1) Unlike others we will continue to only do this monthly. Any sooner in our opinion wouldn't give a full view of any possible trends. Anyway here is today's Edition. Number in parentheses is last month's ranking:
1
Ottawa Senators (1)- The Senators started off hot and have not looked back and as such remain at the top of the Power rankings.
2
Detroit Red Wing (5)- The Red Wing have continued their good start in the surprisingly strong Central. Moving up 3 slots. Zetterburg and Datsyk proving to be a lethal combo
3
Carolina Hurricanes (3)- The 'canes continue their strong play as they remain in 3rd position. The SE division appears to be even weaker than many thought it would, helping the boys from Carolina pad their totals
4
Colorado Avalanche(15)- Moving up 11 slots despite continued struggles on the road, but are lights out in Denver during a recent home stand. The dynamic soph duo of Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny are propelling the Avs. An exciting team to watch. If they get their road situation turned around they will be competing for the Conference title.
5
Montreal Canadians(8)- Moving up 3 slots, improbably the Habs special teams continue to propel them despite the loss of Souray. Corey Price, has gone from goalie prospect to potential star in the making as he and Huet are playing well, allowing the team to potentially use Harlock as a trade chip later this season.
6
NY Rangers (25)- Moving up an incredible 19 slots, long gone/forgotten are the early season locker room problems May be it merely took the new acquisitions a bit longer than expected to gel together. Lundqvist continues to play Vezina calibre goal, and the defense has been surprisingly steady. The scoring appears to be ready to finally break out. Look out East!
7
San Jose Shark-(9) Have been road warriors thus far. Not looking too good in the Shark tank, and continue to look uneven at times, They have all talent to be THE team , and we fully expect they'll improve their home record and rise in the standings.
8
Philadelphia Flyers-(4) Fall 4 slots as the boys from Phillie start to come back to Earth. Have been a .500 team the last 3 weeks, falling out of the top spot in the Atlantic. They still appear to be a far improved version of the pathetic display of 2006-07
9
Columbus Blue Jackets-(24) Move up a very healthy 13 slots. One of the pleasant surprises here early on. Hitchcock has the Jackets playing exceptionally well, especially at Nationwide where they are an outstanding 6-2-1. They have received stellar goaltending from both Leclaire and Norrena. Something we at FAUXRUMORS didn't expect.
10
NY Islanders-(16) Move up 6 slots. Have played the fewest games thus far, but have one of the better winning %'s. Are/have been flirting with the division lead. As FAUXRUMORS mentions in his excellent Ted Nolan piece, he deserves much credit piecing together this rag-tag group.
11
Nashville Predator-(27) Up an amazing 17 slots. Though no longer the power house team we have seen in recent seasons they have been coming on as of late and may prove to their detractors(including us) that we were wrong writing them off.
12
Minnesota Wild-(2) Fall 10 spots. Started off on fire, they have abruptly come back to the pack with a thud. Injuries have hurt them, on offense though they continue to be decently stingy on defense. They aren't an elite team, but still one that should never be taken lightly
13
Boston Bruins- (6) Have fallen 7 spots, but continue to generally play good hockey for Julian (We wonder if he's chuckling at the Devil's troubles?) Play in the very competitive NE division so they can't afford to let their game slip up for a moment. So far, so good in Beantown.
14
Chicago Black Hawk-(13) The Boys from the Windy City have been able to maintain their placement above the top 15. One of the many of surprises in the central, their young phenoms Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes continue to impress adding to the hope of their fans that the death of Wirtz initiated last month
15
TB Lightning- (11) Seemed to be reeling but have recently rebounded a bit, actually winning 2 road games now. Their Big 3-4( Vinny&Vinny, St.Louis, and Richards) are carrying the team despite huge loss of Dan Boyle. Explosive coach Tortorella got a vote of confidence from his GM jay Feaster. Of course as we saw in Dallas, is Feater's job safe if the Lightning falter?
16
Los Angeles King-(29) A team many gave up for dead after their dreadful post European start, they have been one of the better teams the past month. Up 13 spots. Resurrecting their season. Lets see how they do once they hit the road for a long stretch
17
Toronto Maple Leafs-(21) Continue to be a Jekyll and Hyde team looking horrendous one night, and like world beaters the next. To make the playoffs they'll have to be more consistent, and have fewer, um,
distractions!
18
Vancouver Canuck-(14) Have fallen into plane mediocrity, which is what we expected last year. Luongo seems to have lost his winning touch,and the Sedins can't do it all themselves. This was the coach of the year??
19
Anaheim Duck-(13) A continued tough start for the champs. After their European adventure and long road trip that followed we thought they would rebound nicely at home. However we would count out the champs just yet. A return of Niedermayer by the holidays is rumored. We of course will look into that for our readers
20
Atlanta Thrashers-(30) Jumped 10 spots. They really had no place to go but up after looking dreadful out of the gate. Costing Hartley his job. GM, now also coach Waddell SHOULD have been the one axed but now he will be given the credit for the turn around. It doesn't hurt when your resident superstar Ilya Kovalchuk has played like a man possessed the last few weeks.
21
Dallas Star-(19) Continue to tread water. As we suspected a change in management was coming soon. What we didn't expect was that Mr. Tippet would survive(for now) and the GM, Armstong would be looking for work. Regardless, this team has serious flaws that won't be changed by this. This is a team in decline, and soon will realize that they are in rebuild mode
22
St. Louis Blue-(10) Have fallen in our rankings, but still are playing well above last years team. Shocking/beating the Wings at home the other night. Will be interesting to see if they can stay above .500. They are probably not yet a playoff team, but the future looks better in St. Louis
23
Calgary Flame-(20) As FAUXRUMORS alluded to in their post
trouble-in-alberta, things are not going well in Calgary. The team is sputtering. Even losing at home to their hated rival Oilers recently. If this continues a change in coaching might be possible.
24
NJ Devils-(22) Can no longer point to being road weary as an excuse, as they are only 3-3 in their new digs, The Rock. The anemic PP clearly is missing Rafalski and Gomez. A search party needs to be sent out to find Elias's hockey skills. Clearly he's lost them.
Sutter has looked baffled on the bench. Looking like the rookie coach he is. Add to that Brodeur has looked ordinary, and you have a recipe for a non playoff year.
25
Pittsburgh Penguins- (18) There is NO excuse for this team to be where it is.
Coach of the year finalist Therrian not looking as smart this year we guess? M-A Fleury continues to not play like the super star in the making we've been told he is. Shero would be best served to change coaches, as this collection, even with its goaltending, is good enough to make the playoffs.
26
Buffalo Sabres-(17) (See above) Have continued their very poor start. Winning a mere 3 of their last 10 games! Despite free agent losses they still have considerable fire power/depth at forward. So another coach of the year finalist having trouble we see. If Ruff had take THIS club and won the President's trophy we'd say he deserves consideration. Thus far
he and the team are NOT doing the job.
27
Edmonton Oiler-(28) We didn't see them as a playoff team, but not as an awful team either. The
McTavish watch may begin very soon if this continues. The Souray injury hurts as does high priced RFA acquisition Dustin Penner's anemic 3 goals in 18 games. Perhaps Lowe should be the one relieved of his duties?
28
Phoenix Coyote-(26) Have neither looked terribly good or bad. If TGO would keep them near .500 he'd deserve Adams consideration. Most, including us, are waiting for the
inevitable long losing streak.
29
Florida Panthers-(23) Have been consistently inconsistent. A dreadful 2-7-1 on the road, these cats have been tame kittys.
Jacques Martin's time may be running out in south Florida. There are some expectations there, and patience may be wearing thin
30
Washington Capitals-(7) Oh, how the mighty have fallen. From looking like a sure playoff team to a sure
lottery-pick team in 4 short weeks. Probably this team is neither, but is in need of a coaching change to get the most out of this group. Injuries are being blamed, but in actuality, they have not been playing well as a group, and that problem falls on coaching.
