Aggregated NHL Power Rankings, Week 19: What To Make Of New Jersey And Pittsburgh?

The Western Conference is an unpredictable mess. Is this reflected in the Aggregated NHL Power Rankings? Despite little movement at the top and bottom, everything else is up for grabs.

by Mike Chen

Feb 18, 2011, 7:43 PM UTC

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Some teams just refuse to die, don’t they? And others can’t find a way to win, whether it’s due to injury or just plain bad luck. Whatever the case, this week’s Aggregated NHL Power Rankings finds plenty of discrepancy between the different source power rankings. TSN usually is a bit of an outlier, as they’ve got their own formula to work with. However, the other subjective ones show a wide range of opinion, and tells you who’s got a case of “What have you done for me lately?” vs. a look at the bigger picture.

Some things don't change, though. The Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks are still the league's hottest teams. We'll see what happens next week when the Canucks face their battered blueline. Here are your rankings.

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

Here’s one thing to note: earlier this week, I called the Pacific the Best Division In The NHL (TM). The Aggregated NHL Power Rankings feature all of the Pacific teams in the top half.

Now let’s take a closer look at the conference rankings with comparisons to SB Nation’s rankings. First the Eastern Conference:

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

And now the Western Conference.

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

There’s quite a bit of consensus on the Eastern Conference. As for the Western Conference? The SB Nation post called it “officially unpredictable” and the rankings reflect that.

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	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1
2	East	Philadelphia Flyers	2	2	2	2	2	3	2.17	0.41	2	0	1
3	West	Detroit Red Wings	3	3	4	4	3	2	3.17	0.75	5	2	2
4	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	4	4	3	3	4	11	4.83	3.06	4	0	2
5	East	Boston Bruins	8	9	6	6	10	4	7.17	2.23	6	1	4
6	West	Anaheim Ducks	5	5	12	9	8	5	7.33	2.88	12	6	7
7	West	San Jose Sharks	7	6	9	13	12	9	9.33	2.73	8	1	5
8	West	Nashville Predators	11	10	10	12	6	8	9.5	2.17	11	3	3
9	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	17	13	5	5	5	15	10	5.62	3	-6	3
10	East	Washington Capitals	9	14	8	7	14	10	10.3	3.01	7	-3	6
11	West	Los Angeles Kings	6	7	13	15	15	7	10.5	4.28	13	2	6
11	East	Montreal Canadiens	10	12	7	10	11	13	10.5	2.07	9	-2	5
13	West	Phoenix Coyotes	14	11	15	11	7	12	11.7	2.8	16	3	4
14	West	Dallas Stars	13	20	11	8	13	16	13.5	4.14	10	-4	8
15	West	Minnesota Wild	12	15	14	14	9	17	13.5	2.74	17	2	11
16	West	Chicago Blackhawks	15	21	18	18	19	6	16.2	5.34	14	-2	9
17	East	New York Rangers	20	16	16	17	18	14	16.8	2.04	15	-2	8
18	West	Calgary Flames	16	18	17	16	16	20	17.2	1.6	18	0	10
19	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	19	23	19	20	17	19	19.5	1.97	23	4	12
20	East	Carolina Hurricanes	21	19	21	19	22	18	20	1.55	19	-1	7
21	East	Buffalo Sabres	18	17	20	23	20	23	20.2	2.48	21	0	9
22	East	New Jersey Devils	22	8	26	26	26	26	22.3	7.2	26	4	10
23	East	Atlanta Thrashers	23	24	23	21	23	21	22.5	1.22	21	-2	11
24	West	St. Louis Blues	25	22	22	24	21	24	23	1.55	24	0	13
25	East	Florida Panthers	24	26	25	25	24	22	24.3	1.37	25	0	12
26	West	Colorado Avalanche	26	29	24	22	25	25	25.2	2.32	20	-6	14
27	East	New York Islanders	27	25	28	27	27	28	27	1.1	28	1	13
28	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	28	27	27	28	28	27	27.5	0.55	27	-1	14
29	East	Ottawa Senators	29	28	29	29	29	30	29	0.63	29	0	15
30	West	Edmonton Oilers	30	30	30	30	30	29	29.8	0.41	30	0	15

And by standard deviation.

Rank	Conference	Team	ESPN	CBS	THN	Sportsnet	SI	TSN	Ave	Std	Last	Diff	SBN
1	West	Vancouver Canucks	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1
30	West	Edmonton Oilers	30	30	30	30	30	29	29.8	0.41	30	0	15
2	East	Philadelphia Flyers	2	2	2	2	2	3	2.17	0.41	2	0	1
28	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	28	27	27	28	28	27	27.5	0.55	27	-1	14
29	East	Ottawa Senators	29	28	29	29	29	30	29	0.63	29	0	15
3	West	Detroit Red Wings	3	3	4	4	3	2	3.17	0.75	5	2	2
27	East	New York Islanders	27	25	28	27	27	28	27	1.1	28	1	13
23	East	Atlanta Thrashers	23	24	23	21	23	21	22.5	1.22	21	-2	11
25	East	Florida Panthers	24	26	25	25	24	22	24.3	1.37	25	0	12
20	East	Carolina Hurricanes	21	19	21	19	22	18	20	1.55	19	-1	7
24	West	St. Louis Blues	25	22	22	24	21	24	23	1.55	24	0	13
18	West	Calgary Flames	16	18	17	16	16	20	17.2	1.6	18	0	10
19	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	19	23	19	20	17	19	19.5	1.97	23	4	12
17	East	New York Rangers	20	16	16	17	18	14	16.8	2.04	15	-2	8
11	East	Montreal Canadiens	10	12	7	10	11	13	10.5	2.07	9	-2	5
8	West	Nashville Predators	11	10	10	12	6	8	9.5	2.17	11	3	3
5	East	Boston Bruins	8	9	6	6	10	4	7.17	2.23	6	1	4
26	West	Colorado Avalanche	26	29	24	22	25	25	25.2	2.32	20	-6	14
21	East	Buffalo Sabres	18	17	20	23	20	23	20.2	2.48	21	0	9
7	West	San Jose Sharks	7	6	9	13	12	9	9.33	2.73	8	1	5
15	West	Minnesota Wild	12	15	14	14	9	17	13.5	2.74	17	2	11
13	West	Phoenix Coyotes	14	11	15	11	7	12	11.7	2.8	16	3	4
6	West	Anaheim Ducks	5	5	12	9	8	5	7.33	2.88	12	6	7
10	East	Washington Capitals	9	14	8	7	14	10	10.3	3.01	7	-3	6
4	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	4	4	3	3	4	11	4.83	3.06	4	0	2
14	West	Dallas Stars	13	20	11	8	13	16	13.5	4.14	10	-4	8
11	West	Los Angeles Kings	6	7	13	15	15	7	10.5	4.28	13	2	6
16	West	Chicago Blackhawks	15	21	18	18	19	6	16.2	5.34	14	-2	9
9	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	17	13	5	5	5	15	10	5.62	3	-6	3
22	East	New Jersey Devils	22	8	26	26	26	26	22.3	7.2	26	4	10

Biggest Outlier: Not sure what to make of the New Jersey Devils or Pittsburgh Penguins? Neither are the various power rankers. The Devils ranked as high as 8th despite being in the 20s everywhere else while the Penguins were placed as high as 5th and as low as 17th.

Most Consensus: Those Vancouver Canucks just haven’t let go of their hold on the top spot, have they? Well, let’s see how they handle the power rankings after dealing with a ravaged defense.

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