NHL Hockey Power Rankings!

By: TBL

I determine my power rankings by first dividing the total points by one team from the
team's total possible points.  I then take the difference between the "goals for" and
"goals against", cut that number in half, and either add or subtract that number
accordingly.  In the case of two or more teams having the same percentage, I will use "goals for" as the tie breaker, and "goals against" after that.

Pittsburgh 102-8/164-7 .621 .626

Montreal 104-9/164-2 .634 .669

Hurricanes 92-10/164-10 .56 .56

Devils 99-8/164-8 .603 .603

Rags 95-11/164-11 .591 .591

Sens 94-9/164-7 .573 .583

Bruins 94-5/164-4 .573 .578

Flyers 95-7/164-4 .579 .594

Caps 94-11/164-3 .573 .613

Sabres 90-10/164-7 .548 .563

Panthers 85-8/164-8 .518 .518

Leafs 83-4/164-7 .506 .491

Isles 79-5/164-8 .481 .466

Trashers 76-8/164-4 .463 .483

Lightning 71-4/164-16 .432 .372

Red Wings 115-10/164-9 .701 .706

Sharks 108-12/164-11 .658 .663

Wild 98-9/164-7 .597 .607

Ducks 102-10/164-7 .621 .636

Stars 97-12/164-11 .591 .596

Avs 95-10/164-8 .579 .589

Flames 94-13/164-12 .573 .578

Preds 91-8/164-9 .554 .549

Canucks 88-10/164-15 .536 .511

Hawks 88-15/164-11 .536 .556

Oilers 88-4/164-4 .53 .53

Coyotes 83-9/164-12 .506 .491

Jackets 80-7/164-15 .487 .467

Blues 79-12/164-8 .481 .501

Kings 71-9/164-11 .432 .422

TBL’s Power Rankings

Week 26 of the 2007-2008 NHL season

1. Detroit Red Wings                                        .706

2. Montreal Canadiens                                      .669

3. San Jose Sharks                                           .663

4. Anaheim Ducks                                            .636

5. Pittsburgh Penguins                                       .626

6. Washington Capitals                                     .613

7. Minnesota Wild                                            .607

8. New Jersey Devils                                        .603

9. Dallas Stars                                                  .597

10. Philadelphia Flyers                                      .594

11. New York Rangers                                    .591

12. Colorado Avalanche                                   .589

13. Ottawa Senators                                         .583

14. Boston Bruins                                             .578

15. Calgary Flames                                           .578

16. Buffalo Sabres                                            .563

17. Carolina Hurricanes                                    .56

18. Chicago Blackhawks                                  .556

19. Nashville Predators                                     .549

20. Edmonton Oilers                                         .53

21. Florida Panthers                                         .518

22. Vancouver Canucks                                   .511

23. St. Louis Blues                                           .501

24. Phoenix Coyotes                                        .491 (9 goals for)

25. Toronto Maple Leafs                                  .491 (4 goals for)

26. Atlanta Thrashers                                        .483

27. Columbus Blue Jackets                               .467

28. New York Islanders                                   .466

29. Los Angeles Kings                                      .422

30. Tampa Bay Lightning                                  .372

1. Detroit Red Wings – The Wings ended their President’s trophy-type season winning three of their last four games. Dominik Hasek led the Wings to each of these victories, one of which was a 1-0 overtime shut-out victory over Nashville earlier in the week. Coincidently, the Wings will face the Predators in the first round of the playoffs.

2. Montreal Canadiens – Ending the final week in style, the Habs won all three of their games- 3-0 versus Ottawa, and 3-1 versus both Buffalo and Toronto. Carey Price guided Montreal with 85 saves, and Christopher Higgins recorded three goals, two of which came in the Toronto game.

3. San Jose Sharks – After winning their first two contests of week 26, The San Jose Sharks finished the week even at two wins and two losses. Joe Thorton led the team in goals over the course of the week with three, and Evgeni Nabokov started all but the final game. San Jose now sets their sights for a best-of-seven series with the Calgary Flames.

4. Anaheim Ducks – Thanks to the solid performance of Anaheim’s two goaltenders, J.S. Giguere and Jonas Hiller, who both recorded save percentages of .912 and .941 respectively, the Ducks managed to go undefeated through their final three games of the 2007-2008 season. With victories against Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Dallas, Anaheim climbs to a respective 4^th in the rankings.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins – With Marc-Andre Fleury manning the pipes for each and every of the Pens four games this week, Pittsburgh pulled out two wins, a loss, and an overtime loss- all of which came against division opponents. Though Pittsburgh proved this season that they can win without Crosby in the lineup, Sidney still proved his worth with two goals and three assists in the three out of four games he played during the week. The Penguins lost the only game in which Crosby didn’t play, falling two goals to none against the Philly Flyers in the final game of the season.

6. Washington Capitals – The Capitals enter the NHL playoffs red hot, having notched a victory in each of their final three games of the season. Alexander Ovechkin attained three goals during the week, and in doing so set the NHL single-season record for goals by a left wing with 65 tallies.

7. Minnesota Wild – The Wild would have ended the regular season in style, had it not been for their 4-3 loss to Colorado, who the Wild will face in the first round of the playoffs, in the final game of the season. Marian Gaborik finished his season with 42 goals and 41 assists, both career bests as well as team highs.

8. New Jersey Devils – New Jersey continued to win in week 26 even without a strong offensive presence. No player managed to record more than one goal over the span of the week, despite the fact that the Devils won three of their four games. The Devils final game of the season against the New York Rangers set the stage for what should be a great series between these two neighboring clubs.

9. Dallas Stars – The numbers four and two decided three of Dallas’ four games in week 26. The Stars beat both the Coyotes and the Sharks by a 4-2 score; however they also lost to the ‘Yotes by that same score. Marty Turco, who started three of Dallas’ four games, (the fourth started by ex-Bolt Johan Holmqvist) ends the week with a solid .909 save percentage. The Stars will play the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs.

10. Philadelphia Flyers –Quebec-native Martin Biron shut-out both the New Jersey Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 81^st and 82^nd games of the year for Philly, and the Flyers finish week 26 with a 2-1 record. Scottie Upshall led the team with two goals and long-time-Predator Scott Hartnell recorded eight penalty minutes over the week. The Flyers will play another red-hot team in Washington for the first round of the playoffs.

11. New York Rangers – The Rangers played a jam-packed week 26, facing three different opponents in five separate games. New York went 2-1-2 over the week, as Henrik Lundqvist saw action in all five games and posted a jaw-dropping .934 save percentage in the process. Jaromir Jagr also put an equally impressive five goals and three assists over the week.

12. Colorado Avalanche – Playing a perfect two games in April, the Avalanche finishes twelfth in the rankings- a solid season for Colorado. With Jose Theodore starting in all three games in the week, the Avs went 2-0-1, with their only loss to the Minnesota Wild in overtime. Both Milan Hejduk and Peter Forsberg lit the lamp twice over the week. Colorado will take on the Wild in the NHL playoff’s first round.

13. Ottawa Senators – The Senators finished the year with a two and one record in the final week. Their only win came against Toronto in which they won by the score of eight goals to two, in part from a hat-trick performance from Senator Antoine Vermette. Ottawa will face the Penguins of Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs.

14. Boston Bruins – The Bruins closed the final week losing three of four, a shaky way to begin their postseason play. Their only win of the week transpired against the Ottawa Senators, a game in which right wing Phil Kessel and defenseman Zdeno Chara each scored a goal.

15. Calgary Flames – After losing 6-2 earlier in the week, the Flames came back and finished the year right with a tremendous 7-1 victory over the Canucks, that same team who had defeated them six goals to two. Young left wing Eric Nystrom led the charge with an intimidating two goal and two assist outing against Vancouver.

16. Buffalo Sabres – Buffalo finished their season with a 3-1 record in week 26. Thomas Vanek helped the hats come over the glass in the Sabres final game with a first-star performance. Also promising for the Sabres in their final game was the return of Teppo Numminen, who played for the first time since having open-heart surgery six and a half months prior.

17. Carolina Hurricanes – A disappointing final week of the regular season ended with a four goals to three loss to Florida, a game in which the ‘Canes failed to convert on any of their nine power plays. The Hurricanes were ousted from the NHL playoffs this year thanks to Washington’s 3-1 victory of the Florida Panthers.

18. Chicago Blackhawks – Starting the final week of the season scoring 11 goals in just two games, the ‘Hawks finish the week at 3-1- their lone loss against the Red Wings, faltering 4-1. Patrick Kane led Chicago with three goals over the week as he ended the year with a strong statement as to why he deserves the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the National Hockey League’s “rookie of the year.” Kane finsishes as the Blackhawks top player in points (72) and assists (51.)

19. Nashville Predators – Despite making the playoffs as the number eight seed in the west, the Predators fell to the bottom two-thirds of the Rankings for Week 26. Going 2-1-1 in the final week, the Predators will square-off against the Detroit Red Wings in round one of the playoffs.

20. Edmonton Oilers – Edmonton split their remaining two games of the 2007-08 season with a loss to Calgary and a win over Vancouver. Dwayne Roloson, who held down the pipes for both of the Oilers’ games, finished the week with a save percentage of .899 and a goals against average of 2.03.

21. Florida Panthers – Despite winning their first two games of the week, the Panthers couldn’t muster the “w” when it really mattered- the final game of the season versus the Washington Capitals. Florida fell to Washington three goals to one, which sent the Caps into the playoffs. Olli Jokinen finishes the year as Florida’s top goal and assist getter with 34 and 37, respectively.

22. Vancouver Canucks – For a team that desperate looking to make its second straight playoff appearance, the Canucks just couldn’t find a way to win in April. Losing by the scores of 4-2 to Colorado, 2-1 to the Oilers, and a disgruntling 7-1 to the Flames, Vancouver only did themselves in by not pulling out a W. Their only win of week 26 came against Calgary in their 6-2 win on March 30^th- a game in which 37 year-old Trevor Linden recorded two goals.

23. St. Louis Blues – St. Louis went 2-1-1 over week 26, and in the process saw goaltender Manny Legace record a shut-out, the 23^rd of his career, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blues finish 23^rd in the rankings, and face their third consecutive playoff-less season, a franchise record.

24. Phoenix Coyotes – With Ilya Bryzgalov holding down the posts in three of the Coyotes for games in week 26, Phoenix posts a record of 1-2-1. “Bryz,” despite losing every game he started, finishes with a .924 save percentage on the week and .92 on the season- strong numbers for a player that was acquired of waivers.

25. Toronto Maple Leafs – Not much else could burry a season more than losing every game in the final week of the season. Toronto completed the season with an overtime loss to the Sabres and losses in regulation to the Senators and ultimately the Canadiens. The Leafs’ worse loss came against Ottawa, in which Vesa Toskala finished the game with a nauseating .784 save percentage.

26. Atlanta Thrashers – The Thrashers of Atlanta found great success in Kari Lehtonen to finish out their season. The Finnish-born net minder recorded a shut-out in their first game and a one-goal-allowed outing in their third and final game, both against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lehtonen’s save percentage over the week runs at a sky-high .985. Atlanta’s only loss of the week came with Johan Hedburg with a three-two loss, falling to Florida.

27. Columbus Blue Jackets – Columbus lost every game in their week 26 slate, a poor finish to a poor season. Pascal Leclaire and Fredrik Norrena split the week with two games each. The two goalies finish with goals-against averages of 2.25 and 2.72, respectively, on the season.

28. New York Islanders – A season marked by injuries has New York finishing 28th in the Rankings. The Isles close with five players on injured reserve (Andy Sutton, Mike Sillinger, Chris Campoli, Shawn Bates, and John Sim) and over half a dozen players listed as “day-to-day.”

29. Los Angeles Kings – Los Angeles put an end to their disappointing season with two of three games lost in the final week. The Kings find themselves next-to-last in the National Hockey League, but boast hope for season to come thanks to several young assets in Patrick O’Sullivan, who recorded two goals in the week, and Anze Kopitar, who finishes the year with a team leading 32 goals.

30. Tampa Bay Lightning – No beating around the bush with this team- The Lightning end dead last in the rankings and the standings. Tampa Bay lost all four of its final games in week 26, only a fitting end to such a dismal team with such high expectations when the 2007-2008 season began.