacLean accidentally bumps into his chin, but Cherry forgives him, because it wasn't an intentional headshot.

5:06 PM: Player intros.  As Evander Kane skates out, he sees many many hockey jerseys that say Winnipeg Jets on them, but they look weird.  They're clearly before his time.

5:15 PM: During the National Anthem, Dustin Byfuglien stares down Brian Gionta and cracks his knuckles.  Gionta hides behind Carey Price's blocker.

1st Period: After being slashed in the leg by a skate, Mike Cammelleri skates to the bench trying to get to the locker room, but can't find the locker room.

2nd Period: After getting beat on a second straight Canadiens' goal, Johnny Oduya asks Noel if there's any way to quiet the crowd so he can pay more attention on the ice.

2nd Intermission: Jets lose.  Oh, oops, wrong sport...

3rd Period: Nik Antropov finally gets the Jets on the board, as he stuffs in a loose puck in the crease.  Neighboring towns call the police in fear of an earthquake.

3rd Period: Dustin Byfuglien taps into Brian Gionta, sending him flying and drawing a penalty for Montreal and opening the floodgates.

3rd Period: As the final seconds wind down, fans give the team a standing ovation as they trail 5-1, which supports CBC's comments that Winnipeg fans are much more informed than Atlanta fans were.

End of Game: Jets lose (think I got it right this time...).

Postgame: Fans begin to realize that this isn't going to be as easy as they thought.  So, to compensate, they begin to take a look at 2012 NHL Entry Draft projections.

8:13 PM: A fan taps into a referee's car, sending it spinning across the parking lot out of control, but the fan drives away without stopping.

11:20 PM: Even without the Thrashers, the city of Atlanta keeps losing as the Falcons fall to the Packers, giving up 25 unanswered points, which is more than the Thrashers ever gave up in one game.

Devils Opening Night Predictions

If you follow my blog, you're probably a hockey fan, so in case you aren't aware, the regular season has gotten underway this week.  Tonight is opening night for the Devils, as they open against the rival Flyers.  I've come up with some predictions for the game tonight and even some expectations.  Take a look.


1. The Devils have told fans to wear white to create a "white-out."  This may give the arena a playoff-like feel to it in celebration of the team's 30th anniversary.  Hopefully the players won't treat this like a playoff game, because that would be bad.

2. Scott Hartnell and David Clarkson aren't just randomly diving.  They just lack the ability to not fall every shift.

3. There will be fans fighting in the stands over who actually has the first Adam Larsson jersey among Devils fans.

4. Devils fans will start taunting Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, and by the time they realize those players aren't in Philly anymore, another Flyer will have knocked out a Devil.

5. Rinaldo will most definitely kick a puck into the net tonight, and someone will scream "Goooooooaaaaal."

6. All Devils fans who attend the game will have happier ears than those who watch the MSG telecast, judging by the current Devils' play-by-play team.

7. Mattias Tedenby will skate through Chris Pronger's legs and nobody will notice.

8. If the Devils lose, Ilya Kovalchuk will start asking for Jacques Lemaire to return as head coach, but Pete DeBoer probably won't list him as a healthy scratch for the next game.

9. Cam Janssen will do something stupid and hurt his team, such as actually getting on the ice at all.

10. The Flyers will get shut out.......oh, sorry, that only happens to the Phillies.  Wrong sport.

11. Petr Sykora will most definitely score tonight because he's back, Adam Larsson will score because it's his first game, Zach Parise will score because he's the new captain........okay Devils fans, let's not get carried away.  This isn't like some league where everyone randomly scores all the time.  That league is locked out right now.