Call it our weekly sobriety check. While some media rankings go for the flavor of the week (or in many cases, of two or three weeks ago) and others go by standings, our LHH member Mike (ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles) has been diligently putting NHL scores into a more traditional "power ranking" formula that accounts for who's beaten whom and by how much. (Alas, there is no way to factor in officiating de Auger.)
The result this week is that the Islanders, after weeks of better results, have finally moved up in our table...to 27th place. Which is about where they fall in the standings a little lower than most surveys. (For contrast, currently our power ranking table smiles on San Jose and frowns on Boston in comparison to where they rank by points and points-percentage.)
So the Isles are playing much better lately and have been pumping in 3+ goals per game for a month now, but their current standing is still a true reflection of this season, warts (aka November) and all -- just like New Jersey, despite their run touched by higher powers, still sits 23rd. Details, and a look at the latest ISS 2011 draft prospect rankings follow.
ISS 2011 Draft Rankings
The latest ISS 2011 draft round-up was released Tuesday, and it's unchanged at the top, from 1 to 5: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Couturier and Ryan Murphy. Looking at the league standings (the Isles are now five points out of 25th), and barring a draft day trade or poor lottery luck, it's difficult to picture the Islanders not selecting in one of those slots.
Alternative Standings: Where All Games Are Created Equal, but All Wins Are Not
By the way, 'tis the season to look at alternative standings. If regulation wins were worth three points -- the same total that games that go to OT/SO are worth -- then this FanPost shows how the East would look (hint: not good for the Isles). A little bit older but inclusive of the West, here is another look at that scheme.
Media Rankings Survey
Yo, check it, here is what Da Med-iya is actually saying. It's a whole lot of Cuban love.
Allegedly the ESPN item is penned by Burnside, but I don't know...sounds like someone got a lobotomy if so.
| Outlet | Rank | Last Week | Their Commentary |
| CBSSports | 23 | 24 |
Al Montoya has been making the most of his chance to be a starting goalie, while the Islanders have now stretched their regulation unbeaten streak to seven games. |
|
Cbs. Dispatch (Portzline) |
25 | 27 |
Better late than never. Islanders are 4-0-3 in March, by far their longest point streak of the season. |
| ESPN | 27 | 25 | The Isles have won four of six and continue to give a terrific effort almost every night. Lots of young kids making an impact, including netminder Al Montoya. |
| Sportsnet (Brophy) | 25 | 24 | Sophomore John Tavares hits the 25-goal plateau for the first time; one more than he scored as a rookie. |
|
TSN (Cullen) |
23 | 24 | How unpredictable is the world of goaltending? Aside from a five-game cup of coffee in Phoenix a couple of years ago, Al Montoya hasn't been able to crack an NHL lineup despite being picked sixth overall in 2004. With the Islanders desperate for a healthy body between the pipes, Montoya has responded with a 2.09 GAA and .926 SV% in 13 games. |
| Average | 24.6 |
24.8 |
"I see your little, petrified skull, labeled and resting on a shelf somewhere." |
Parody Rankings
...And hear is what we know imagine they're saying, in their cold dark hearts:
| Imagined Outlet | Rank | Last Week | Their Imagined Commentary |
| Sterling Pope, The Pulpit |
62 | 40 |
Make no mistake, Wrist Shots has learned all of this GM talk about concussions goes back to one man and one man only: Micheal Gillies Martin. |
| Reinhard Stone, Central Ohio Picayune |
38 | 32 |
If the Isles had this run in October instead of now, then I could spend now discussing how badly they're coughing up their season. |
| Domenic, Fanboy Nation |
2 | 5 | Hello...? Hello...am I on the air? ... This team is awesome and Michael Grabner is fast. Also: Frans iz a Danish Deity, and STANLEY CUP two-thousand-- {click} |
| The Omen, Toronto Shameless & Record | 28 | 28 |
John Tavares' fantastic passes will sure look great when Nazim Kadri is on the receiving end on his way to a 93-goal season for the Leafs. |
Real Power Rankings
Our weekly "real" power rankings, courtesy of our own ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles (who is the one you'll find tirelessly compiling FIG picks in the game thread), conceived and delivers these week after week. They reflect games through Sunday (so, the loss to the Rangers isn't factored in).
Explanation of how he does it is in the original post. If you have any questions about it, leave them in comments and he'll likely answer. For reference, last week's rankings are here.
Colorado has finally been caught [insert JT vs. Duchene silliness here], and Florida should be the next to fall.
| W | L | OTL | Pts | GP | Win% | Pts%/GP | PWR | ||
| 1 | Vancouver | 45 | 16 | 9 | 99 | 70 | 0.707 | 0.3823 | 2115 |
| 2 | Philadelphia | 42 | 19 | 7 | 91 | 68 | 0.669 | 0.3622 | 1986 |
| 3 | Detroit | 41 | 20 | 8 | 90 | 69 | 0.652 | 0.3546 | 1966 |
| 4 | San Jose | 39 | 22 | 8 | 86 | 69 | 0.623 | 0.3499 | 1935 |
| 5 | Washington | 40 | 20 | 10 | 90 | 70 | 0.643 | 0.3466 | 1897 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh | 40 | 22 | 8 | 88 | 70 | 0.629 | 0.3402 | 1867 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 39 | 25 | 5 | 83 | 69 | 0.601 | 0.3383 | 1866 |
| 8 | Tampa Bay | 38 | 22 | 9 | 85 | 69 | 0.616 | 0.3388 | 1860 |
| 9 | Boston | 38 | 21 | 9 | 85 | 68 | 0.625 | 0.3396 | 1855 |
| 10 | Phoenix | 36 | 23 | 11 | 83 | 70 | 0.593 | 0.3337 | 1845 |
| 11 | Chicago | 37 | 24 | 8 | 82 | 69 | 0.594 | 0.3317 | 1836 |
| 12 | Dallas | 37 | 24 | 8 | 82 | 69 | 0.594 | 0.3282 | 1818 |
| 13 | Montreal | 38 | 24 | 7 | 83 | 69 | 0.601 | 0.3313 | 1809 |
| 14 | Nashville | 35 | 24 | 10 | 80 | 69 | 0.580 | 0.3255 | 1803 |
| 15 | Anaheim | 37 | 27 | 5 | 79 | 69 | 0.572 | 0.3226 | 1781 |
| 16 | Calgary | 36 | 26 | 9 | 81 | 71 | 0.570 | 0.3106 | 1720 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 35 | 27 | 7 | 77 | 69 | 0.558 | 0.3094 | 1711 |
| 18 | Columbus | 32 | 27 | 9 | 73 | 68 | 0.537 | 0.3006 | 1663 |
| 19 | NY Rangers | 36 | 30 | 4 | 76 | 70 | 0.543 | 0.3002 | 1643 |
| 20 | Buffalo | 34 | 27 | 8 | 76 | 69 | 0.551 | 0.2991 | 1640 |
| 21 | St. Louis | 31 | 29 | 9 | 71 | 69 | 0.514 | 0.2912 | 1610 |
| 22 | Atlanta | 29 | 28 | 12 | 70 | 69 | 0.507 | 0.2808 | 1540 |
| 23 | Carolina | 31 | 28 | 10 | 72 | 69 | 0.522 | 0.2757 | 1521 |
| 24 | Toronto | 30 | 29 | 10 | 70 | 69 | 0.507 | 0.2767 | 1519 |
| 25 | New Jersey | 32 | 32 | 4 | 68 | 68 | 0.500 | 0.2759 | 1513 |
| 26 | Florida | 28 | 32 | 9 | 65 | 69 | 0.471 | 0.2639 | 1449 |
| 27 | NY Islanders | 27 | 32 | 11 | 65 | 70 | 0.464 | 0.2566 | 1411 |
| 28 | Colorado | 26 | 34 | 8 | 60 | 68 | 0.441 | 0.2486 | 1371 |
| 29 | Ottawa | 25 | 35 | 9 | 59 | 69 | 0.428 | 0.2288 | 1261 |
| 30 | Edmonton | 23 | 38 | 9 | 55 | 70 | 0.393 | 0.2133 | 1187 |
Bonus Link: MacDonald's Warrior Training
A plug of sorts for the New York Hockey Journal: We were talking in comments about Andrew MacDonald's development path the other day. Here are some of his thoughts on his journey from college-bound to junior player to the ECHL and beyond.