DSP NHL Rankings by Kevin Lindstrom

And now for something completely different.

Please see below my first ever NHL Rankings. I've included some of the standings information along with the rankings so you can compare and contrast what I've got with what you think - and by all means, fire away with the comments.

When you do league-wide rankings, part of the question is what exactly are you ranking? Hottest teams right now, over-the-season rankings?

For me, it is more of the latter although I will bump up or down teams that I think are trending a particular way from time to time. But these rankings are supposed to be discussion fodder, so feel free to share your opinion.

For now, let's start with the actual rankings. The comments are below.

NHL Rankings through February 11, 2008
					Home			Away
No.	Team	Pts	G	W	L	OTL	W	L	OTL
1	Detroit Red Wings	87	58	21	6	2	20	6	3
2	Ottawa Senators	72	56	18	9	2	16	9	2
3	San Jose Sharks	69	55	14	12	4	17	5	3
4	**Dallas Stars**	75	60	18	9	2	15	11	2
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	56	17	9	3	15	10	2
6	Minnesota Wild	68	56	17	9	2	15	11	2
7	Montreal Canadiens	67	56	12	10	5	17	8	4
8	Philadelphia Flyers	65	55	13	9	5	17	11	0
9	New Jersey Devils	66	56	17	11	0	14	10	4
10	Anaheim Ducks	65	56	18	8	2	12	13	3
11	Colorado Avalanche	69	60	16	7	4	15	15	3
12	Buffalo Sabres	64	56	15	10	7	13	10	1
13	Nashville Predators	61	55	14	11	3	14	11	2
14	Boston Bruins	64	57	17	8	3	12	14	3
15	Calgary Flames	61	56	14	11	2	13	11	5
16	Vancouver Canucks	62	56	15	8	3	12	13	5
17	Phoenix Coyotes	60	56	11	13	2	17	11	2
18	NY Rangers	63	59	17	13	0	11	11	7
19	Columbus Blue Jackets	56	54	15	10	5	9	12	3
20	Carolina Hurricanes	61	58	16	8	6	10	15	3
21	Washington Capitals	59	57	15	13	1	12	12	4
22	St. Louis Blues	58	58	13	11	2	14	16	2
23	Florida Panthers	58	58	15	14	2	12	13	2
24	Chicago Blackhawks	57	59	11	12	4	15	15	2
25	NY Islanders	55	56	13	12	3	11	13	4
26	Toronto Maple Leafs	53	54	13	13	1	11	12	4
27	Atlanta Thrashers	55	57	13	10	5	10	15	4
28	Edmonton Oilers	55	57	14	14	1	11	13	4
29	Tampa Bay Lightning	52	56	14	13	2	9	14	4
30	Los Angeles Kings	51	58	12	16	1	12	15	2

Comments

So it is the Detroit Red Wings and 29 dwarfs? Is it really that simple? You would think not, and the playoffs can be a great equalizer, but right now, statistically, it is just sick.

No one has the kind of record – overall, home or away – that the Red Wings have. Our Dallas Stars have the second best point total in the league – and we’re 12 points back. Twelve. Dallas is the only team even close on the last ten games played – with 8 wins v. Detroit’s six wins, three losses and one OTL.

And yes, maybe a good part of Detroit’s success is their division. But twelve points? Wow.

Thank goodness for the playoffs, huh?

So let’s look beyond the Red Wings – who may once again win the President’s Trophy and nothing else. It’s been done more often than you’d think and I’m sure we’d all do a little happy dance to see it happen again.

So who are the teams that can give Detroit a run in the playoffs? Right now they are Ottawa, San Jose, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Montreal and Philly. The Sharks take a slight edge over Dallas because of their games in hand – but considering how Dallas has played since the All Star break, that edge may be short lived. Seven in a row ain't easy, and the refocused Marty sure is nice to have in goal. We'll see if this is just a good run or a sign that the Stars have turned a corner.

But overall, these seven are the teams that right now have shown consistently that they are winning the King of the Hill game that is the NHL this year. It is surprising the lack of difference between playoff spots 4 and 8 in both conferences – less than seven points in both conferences separate the wild card teams.

At this juncture, New Jersey, Anaheim, Colorado, Buffalo, Nashville and Boston are the teams that might be able to join the top tier. It will be interesting to see how long the Ducks stay in this group with the return of Selanne and Niedermayer. Early returns haven’t been great, but it has only been a week or two. If it is just a matter of those guys getting their legs under them, they could make a run at the top group in short order.

We start to see some separation with this next group where the teams aren’t as tight on the heels of the teams in front of them: Calgary, Vancouver, Phoenix, the Rangers, Columbus, Carolina, Washington and St. Louis. How bad is the Southeast Division? It isn’t until 21 that we see the first team in their division. Contrast that with the Pacific where you have San Jose and Dallas in the top four and other than Los Angeles, not a weak team in the bunch – which is saying something about the Coyotes.

This is a situation where a more balanced schedule will really help out. Overloading the Ducks and Stars and Sharks with high quality games as opposed to the muck that, say, Detroit has in their division (Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus aren’t exactly welterweights) gives an adverse advantage to some teams. In part, that is what makes me think that Detroit is beatable – maybe not by much, but beatable, nonetheless.

The final set includes Florida, Chicago, the Islanders, Atlanta, Toronto, Edmonton, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. Edmonton and Toronto should be better than this, frankly – especially with the new NHL cap structure. Atlanta seems to have fallen back into the muck after seeming to have made some significant progress.

Well, we’re in the stretch run now. Time to see some more separation. From all accounts, Dallas, San Jose and Ottowa seem to be the teams that can make a real run in this last part of the season – who else do you see joining them in the run at the Red Wings?