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Editor's note: Our (almost) daily morning bits and readables are at the bottom. First please enjoy the weekly power ranking roundup.
It's much easier to look forward to these articles when the Isles are winning. Yes, I know they're still in last, but at least I'm starting to see signs of life in these numbers I crunch. And in the numbers others don't crunch, but then assign a number to the team anyway. Like such:
Weekly Round-Up of Opinion Polls
| Date | Prior | |||
| Site | Published | Ranking | Ranking | Comments |
| CBS | 1/13/2014 | 19 | 26 | Hard to believe this is the same team that couldn't buy a win last month. They've won four in a row, seven of eight and have won eight straight on the road. Break up the Islanders! |
| ESPN | 1/13/2014 | 21 | 27 | Thrilling late comeback win in Dallas on Sunday night makes it nine wins in 12 games as the Isles somehow try to rescue their season. That's seven wins in a row on the road for the impressive Isles. |
| TSN | 1/13/2014 | 26 | 29 | Seven wins in the past eight games is bringing the Isles towards respectability, and G Kevin Poulin has been strong lately, stopping 95 of 103 shots in four January appearances. |
| Fox Sports | 1/8/2014 | 28 | 30 | GOOD NEWS: They went 6-3-2 during an 11-game span to start their climb out of the Eastern Conference cellar. Then John Taveras had a five-point game to lead a 7-3 trashing of Dallas. BAD NEWS: A 3-2 loss to Hurricanes prompted coach Jack Capuano to question their heart again. BOTTOM LINE: Evgeni Nabokov went down again, this time against the Dallas Stars. Goaltending remains a pressing concern. |
| Sports Illustrated | 1/14/2014 | 17 | 29 | There was a point earlier this season when the Islanders were hockey's answer to the Washington Generals--designated patsies whose pratfalls seemed almost intended to make their opponents look good. Those Isles lost 10 straight on the road, leading to speculation that coach Jack Capuano's job was in jeopardy. Now? After a thrilling come-from-behind win over that Stars that saw them score three times in the last five minutes, the Isles are road warriors, winners of seven straight. And with eight wins in their last 10 games, they're officially the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. Go figure. |
| SB Nation | 1/9/2014 | 24 | --- | Someone must have lied to John Tavares and told him he was on the bubble for Team Canada, because he put up about a billion points last week en route to five wins in the last seven outings. |
| Average | 22.5 | 28.2 | We have to be on everyone's bandwagon once a year. Better ride this one while it's running. |
It's a winning streak like the one the Isles put together on the road that shows how differently these publications approach their rankings. The Isles are still in last, but a majority of the opinion polls boosted the Isles 6 or more spots this week. They like to ride the hot hand, I suppose. The others must focus more on the standings.
LHH Power Rankings
(Through the games of 1/14/14)
| W | L | OTL | Pts | PWR | ||
| 1 | Anaheim | 35 | 8 | 5 | 75 | 2280 |
| 2 | St. Louis | 32 | 8 | 5 | 69 | 2255 |
| 3 | San Jose | 29 | 12 | 6 | 64 | 2140 |
| 4 | Chicago | 30 | 8 | 11 | 71 | 2121 |
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 33 | 12 | 2 | 68 | 2078 |
| 6 | Colorado | 29 | 12 | 5 | 63 | 2069 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 28 | 14 | 5 | 61 | 2000 |
| 8 | Boston | 29 | 15 | 2 | 60 | 1914 |
| 9 | Tampa Bay | 28 | 15 | 4 | 60 | 1868 |
| 10 | Vancouver | 24 | 14 | 9 | 57 | 1825 |
| 11 | Montreal | 26 | 16 | 5 | 57 | 1783 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 25 | 19 | 5 | 55 | 1678 |
| 13 | Phoenix | 21 | 16 | 9 | 51 | 1659 |
| 14 | Dallas | 21 | 18 | 7 | 49 | 1614 |
| 15 | New Jersey | 20 | 18 | 10 | 50 | 1601 |
| 16 | Washington | 22 | 16 | 8 | 52 | 1581 |
| 17 | Ottawa | 21 | 18 | 8 | 50 | 1567 |
| 18 | Carolina | 19 | 18 | 9 | 47 | 1554 |
| 19 | Detroit | 20 | 16 | 10 | 50 | 1546 |
| 20 | NY Rangers | 24 | 21 | 3 | 51 | 1543 |
| 21 | Toronto | 23 | 20 | 5 | 51 | 1525 |
| 22 | Philadelphia | 24 | 19 | 4 | 52 | 1519 |
| 23 | Nashville | 20 | 21 | 7 | 47 | 1513 |
| 24 | Columbus | 22 | 20 | 4 | 48 | 1493 |
| 25 | Florida | 18 | 21 | 7 | 43 | 1406 |
| 26 | NY Islanders | 18 | 23 | 7 | 43 | 1397 |
| 27 | Winnipeg | 20 | 23 | 5 | 45 | 1397 |
| 28 | Calgary | 16 | 25 | 6 | 38 | 1233 |
| 29 | Edmonton | 15 | 29 | 5 | 35 | 1043 |
| 30 | Buffalo | 13 | 27 | 5 | 31 | 1028 |
The spreadsheet I use doesn't pay attention to a team's recent run of play, any more so than it pays attention to any other parts of the season. The Isles still moved up two spots, on the strength of their victories over Western Conference teams (who have been rated higher all year and occupy 10 of the top 15 slots). They're actually rated higher than Winnipeg, despite having two less standings points. The quality of their recent victories have been pretty solid.
Standings from an Alternate Universe
Three points for a regulation win, because DUH!!!!
| Atlantic | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Boston | 24 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 84 |
| Tampa Bay | 19 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 79 |
| Montreal | 20 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 77 |
| Detroit | 17 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 67 |
| Ottawa | 16 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 66 |
| Toronto | 13 | 10 | 5 | 20 | 64 |
| Florida | 12 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 55 |
| Buffalo | 5 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 36 |
| Metropolitan | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Pittsburgh | 27 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 95 |
| Philadelphia | 20 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 72 |
| NY Rangers | 20 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 71 |
| Columbus | 18 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 66 |
| New Jersey | 14 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 64 |
| Washington | 12 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 64 |
| Carolina | 15 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 62 |
| NY Islanders | 12 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 55 |
| Central | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Chicago | 26 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 97 |
| St. Louis | 26 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 95 |
| Colorado | 22 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 85 |
| Minnesota | 19 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 74 |
| Nashville | 19 | 1 | 7 | 21 | 66 |
| Dallas | 17 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 66 |
| Winnipeg | 13 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 58 |
| Western | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Anaheim | 28 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 103 |
| San Jose | 19 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 83 |
| Los Angeles | 19 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 80 |
| Vancouver | 17 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 74 |
| Phoenix | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 65 |
| Calgary | 9 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 47 |
| Edmonton | 10 | 5 | 5 | 29 | 45 |
Most of the Isles' recent victories lately have been regulation wins. That has certainly helped their point totals, but naturally the teams above them have won their fair share of games lately, too. In fact, several of the opinion polls mentioned that the Metro division is no longer getting kicked around. Lucky us, everyone else decides to wake up, too. But still, the Rangers are in third in this little experiment of ours, despite having one less regulation win than regulation loss.
OK that's all for now. Thanks for sticking around. Back to talking about AHL roster moves and other teams' backup goalies. And other stuff...
Isles Bits
Ryan Strome coverage: The Post emphasizes it's all about the Olympics | Newsday says similar, with a quote from Snow about development. | We emphasize whatever, we were just curious what Capuano thinks. (Since he's in charge of winning things in the now, you know.)
Bridgeport released Peter Boyd from his PTO. Now please google Peter Boyd for us.
Also in Bridgeport, Johan Sundstrom was ill for a month but he's on his way back now. [CT Post]
Want tickets to the Stadium game? Leave a comment here, then wait by the phone.
FIG Picks: Leave them here for tonight's game in City Of Tampa.
Elsewhere
- Jamie Langenbrunner, who I continually confuse with Brenden Morrow, has retired.
- Something about teams that actually use the fancy stats, some prompted by SB Nation and Broad Street Hockey stat hound Eric Tulsky. [SI]
- This is the Olympic hockey TV schedule. Mmm, coffee.
- Why was Alex Semin left off Team Russia? [Puck Daddy]
- The Ducks absolutely DESTROYED the Canucks last night. Torts ain't happy.
- Dave Semenko fought everyone, including Ali.
- Tyler Bozak isn't really better now, he's just on a hot streak. [SBN]
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