Aggregated NHL Power Rankings, Week 18: San Jose Sharks Surge, Vancouver Canucks Still On Top

SB Nation’s Mike Chen takes his weekly look at the various Power Rankings from around the hockey media. The consensus? The Canucks and Flyers are still elite, and the Sharks made a huge surge.

by Mike Chen

Feb 11, 2011, 5:17 PM UTC

It's the first full week following the All-Star break, and some teams are starting to hit their stride. We have the ascending San Jose Sharks and the surging New Jersey Devils. On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Penguins' injury woes are very well documented, and the ever-steady Detroit Red Wings have hit quite a speed bump.

However, the very top remains the same -- it's still the Vancouver Canucks and the Philadelphia Flyers to beat, though they've flip-flopped this week. Here are your rankings.

Rank	Team	Last	Diff
1	Vancouver Canucks	2	1
2	Philadelphia Flyers	1	-1
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	5	2
4	Tampa Bay Lightning	7	3
5	Detroit Red Wings	3	-2
6	Boston Bruins	6	0
7	Washington Capitals	9	2
8	San Jose Sharks	15	7
9	Montreal Canadiens	11	2
10	Dallas Stars	4	-6
11	Nashville Predators	8	-3
12	Anaheim Ducks	9	-3
13	Los Angeles Kings	16	3
14	Chicago Blackhawks	12	-2
15	New York Rangers	13	-2
16	Phoenix Coyotes	14	-2
17	Minnesota Wild	18	1
18	Calgary Flames	21	3
19	Carolina Hurricanes	16	-3
20	Colorado Avalanche	19	-1
21 (tie)	Atlanta Thrashers	20	-1
21 (tie)	Buffalo Sabres	22	1
23	Columbus Blue Jackets	23	0
24	St. Louis Blues	24	0
25	Florida Panthers	25	0
26	New Jersey Devils	26	0
27	Toronto Maple Leafs	26	-1
28	New York Islanders	30	2
29	Ottawa Senators	28	-1
30	Edmonton Oilers	29	-1

As you can see, there’s a lot of movement this week, though 23 through 28 remain the same.

SB Nation’s rankings returned this week. Here are your conference rankings with comparison to SB Nation’s hockey writers. First the Eastern Conference.

Rank	Team	SBN	Diff
1	Philadelphia Flyers	1	0
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	2	0
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	3	0
4	Boston Bruins	5	1
5	Washington Capitals	4	-1
6	Montreal Canadiens	6	0
7	New York Rangers	8	1
8	Carolina Hurricanes	7	-1
9 (tie)	Atlanta Thrashers	10	1
9 (tie)	Buffalo Sabres	9	0
11	Florida Panthers	12	1
12	New Jersey Devils	11	-1
13	Toronto Maple Leafs	13	0
14	New York Islanders	14	0
15	Ottawa Senators	15	0

And the Western Conference.

Rank	Team	SBN	Diff
1	Vancouver Canucks	1	0
2	Detroit Red Wings	2	0
3	San Jose Sharks	4	1
4	Dallas Stars	5	1
5	Nashville Predators	3	-2
6	Anaheim Ducks	10	4
7	Los Angeles Kings	7	0
8	Chicago Blackhawks	8	0
9	Phoenix Coyotes	6	-3
10	Minnesota Wild	9	-1
11	Calgary Flames	11	0
12	Colorado Avalanche	12	0
13	Columbus Blue Jackets	14	1
14	St. Louis Blues	13	-1
15	Edmonton Oilers	15	0

There’s some variation in the Western Conference -- most notably the Pacific Division -- but not much out east, where the biggest difference was one slot.

Here’s your mega-spreadsheet, first sorted by average.

Rank	Conference	Team	ESPN	CBS	THN	Sportsnet	SI	TSN	Ave	Std	Last	Diff	SBN
1	West	Vancouver Canucks	1	1	2	1	1	1	1.1667	0.41	2	1	1
2	East	Philadelphia Flyers	2	2	1	2	2	2	1.8333	0.41	1	-1	1
3	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	4	6	3	4	3	6	4.3333	1.37	5	2	2
4	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	3	3	4	3	4	11	4.6667	3.14	7	3	3
5	West	Detroit Red Wings	6	4	5	7	6	4	5.3333	1.21	3	-2	2
6	East	Boston Bruins	7	7	6	8	7	3	6.3333	1.75	6	0	5
7	East	Washington Capitals	5	12	7	6	5	12	7.8333	3.31	9	2	4
8	West	San Jose Sharks	8	5	11	12	9	9	9	2.45	15	7	4
9	East	Montreal Canadiens	9	8	8	9	8	13	9.1667	1.94	11	2	6
10	West	Dallas Stars	11	11	9	5	10	14	10	2.97	4	-6	5
11	West	Nashville Predators	10	10	10	11	11	10	10.333	0.52	8	-3	3
12	West	Anaheim Ducks	12	9	12	10	12	8	10.5	1.76	9	-3	10
13	West	Los Angeles Kings	13	13	13	17	14	7	12.833	3.25	16	3	7
14	West	Chicago Blackhawks	14	15	17	14	18	5	13.833	4.62	12	-2	8
15	East	New York Rangers	18	14	14	13	16	15	15	1.79	13	-2	8
16	West	Phoenix Coyotes	16	18	15	15	13	16	15.5	1.64	14	-2	6
17	West	Minnesota Wild	17	17	16	16	15	18	16.5	1.05	18	1	9
18	West	Calgary Flames	15	21	18	18	17	20	18.167	2.14	21	3	11
19	East	Carolina Hurricanes	19	16	19	19	20	17	18.333	1.51	16	-3	7
20	West	Colorado Avalanche	20	22	20	20	21	19	20.333	1.03	19	-1	12
21	East	Atlanta Thrashers	21	25	21	21	24	22	22.333	1.75	20	-1	10
21	East	Buffalo Sabres	22	19	23	23	23	24	22.333	1.75	22	1	9
23	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	26	23	22	22	19	23	22.5	2.26	23	0	14
24	West	St. Louis Blues	24	24	24	25	22	25	24	1.1	24	0	13
25	East	Florida Panthers	25	26	25	24	25	21	24.333	1.75	25	0	12
26	East	New Jersey Devils	23	20	27	26	27	26	24.833	2.79	26	0	11
27	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	27	29	26	27	26	28	27.167	1.17	26	-1	13
28	East	New York Islanders	28	27	29	28	28	27	27.833	0.75	30	2	14
29	East	Ottawa Senators	29	30	28	29	29	30	29.167	0.75	28	-1	15
30	West	Edmonton Oilers	30	28	30	30	30	29	29.5	0.84	29	-1	15

And by standard deviation.

Rank	Conference	Team	ESPN	CBS	THN	Sportsnet	SI	TSN	Ave	Std	Last	Diff	SBN
2	East	Philadelphia Flyers	2	2	1	2	2	2	1.8333	0.41	1	-1	1
1	West	Vancouver Canucks	1	1	2	1	1	1	1.1667	0.41	2	1	1
11	West	Nashville Predators	10	10	10	11	11	10	10.333	0.52	8	-3	3
28	East	New York Islanders	28	27	29	28	28	27	27.833	0.75	30	2	14
29	East	Ottawa Senators	29	30	28	29	29	30	29.167	0.75	28	-1	15
30	West	Edmonton Oilers	30	28	30	30	30	29	29.5	0.84	29	-1	15
20	West	Colorado Avalanche	20	22	20	20	21	19	20.333	1.03	19	-1	12
17	West	Minnesota Wild	17	17	16	16	15	18	16.5	1.05	18	1	9
24	West	St. Louis Blues	24	24	24	25	22	25	24	1.1	24	0	13
27	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	27	29	26	27	26	28	27.167	1.17	26	-1	13
5	West	Detroit Red Wings	6	4	5	7	6	4	5.3333	1.21	3	-2	2
3	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	4	6	3	4	3	6	4.3333	1.37	5	2	2
19	East	Carolina Hurricanes	19	16	19	19	20	17	18.333	1.51	16	-3	7
16	West	Phoenix Coyotes	16	18	15	15	13	16	15.5	1.64	14	-2	6
6	East	Boston Bruins	7	7	6	8	7	3	6.3333	1.75	6	0	5
21	East	Atlanta Thrashers	21	25	21	21	24	22	22.333	1.75	20	-1	10
21	East	Buffalo Sabres	22	19	23	23	23	24	22.333	1.75	22	1	9
25	East	Florida Panthers	25	26	25	24	25	21	24.333	1.75	25	0	12
12	West	Anaheim Ducks	12	9	12	10	12	8	10.5	1.76	9	-3	10
15	East	New York Rangers	18	14	14	13	16	15	15	1.79	13	-2	8
9	East	Montreal Canadiens	9	8	8	9	8	13	9.1667	1.94	11	2	6
18	West	Calgary Flames	15	21	18	18	17	20	18.167	2.14	21	3	11
23	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	26	23	22	22	19	23	22.5	2.26	23	0	14
8	West	San Jose Sharks	8	5	11	12	9	9	9	2.45	15	7	4
26	East	New Jersey Devils	23	20	27	26	27	26	24.833	2.79	26	0	11
10	West	Dallas Stars	11	11	9	5	10	14	10	2.97	4	-6	5
4	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	3	3	4	3	4	11	4.6667	3.14	7	3	3
13	West	Los Angeles Kings	13	13	13	17	14	7	12.833	3.25	16	3	7
7	East	Washington Capitals	5	12	7	6	5	12	7.8333	3.31	9	2	4
14	West	Chicago Blackhawks	14	15	17	14	18	5	13.833	4.62	12	-2	8

Biggest Outlier: The Blackhawks and Lightning get this week’s “TSN WTF?” but as usual, TSN works with its own set formula. If you’re going strictly by opinion, the Washington Capitals ranged between #5 and #12. However, maybe the New Jersey Devils offer up a bid here, as CBS has them at #20 while a few have them at #27.

Most Consensus: There wasn’t an absolute group consensus but everyone agreed that the Canucks and Flyers were #1 and #2 in some form. Right behind them came the Nashville Predators in terms of groupthink.

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