With about 15 games into the season the NHL power rankings stack up pretty easily. There are four division leaders with 20 points in games played so far. The four aces of this Online Poker are the Philadelphia Flyers, the Washington Capitals, the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings.
The Capitals recently bested both the Flyers and the Boston Bruins and have started to recover the magic, that along with Alexander Ovechkin makes them one of the most tantalizing teams in the National Hockey League. After starting 6-4 the Capitals have since rattled off four wins in a row. They are 7-1 at home and 3-3 on the road. However, they aren’t number one in this version of the power rankings.
Let’s start from tenth and work our way down.
In the 10 spot are the defending Stanley Cup champions the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are in the middle of the Central Division with an 8-8-1 record. They are the defending champions though and despite a losing record at home they are winners on the road. Which bodes well for them. Also the fact that division mates Detroit and St. Louis are near the top of the league indicates the strength of the competition.
In 9th the Ottawa Senators are riding the hot hand of Alex Kovalv who has been on a goal-scoring tear. The Senators are tied with the Bruins in points in the Northeast Division but both are looking up at the Montreal Canadians.
The Minnesota Wild are in the 8th spot of the power rankings and second in the Northwest division. The Wild have accumulated 16 points so far and trail only Vancouver. The Wild are hot, having won three straight with two other wins sandwiching their loss in five games.
In 7th the Boston Bruins are barely above the Senators who they are in a tie with in the real standings. The Bruins have had a rough go of it of late but with a 7-3-1 record they still in a good spot. Course they’ve lost two games and can’t feel good about that.
The Vancouver Canucks are the 6th best team. They are the lowest ranked division leader but that’s only because the Montreal Canadians didn’t make the power rankings. The Canadians have lost three of their last four while the Canucks have been riding Torres’ goal scoring to six wins in a row.
In the five hole are the Detroit Redwings. The Redwings are one of three Central division teams in the top ten. The trail their rivals the Blues by only one point and are the best non division leader in the bunch.
All that’s left are the best four teams in the league, each with 20 points and each leading their respective divisions. Splitting hairs, here, but the fliers are fourth on the basis of their loss to the Capitals. They are riding their rookie goalie but keep putting him in power play situations.
The third best team are the Los Angeles Kings. They started the season 1-1 and have left .500 in their rearview mirror. Winners of their last four the Kings are undefeated at home.
The second best team is the pride of the U.S. capital the Capitals. The Cappies four wins in a row are second only to the Canucks for the hottest streak in hockey. Actually third, they both trail the Blues who have won seven games in a row. Guess who the number one is…
The St. Louis Blues stifle their opponents to overcome their lack of offense. Offensive teams would gladly trade their goals for the Blues’ wins. Right now no team is better than St. Louis.
