PHN NHL Power Ranking Poll – 4 February 2015 Post season may be set in East while West is still undecided for the bottom three spots

The NHL has been exciting this season from several perspectives. The 2014-14 season was seen as a down year for the Eastern Conference as they were abused by the West

4 February 2015

most of the season. The Los Angeles Kings showed the ultimate supremacy with a win over the New York Rangers in the Cup Final. This season has seen a more balanced competition including the same Rangers sweeping the western trip this season going 6-0-0. But there are some disappointments this season and we will discuss them here in this edition of the PHN Power Ranking Poll.

Power Rankings-Eastern Conference-February 4th

Adam says: I am declaring the Eastern Conference playoff race to be over in terms of the eight teams who will qualify. I know Florida is only eight points back with three games in hand, but I don’t see anyone above them falling. Eight teams are in the rest are just playing for draft position in my opinion. For that purpose I am looking at the power ranking now as the top eight and the rest.

1. Tampa Bay (0)-Third period goals, regulation/overtime wins, goal differential and individual plus/minus are all thing the Lightning lead the Eastern Conference in. All that adds up to a slim lead atop the standings.
2. Detroit (+7)-How many times has someone said the Red Wings injuries are going to hurt them. Goalie Jimmy Howard went down and all they have done is won seven of eight since. Mike Babcock continues to prove to the world he is the best coach in today’s game.
3. Montreal (+2)-Being in the Atlantic Division is a tough place to be out East. The best teams in the conference all sit around the Canadiens. Carey Price continues to shine in net, making him a serious Hart Trophy candidate and possibly Vezina runaway. With Rinne being shelved. The guy will continue to steal wins for Montreal down the stretch.
4. New York Islanders (-2)-The Islanders start February the Metropolitan Division leader by the slimmest of margins. The margin between first and forth is only five points. No matter where the team finishes, previous performance in the playoffs is the lingering questions.
5. Boston (+2)-Much like the Kings out west, the Bruins seem to wait for the second half of the season to start playing their best games. They have ripped of points in nine of their last 10 games and moved them up the standings and into solid playoff position.
6. New York Rangers (-2)-The last six weeks have shown the Rangers are off their Stanley Cup Final hangover. The team is scoring goals in bunches and their goaltending has gotten much better. The Blue Shirts are starting to put a scare in the rest of their division as a possible top spot contender.
7. Pittsburgh (-4)-The Penguins are playing nearly .500 hockey since the start of December. Injuries have given their lineup many different looks during that stretch. The feeling out of Pittsburgh is they are two weeks away from running away with the division or dropping to the last playoff seed.
8. Washington (-2)-The Capitals started 2015 on a high note and looked like a train rolling on the tracks. The have stumbled to end January winning only one of their last eight contests.
9. Florida (-1)-The Panthers have stopped scoring and Roberto Luongo has seen more pucks fly past him in recent time. The recent struggles put them out of the Wild Card race.  They are still within striking distance, but it is hard to see them making the jump to join the top eight teams.
10. Philadelphia (+3)-The Flyers are looking more and more to be sellers as the trade deadline approaches. They never did find their stride despite Jakub Voracek leading the league in points. Interesting times ahead of the City of Brotherly Love.
11. Ottawa (0)-The Senators seem to be a better team since Dave Cameron become the new bench boss. They have vastly improved at home and goal differential has climbed to even. It will be a stretch to make a legitimate playoff run, but there is hope in the Capital City.
12. New Jersey (+2)-Let me know if you have heard this before, goals are hard to come by for the Devils. The more that changes in Newark the more than remains the same. At least the fans can look forward to a Martin Brodeur jersey retirement now.
13. Philadelphia (0)-The race to next coach being let go seems to be in Philadelphia and Minnesota. The Flyers are nothing short of a complete disappointment this season. The club has taken a huge step back on the ice and shows little sign of having the wherewithal to put together a long win streak.
14. Columbus (-2)-They put on a nice All-Star Weekend. People feel Columbus could actually be a good hockey market for many years to come. On the ice, the early season injuries are proving to be too insurmountable to overcome.
15. Toronto (-5)-There is no way to put a positive spin on what is going on in Toronto. They have been terrible over the past few weeks. There is nothing they are doing right. The natives are becoming more and more restless with each game played.
16. Buffalo (0)-Welcome to the 2015 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres are on the clock. Nothing else to say when you don’t register a single point since December 27.

Lou says: The All Star break is seen as a chance to re-energize and fill the tanks for the final push. Ahead of the break, the Minnesota Wild traded for Coyotes goalie Devan Dubnyk and that seems to have provided a spark to an otherwise appalling season in St Paul. But without further ado, the West.

1. The Nashville Predators have two regulation losses on home ice.  The club has missed much of a beat with the injury to Pekka Rinne in early January.  Carter Hutton has performed well in net and the Preds are tied with the Anaheim Ducks with 72 points but have a game-in-hand.
2. At 1a in our poll this time, the Anaheim Ducks are comfortable in their position and playing as consistent hockey as the NHL has witnessed this season.  While the rest of the league has ups and downs the Ducks just work through the schedule.  They have not lost a one-goal game in regulation this season.
3. The St Louis Blues have gone and reeled off 11 straight and are challenging the top two teams for the best record in the league.  The retirement of Martin Brodeur has settled the goalie log jam in the crease giving the tram to Brian Elliot.  But Ken Hitchcock still needs to coach this team through the playoffs.
4. The Chicago Blackhawks take up the fourth spot, dropping one, after a mediocre January.  Despite the poor showing to start the New Year they are still in the top four, for now.
5. The San Jose Sharks have been playing well for coach Todd McClellan and they have moved up the standings in the Pacific but still trail the Ducks by 11.  For San Jose, it is an issue of consistency and beating the teams they should beat.
6. The Calgary Flames have righted their ship and maybe just in time.  They had devolved to a flicker of light in December on a long losing streak but have been back to solid play with Jonas Hiller in net providing some stability to the “D”.  They are outside looking on the post season but are 7-3-0 in their last ten.
7. The Vancouver Canucks have been an up and down team and are up these days and knocking on the door of the Winnipeg Jets who hold the second wild card spot.  The Canucks need to look above them and below in the last weeks of the season.  Ryan Miller has been solid and Eddie Lack has made a difference in relief.
8. The Winnipeg Jets take the eight spot because the rest of the west is just dreadful right now.  They are 5-4-1 in their last ten and have been outplayed and outworked in many of the wins but have been lucky.  Michael Hutchinson has been terrific in net but Ondrej Pavelec has been seeing BBs not beach balls this season.
9. The Los Angeles Kings take the ninth spot because they are the reigning Cup champs but that is the only reason.  They are 2-5-3 in their last ten and to go back further than 10 games would be even uglier.  Mike Richards was demoted to Manchester Monarchs of the AHL to find his game.  It may be that the rest of the forwards need a hike in the woods to find their game as well.  This team has lost any sense of offense and was badly beaten this week in Washington.
10. The Minnesota Wild went into the All Star break with a new goalie, Devan Dubnyk, and have used to that to some fire under them.  It most likely is not enough to save the season with 32 games left in the schedule.  The club is the biggest disappointment in the PHN war room this season.
11. The Dallas Stars find their game then lose it, seemingly within one period of play.  They made a move in January and promptly have gone 5-4-1 in the last ten.  That is no way to gain traction in a conference full on mediocrity on the ice.
12. The Colorado Avalanche have been a bit better of late and are 5-2-3 in their last ten but have been so far down this season they still are looking and down at the competition.  A far cry from the first season for Patrick Roy patrolling the bench.  Sophomore lags have hindered the club’s progress up the ladder.
13. The Edmonton Oilers get out of our basement and take the 13^th spot because of their inspired play of late.  They are “only” 5-5-0 in the last ten but that is a major improvement over winless streaks fro earlier in the year.
14. The Arizona Coyotes now occupy our final position in the west.  This has been a year to forget in the desert.  Once thought of a defensively deep organization the Coyotes are -51 in goal differential.  Much of the blame can be placed in goal where Mike Smith has been less than acceptable in the net.  If Ondrej Pavelec is seeing BBs this season, Smith is seeing nano-particles coming at him.