Early Season Power Rankings

We might be less than two weeks into the season, but it can't hurt to take a peak at where the teams are starting to stack up.

Here we go...

1. Pittsburgh Penguins - The formula of Crosby + Malkin + Staal + Gonchar + Fleury is still working wonders in Steel Town. I'm beginning to think it's not even necessary to add ( - Wingers) to the end of the equation.

2. New York Rangers - So long as Gaborik stays healthy and the defense holds up, the Rangers could present a very interesting story-line. Henrik Lundqvist looks to be in mid-season form.

3. Los Angeles Kings - The addition of Ryan Smyth is looking great. Just ask Anze Kopitar. Drew Doughty has rebounded from his opening night game (one LA writer described it as his worst game as a pro) to play some spectacular hockey.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets - Rick Nash can and should be a top ten player in this league. If the first two weeks of the season are any indication, this could be the year that comes to fruition.

5. Philadelphia Flyers - Matt Carle seems to be in store for a break-out season. Heck, if I got to play with Chris Pronger I might be in store for a break-out season.

6. Chicago Blackhawks - Not many teams in the NHL can come back from 5-0 deficits. Not many teams in the NHL have as poor a starting goaltender as Cristobal Huet.

7. Colorado Avalanche - Craig Anderson has been nothing short of amazing - but what I love about the Avs is the play of Matt Duchene. His play has been opening eyes all over the league.

8. Calgary Flames - 4-2-1 and Jarome Iginla isn't even going yet? If I was a Flames fan, I'd take it.

9. San Jose Sharks - The record's not great. Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley's numbers are. Good luck defending those two.

1o. Buffalo Sabres - The Sabres have only played four games, but are 3-0-1. Anybody who thinks Ryan Miller isn't a top flight goalie should tune into a Sabres game. It's looking like Thomas Vanek may not be out for too long, after all.

11. Edmonton Oilers - I still want to see Ales Hemsky take the next step. I'd also like to see him playing with someone besides J-F Jacques.

12. Atlanta Thrashers - They've looked surprisingly good. Ilya Kovalchuk is going to have a monster year.

13. Washington Capitals - The record's not great, but AO, Backstrom, and Semin have been. Better goaltending and a better Mike Green might help.

14. New Jersey Devils - Zach Parise is a beast. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

15. St. Louis Blues - Did they leave their game overseas? The youngsters (Oshie, Berglund, Backes) need to step it up.

16. Dallas Stars - Win a freakin' shootout, already. Am I the only one thinks Alex Auld could steal the starting gig from Marty Turco? I feel like every shot is going to find twine on this guy.

17. Phoenix Coyotes - Surprisingly not bad. Dave Tippet plays a safe, secure system. The young 'Yotes seemed to have bought in.

18. Tampa Bay Lightning - Marty St. Louis is a man on a mission. You want to bet against him? I don't. Victor Hedman is going to be an absolute stud on the back-line.

19. Boston Bruins - Where is that spark that was so evident last year? David Krejci, returning from an injury, looks like a ghost, and Milan Lucic's play has been less than inspiring.

20. Ottawa Senators - Paging Jason Spezza. Are you there Jason? Can you hear me?

21. Detroit Red Wings - Look, their goaltending blows, they're defense isn't exactly young, and they've lost their top returning goal-scorer for four months. All that said - if the Wings are ever this low in my power-rankings again, I'll eat my hat.

22. Carolina Hurricanes - They got off to a crappy start, but haven't looked so bad of late. It's time for Eric Staal to take charge.

23. Anaheim Ducks - I haven't liked what I've seen. Ryan Getzlaf doesn't look 100% coming back from his injury, and that defense is very weak after the loss of James Wisniewski. That being said, Teemu Selanne showed he still has some jump in Philly.

24. Nashville Predators - The Preds have to be the most vanilla team in the league. Barring a break-out from their secondary scoring, they just don't have the fire-power to be a playoff team - but Barry Trotz will always field a very competitive team.

25. Vancouver Canucks - The secondary scoring will really be tested with Daniel Sedin out for 4-6 weeks. Kind of early for the Sami Salo injury this season, no?

26. Montreal Canadiens - No Markov. No defense. No playoffs.

27. Minnesota Wild - The come-back opening night win was nice. But they've stunk since. Martin Havlat, Mikko Koivu, and Brent Burns are each a -4. Ouch.

28. Florida Panthers - Does the "Quebec Panthers" have a nice ring to it? How about the "Winnipeg Panthers?"

29. New York Islanders - They haven't played too badly despite being 0-1-3. But, good teams find ways to win games, bad teams find ways to lose games.

30. Toronto Maple Leafs - Ugh. For further information visit, tsn.ca, espn.com, sportsnet.ca...

When The Levee Breaks...

"Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move."
- Led Zeppelin, When The Levee Breaks

Nothing can shake up a team's chemistry and aspirations like an injury to a star player. If that injury happens to hit a team in an area they are already weak, the consequences could be even more severe.

The first ten days of the season have already seen their fair share of black and blues. Perhaps the biggest three fatalities are those of Andrei Markov (torn ACL), Daniel Sedin (broken foot), and Johan Franzen (torn ACL).

These injuries could have dire ramifications for Montreal, Vancouver, and Detroit. Who will be able to perservere? Who will be unable to rebound?

The Resilient
Detroit Red Wings
- Detroit lost Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler, and Mikael Samuelsson in the off-season. Add the '08-'09 goal totals of those three to Franzen's, who is out for somewhere around four months, and you're talking 116 goals. Yikes! While losing your top returning goal-scorer from the year prior in addition to the fire-power the Wings have already lost may seem insurmountable on the surface, the Wings should be able to stay strong. Guys like Ville Leino and Valtteri Filppula are deserving of the bigger offensive roles they will now assume. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are perfectly capable of elevating their games. Last night's game against the Capitals was a reminder to the rest of the league that when Datsyuk and Zetterberg are on the same line, you're number one line is destined for an uneventful offensive night. Detroit has the leadership, and still has enough offensive depth to stay strong even in Franzen's absence.

The Downtrodden
Montreal Canadiens
- Andrei Markov has been the Habs' "Mr. Everything." Of their returning players, he's their leading scorer. He is their best defenseman. He runs the power-play. He's a team leader. Well, for the next four or so months, I'll have as many points for the Habs as he will. The Canadiens were already weak at defense before the loss of Markov. To compound matters even further, Ryan O'Byrne is also out due to injury. A defensive corps of Hal Gill, Paul Mara, Jaroslav Spacek, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Marc-Andre Bergeron, and Yannick Weber is....ugh. If the Canadiens are going to overcome the Markov injury, they will need a handful of things to fall into place. For one, Carey Price will need to play like Patrick Roy. Second, they will need offensive production anywhere they can get it from the back-line - no one man can fill Markov's shoes, but as a group they have some offensive potential. To me, Markov's loss makes the Habs an after-thought in the East. If they can just manage to stay in the playoff picture until his return, that will be a victory in and of itself.

The Questionable
Vancouver Canucks
- As if starting 1-3-0 wasn't bad enough, the Canucks were just dealt another blow. Today the team annouced that leading goal-scorer Daniel Sedin will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. The Canucks offensive group was already weak, and something I felt would prevent them from being a contender out west. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows shouldn't be the third and fourth best forwards on an NHL team. Now they are the second and third best. The reason the Canucks aren't as bad off as the Canadiens is because A) Sedin is out 4-6 weeks, not four months like Markov, and B) if Roberto Luongo can get hot he can steal games like nobody else can. But, how will Henrik Sedin fare without Daniel? What will their power-play look like without one of the twins? The secondary scoring will need to find a way to chip in. Bottom line - if Luongo can elevate his game, the next 4-6 weeks might not seem so long in Vancouver.

The King Finds a Queen

Move over Hank, you have a new friend on Broadway.

Last night's 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals was an encouraging display of role-reversal for Rangers fans. Usually Henrik Lundqvist bails out the Rangers.

Last night, it was the other way around.

The Rangers found themselves down 3-2 after two Nicklas Backstrom goals, the first of which was a dump-in from center ice that somehow went under Lundqvist's stick as he attempted to direct the puck into the corner.

The Rangers were able to overcome Lundqvist's rare lapse in focus via two quick Marian Gaborik tallies.

Gaborik proved his worth as a game-breaker last night. Despite an ineffective first two periods, he was able to elevate his game in the last session. The top players find ways to make a difference, even when they don't have their 'A' game - and "Gabby" did just that.

On his first goal he was able to convert a Vinny Prospal pass with a quick half-slapper that trickled through Jose Theodore's legs and into the back of the net.

The second came on the power-play. Gaborik was able to take an excellent break-out pass from Michael Del Zotto in stride, and then fire a quick snapper between Theodore's legs, once again, and into the back of the twine. The space the Caps' defenders gave the speedy Gaborik on the play showed just how scary Gaborik is for a defenseman when he is able bust through the neutral zone with speed.

But this game wasn't just about Gaborik - it was a quality team effort. Lundqvist rebounded well and made some key stops later in the third. Ryan Callahan, who was questionable for the game after sustaining a back injury in yesterday morning's practice, was his usual tenacious self, notching a key short-handed break-away goal. The third-line came through with an Ales Kotalik even-strength marker, which saw Artem Anisimov register his first NHL point. Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto continue to be relevations on the back-line. And most importantly, the defense did a great job of keeping Alex Ovechkin in check - no small feat there.

But, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the Rangers. Michal Rozsvial continues to be nothing short of horrendous, and was benched by John Tortorella for the final 60% of the game. The team took way too many penalties against a talented Capitals' power-play, including two offensive zone infractions from the Rangers' fourth line.

The bottom line is the Rangers have won three straight games in regulation, proving to the fans, and most importantly, to themselves, that they can be successful playing in John Tortorella's system.

That they had to overcome a rare blunder from their franchise player makes this win even sweeter.

Minnesota Goes Wild

Brett Farve had just led the Vikings over the arch-nemesis Packers on Monday Night Football, improving the Vikings record to 4-0. The Twins won a single-elimination playoff game over the Tigers, in walk-off fashion, to advance to the ALDS less than 24 hours later.

And just for good measure, the Wild overcame a 3-0 lead in the third period of their home opener to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in over-time.

Not a bad time to be a sports fan in the Twin Cities, huh?

Martin Havlat (3 assists) and Eric Belanger (goal, 2 assists) led the come-back brigade for the Wild, who were able to reel off three third period goals in a ten minute, 18 second stretch to bring the score back to even.

Andrew Brunette sealed the deal in the extra-session when he popped a rebound into the far upper corner of the twine from the side of the net.

From a Ducks' prespective - ouch. They seemed to rebound well from a pathetic outing on Saturday against the Sharks, only to throw it all away in the third.

One could argue that the turning point in the game came via a drop of the gloves, compliments of George Parros and John Scott. Scott absolutely tattooed Parros, knocking the Princeton alum to the ice and bringing the Wild faithful to their feet. Mikko Koivu scored less than four minutes later to begin the come-back.

I'm not going to pin the Ducks' loss wholly on Parros, which would be foolish. But, why he saw the need to drop the gloves while his team was up three goals on the road - on the other team's opening night, no less - is beyond me. He's a smarter vigilante than that - or atleast I thought he was.

Anybody who wants to argue that this fight had nothing to do with the Wild's comeback has either never played hockey or was not a very emotional player. A little thing like a timely fight, a big hit, or a prolific shot block can really motivate a team to raise the level of their game. It can also really get a crowd fired up, as well.

Props to the Wild and coach Todd Richards, who notched his first victory with Minnesota.

As for the Ducks - they need to get their act together. It's very early, but in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, you can't throw away what should be an easy two points like that, regardless if it's game two, or game eighty-two.

Sunday Round-Up

Some tid-bits from Saturday's games...

*Got to feel for Oilers fans - well, unless your a Flames fan. That Khabibulin turnover with 48.7 seconds left was a brutal ending to a well-played game.

*Matt Duchene has looked amazing in his first two NHL games. He's being utilized on the first power-play unit, on the penalty kill, and as the second line center. If you missed Coach's Corner last night, check out this montage of Duchene's first two games.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/CBC%27s_Hockey_Night_in_Canada/Coach%27s_Corner/ID=1284059955

This kid looks to be something special.

*Speaking of Duchene, watch out for Craig Anderson. He's been great in the Avs' first two games, leading them to a hot start out of the gate. It may seem to be a bit of a stretch if you haven't seen this guy play much, but when Anderson is on his game, he can be one of the best in the business. He went on a few hot streaks like this last year with Florida.

*Props to Michael Del Zotto for notching his first NHL goal. Not only was it his first goal, but it was a big one, too, giving the Rangers a two goal cushion heading into the third period. The Rangers looked great last night, led by the Prospal-Dubinsky-Gaborik line, and of course, "King Henrik."

*If you're looking for an under-the-radar enjoyable team to watch this season, check out the Dallas Stars. I caught the third period and over-time of their season opener with the Preds - enjoyable stuff.

*You have to be impressed with the Blues coming back from Sweden with two regulation wins over Detroit. I'm not ready to say they are going to overtake the Wings in the Central, but it's certainly possible. Their tenacity and attention to detail, aided by coach Andy Murray, is excellent.

*Dustin Byfuglien looks great on a line with Patrick Kane. It will be interesting to see if that sticks.

*This Ranger fan dreads the addition of Chris Pronger to the Flyers. Man, does he improve their team. The power-play, penalty kill, and even-strength play of the Flyers all improve ten-fold with this guy.

*The Ducks should be embarrassed with their play last night - thorough and complete domination by the Sharks.

*Watch out for the Islanders' power-play. Tavares, Okposo, and most importantly, Mark Streit, make the Isles deadly when they have the man-advantage.