Aggregated NHL Power Rankings, Week 23: Can Anyone Stop Vancouver?

As the first team to clinch a playoff spot, the Vancouver Canucks are clearly the class of this year’s NHL. Is that enough to hold them at the top of the Aggregated Power Rankings?

by Mike Chen

Mar 20, 2011, 6:24 PM UTC

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21: Vancouver Canucks fans celebrate a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in game four of the Western Conference Quarter-final at Staples Center on April 21, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Ho hum. Another week of Aggregated NHL Power Rankings, another week of the Vancouver Canucks on top. After a mediocre first nine games, the Canucks have been winning about 2/3 of their games and staying far ahead of the NHL pack.

For the sake of debate, can we just, I don’t know, freeze the Canucks in carbonite until the playoffs start? We get it already, they’re really freaking good!

Here are your rankings for the week:

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

Not as much movement this week, as there are a number of teams with a big zero in the Difference column. For a while, it seemed like teams were settling into tiers, but now those tiers are breaking down into smaller and smaller groups. A good example of this has been the logjam in the Western Conference, where it’s whittled down to something reasonable, though no less exciting.

Speaking of conferences, let’s break this sucker down into Eastern and Western. First, the Eastern Conference:

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

I’m pretty sure this is Florida’s first time at the bottom of the Eastern Conference rankings. Sorry, Litter Box Cats, time to send your team off to the Genesis Planet to be reborn. (Sorry, LBC’s Donny is a fellow Trekkie and I couldn’t resist.)

And the Western Conference:

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

And here’s the always popular mega-spreadsheet, first sorted by average:

Rank	Conference	Team	ESPN	CBS	THN	Sportsnet	SI	TSN	Ave	Std	Last	Diff
1	West	Vancouver Canucks	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0
2	East	Washington Capitals	2	2	2	3	2	10	3.5	3.209361	7	5
3	West	Detroit Red Wings	4	5	3	4	4	2	3.666667	1.032796	4	1
4	West	San Jose Sharks	3	3	6	5	6	7	5	1.67332	4	0
5	East	Philadelphia Flyers	5	8	4	6	3	5	5.166667	1.722401	3	-2
6	East	Boston Bruins	7	9	9	2	7	3	6.166667	2.994439	2	-4
7	West	Chicago Blackhawks	6	13	5	8	12	4	8	3.741657	6	-1
8	West	Los Angeles Kings	13	7	8	9	10	6	8.833333	2.483277	12	4
9	East	Montreal Canadiens	8	6	10	10	9	11	9	1.788854	8	-1
9	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	12	10	7	7	5	13	9	3.162278	9	0
11	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	11	12	11	11	8	15	11.33333	2.250926	10	-1
12	West	Dallas Stars	9	11	14	13	13	12	12	1.788854	14	2
13	West	Phoenix Coyotes	14	16	12	14	11	8	12.5	2.810694	13	0
14	West	Calgary Flames	17	15	13	12	15	14	14.33333	1.75119	11	-3
15	East	New Jersey Devils	10	4	18	15	23	18	14.66667	6.742897	15	0
16	West	Nashville Predators	16	18	17	16	14	17	16.33333	1.36626	18	2
17	East	New York Rangers	19	17	16	20	19	9	16.66667	4.033196	16	-1
18	West	Anaheim Ducks	15	19	19	17	16	16	17	1.67332	18	0
18	East	Buffalo Sabres	18	14	15	19	17	19	17	2.097618	20	2
20	West	Minnesota Wild	25	24	20	18	18	20	20.83333	2.994439	17	-3
21	East	Atlanta Thrashers	21	22	21	26	22	21	22.16667	1.94079	24	3
22	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	20	20	23	22	25	25	22.5	2.258318	23	1
23	East	Carolina Hurricanes	23	21	22	23	24	24	22.83333	1.169045	22	-1
24	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	26	25	27	21	20	22	23.5	2.880972	21	-3
25	West	St. Louis Blues	24	27	24	24	21	26	24.33333	2.065591	25	0
26	East	New York Islanders	27	23	25	25	26	23	24.83333	1.602082	25	-1
27	East	Ottawa Senators	22	26	28	28	28	28	26.66667	2.42212	30	3
28	East	Florida Panthers	29	28	26	27	27	29	27.66667	1.21106	27	-1
29	West	Edmonton Oilers	28	29	29	29	30	27	28.66667	1.032796	27	-2
30	West	Colorado Avalanche	30	30	30	30	29	30	29.83333	0.408248	29	-1

And by standard deviation:

Rank	Conference	Team	ESPN	CBS	THN	Sportsnet	SI	TSN	Ave	Std	Last	Diff
1	West	Vancouver Canucks	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0
30	West	Colorado Avalanche	30	30	30	30	29	30	29.83333	0.408248	29	-1
29	West	Edmonton Oilers	28	29	29	29	30	27	28.66667	1.032796	27	-2
3	West	Detroit Red Wings	4	5	3	4	4	2	3.666667	1.032796	4	1
23	East	Carolina Hurricanes	23	21	22	23	24	24	22.83333	1.169045	22	-1
28	East	Florida Panthers	29	28	26	27	27	29	27.66667	1.21106	27	-1
16	West	Nashville Predators	16	18	17	16	14	17	16.33333	1.36626	18	2
26	East	New York Islanders	27	23	25	25	26	23	24.83333	1.602082	25	-1
4	West	San Jose Sharks	3	3	6	5	6	7	5	1.67332	4	0
18	West	Anaheim Ducks	15	19	19	17	16	16	17	1.67332	18	0
5	East	Philadelphia Flyers	5	8	4	6	3	5	5.166667	1.722401	3	-2
14	West	Calgary Flames	17	15	13	12	15	14	14.33333	1.75119	11	-3
9	East	Montreal Canadiens	8	6	10	10	9	11	9	1.788854	8	-1
12	West	Dallas Stars	9	11	14	13	13	12	12	1.788854	14	2
21	East	Atlanta Thrashers	21	22	21	26	22	21	22.16667	1.94079	24	3
25	West	St. Louis Blues	24	27	24	24	21	26	24.33333	2.065591	25	0
18	East	Buffalo Sabres	18	14	15	19	17	19	17	2.097618	20	2
11	East	Tampa Bay Lightning	11	12	11	11	8	15	11.33333	2.250926	10	-1
22	East	Toronto Maple Leafs	20	20	23	22	25	25	22.5	2.258318	23	1
27	East	Ottawa Senators	22	26	28	28	28	28	26.66667	2.42212	30	3
8	West	Los Angeles Kings	13	7	8	9	10	6	8.833333	2.483277	12	4
13	West	Phoenix Coyotes	14	16	12	14	11	8	12.5	2.810694	13	0
24	West	Columbus Blue Jackets	26	25	27	21	20	22	23.5	2.880972	21	-3
6	East	Boston Bruins	7	9	9	2	7	3	6.166667	2.994439	2	-4
20	West	Minnesota Wild	25	24	20	18	18	20	20.83333	2.994439	17	-3
9	East	Pittsburgh Penguins	12	10	7	7	5	13	9	3.162278	9	0
2	East	Washington Capitals	2	2	2	3	2	10	3.5	3.209361	7	5
7	West	Chicago Blackhawks	6	13	5	8	12	4	8	3.741657	6	-1
17	East	New York Rangers	19	17	16	20	19	9	16.66667	4.033196	16	-1
15	East	New Jersey Devils	10	4	18	15	23	18	14.66667	6.742897	15	0