Before we get to the weekly power rankings, a few team updates since this morning's bits post:
- Thomas Vanek skated before the team today, while John Tavares didn't skate but received treatment after banging his hip late in last night's win over Nashville. Jack Capuano said they'll know more on both tomorrow morning.
- Like goalie masks? Like Kenny Reiter's? Vote for his Bridgeport Sound Tigers mask in this AHL contest.
- Addendum to Kirill Kabanov being recalled to Bridgeport: Jason Clark goes to ECHL Stockton.
- Without Vanek nor Tavares, one line in practice was Matt Martin with Brock Nelson and Kyle Okposo. Fun.
- The Sabres fired Darcy Regier and Ron Rolston, named Ted Nolan new "interim" coach with Pat LaFontaine as head of hockey operations. (LHH mini-thread here.) LaFontaine expects to name a new GM this season. Come on, you know you want BigDealNeil.
Now on to the power rankings:
Nothing to see here. Nope. Nothing at all. Move along. Don't pay attention to the man behind the green curtain.
Still here? Sigh! Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you. The Isles were horrid during their week-long road trip, and it shows in every way shape and form. If you're the type to slow down to see car accidents, then I've got a train wreck for you...
Weekly Round-up of Opinion Polls
I want to write this as much as you want to read it. So let's just get it over with.
Date | Prior | |||
Site | Published | Ranking | Ranking | Comments |
CBS | 11/11/2013 | 24 | 16 | The Isles have lost four in a row by a combined 16-5 and are just 2-5-0 since acquiring Thomas Vanek. Probably not the desired results. |
ESPN | 11/11/2013 | 22 | 17 | Bold move by GM Garth Snow to acquire Thomas Vanek but a pity Buffalo netminder Ryan Miller didn't end up in Vanek's suitcase, as the Isles can't keep the puck out of their net and have lost four in a row. |
TSN | 11/12/2013 | 25 | 19 | Outscored 16-6 in four straight losses, the Isles are missing some key offensive contributors and could use the supporting cast to rise up in the meantime. |
Fox Sports | --- | --- | 23 | Not updated this week. |
Sports Illustrated | 11/12/2013 | 25 | 19 | It was a lost week for the Isles, who dropped four straight on the road. The 30th-ranked penalty kill was at the root of three of those losses, allowing eight goals, including four on six chances to the Caps. That unit is just giving games away. |
SB Nation | 11/12/2013 | 24 | 15 | Well, the Islanders had Thomas Vanek. Could be back by the end of the week, but either way, things aren't going great for the Islanders, who have lost four straight. |
Average | 24.0 | 18.2 | The Isles are traveling south, just not physically. |
I find it amusing that TSN looks towards the missing "key" offensive players (all one of them) rather than the defense. Our own calculations don't do us any more favors:
LHH Power Rankings
Calculations as of 11/11/13 (and therefore doesn't count last night's game vs. the Preds).
W | L | OTL | Pts | PWR | ||
1 | Colorado | 14 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 2354 |
2 | St. Louis | 11 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 2166 |
3 | San Jose | 10 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 2125 |
4 | Anaheim | 15 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 2023 |
5 | Phoenix | 12 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 1919 |
6 | Chicago | 12 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 1915 |
7 | Boston | 11 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 1900 |
8 | Tampa Bay | 12 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 1773 |
9 | Minnesota | 10 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 1709 |
10 | Los Angeles | 11 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 1699 |
11 | Toronto | 11 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 1582 |
12 | Nashville | 8 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 1563 |
13 | Detroit | 9 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 1541 |
14 | Vancouver | 11 | 7 | 2 | 24 | 1493 |
15 | Dallas | 8 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 1479 |
16 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 1426 |
17 | Winnipeg | 8 | 9 | 2 | 18 | 1404 |
18 | Montreal | 9 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 1306 |
19 | Ottawa | 7 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 1289 |
20 | New Jersey | 5 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 1190 |
21 | NY Rangers | 9 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 1183 |
22 | Carolina | 6 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 1118 |
23 | Washington | 9 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 1088 |
24 | Calgary | 6 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 1082 |
25 | NY Islanders | 6 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 1078 |
26 | Columbus | 6 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 860 |
27 | Florida | 3 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 798 |
28 | Philadelphia | 5 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 693 |
29 | Edmonton | 4 | 13 | 2 | 10 | 653 |
30 | Buffalo | 3 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 513 |
Remember when we were laughing about how many of the Metro teams were stuck in the bottom five? Most of them are out and we're almost in. I just vomited in my mouth. Just a little bit. Next...
Standings from an Alternate Universe
Atlantic | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
Boston | 10 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 33 |
Tampa Bay | 7 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 31 |
Toronto | 8 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 30 |
Detroit | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 30 |
Montreal | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 28 |
Ottawa | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 24 |
Florida | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 |
Buffalo | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 |
Metropolitan | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
Pittsburgh | 10 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 32 |
NY Rangers | 8 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 26 |
Washington | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 24 |
Carolina | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 21 |
New Jersey | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
NY Islanders | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 19 |
Columbus | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
Philadelphia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 16 |
Central | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
Colorado | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
Chicago | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 38 |
St. Louis | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 33 |
Minnesota | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 33 |
Nashville | 7 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 25 |
Winnipeg | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 23 |
Dallas | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 22 |
Western | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
Anaheim | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 44 |
San Jose | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 34 |
Phoenix | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 34 |
Vancouver | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 30 |
Los Angeles | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
Calgary | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 19 |
Edmonton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 12 |
Philly would be only a regulation win behind us. So, yeah.... You know what? I'm done here. I feel like I just ran a marathon through sewage. I'm gonna go and pluck my nosehairs to give my life some meaning again.