FanPost

December 2011 NHL Power Rankings

Hi, all. If you're a stats nut, enjoy a little more to keep you interested between games (or between cable/channel disputes). If you're not, then move along. Nothing to see here.

So, last month, I showed how the Isles fared against everyone else in November, based on data from the power rankings that I whip up every week. By throwing out all data except for one month, we can (hopefully) get a better feel for our beloved Isles' progress as the season wears on. After the jump, we'll see how the Isles (and everyone else) did in December...

December 2011 Power Rankings







Winning


W L OTL Pts Pct PWR
1.
Chicago 10 2 1 21 0.808 2116
2.
Boston 9 3 0 18 0.750 1991
3.
Winnipeg 10 3 1 21 0.750 1983
4.
NY Rangers 10 4 1 21 0.700 1957
5.
Philadelphia 9 3 1 19 0.731 1951
6.
Colorado 10 5 0 20 0.667 1903
7.
New Jersey 9 5 0 18 0.643 1766
8.
Vancouver 10 4 1 21 0.700 1760
9.
Washington 8 5 1 17 0.607 1754
10.
Nashville 9 5 0 18 0.643 1724
11.
St. Louis 7 4 3 17 0.607 1717
12.
Detroit 9 6 0 18 0.600 1673
13.
San Jose 6 4 3 15 0.577 1633
14.
Dallas 7 6 0 14 0.538 1607
15.
Florida 7 5 3 17 0.567 1592
16.
Pittsburgh 7 6 0 14 0.538 1587
17.
Calgary 8 4 4 20 0.625 1549
18.
Ottawa 7 5 3 17 0.567 1533
19.
Los Angeles 7 6 2 16 0.533 1465
20.
NY Islanders 6 6 2 14 0.500 1449
21.
Tampa Bay 6 6 1 13 0.500 1415
22.
Minnesota 6 6 3 15 0.500 1289
23.
Buffalo 4 7 3 11 0.393 1181
24.
Toronto 4 6 3 11 0.423 1160
25.
Montreal 4 7 3 11 0.393 1141
26.
Phoenix 6 9 1 13 0.406 1137
27.
Carolina 5 7 2 12 0.429 1109
28.
Columbus 4 8 2 10 0.357 1055
29.
Anaheim 3 8 2 8 0.308 867
30.
Edmonton 3 9 0 6 0.250 680

Well, I'm a tad surprised, at least. The Isles finished 20th in December, as opposed to 26th in November and 25th in October. I suppose the NHL-.500 record would dictate a better finish than the other months, but it just felt like a worse month than that.

Meanwhile, who would've thought Winnipeg would ever have a month like that? For all their struggles, the Capitals finished in the top 10 this month, as well. Am I the only one who takes perverse pleasure in seeing Toronto and Montreal near the bottom?

Anyway, as we already suspected, the Isles aren't playing well enough recently to be a playoff team, even if they're improving. Got any other observations?

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