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To be honest, I thought I was going to be making "playing out the string" jokes about this article, but the Isles still technically have a chance at the playoffs, so there's that.
Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls
Site | Updated | New Ranking | Prior Ranking | Comments |
SportsNet | 4/5/2017 | 14 | 17 | ["Top Offseason Priority" Edition] "Did you hear? John Tavares can sign an eight-year contract extension on July 1. Kinda like a big deal in Brooklyn." |
ESPN | 4/3/2017 | 18 | 17 | The Isles are still alive -- but barely, even in spite of Sunday's win over Buffalo. Good on coach Doug Weight's crew for gutting out with a nice win after learning that captain John Tavares is likely gone for the rest of the regular season at least after injuring a hamstring. |
TSN | 4/3/2017 | 20 | 19 | Jaro Halak, back from a near three-month sentencing to the minors, has won all three of his late-season starts. Gives you pause for thought. |
THN | 4/5/2017 | 13 | 21 | Five points out of a playoff spot with three games to go and no John Tavares. The Islanders have easily been one of the league’s biggest disappointments this season |
Average | 16.3 | 18.5 | It's possible to jump 8 spots by being a complete disappointment. |
THN has churned out some head-scratching comments lately. In last week's rankings, they mentioned that Andrew Ladd won the Cy Young Award. Seriously. So sure, why not move them to 13th despite the fact that they're likely going to miss the playoffs and are a disappointment this year (a very true statement, indeed)? I look forward to next week's article where they factor in the Underpants Gnomes.
LHH Power Rankings
For games through 4/5/17
LHH | LHH | ||||||
GP | W | L | T | Pts | Rating | ||
1 | Washington Capitals | 80 | 44 | 18 | 18 | 106 | 123.6 |
2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 79 | 39 | 19 | 21 | 99 | 117.4 |
3 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 79 | 38 | 22 | 19 | 95 | 116.3 |
4 | Minnesota Wild | 80 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 95 | 115 |
5 | New York Rangers | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 92 | 113.4 |
6 | Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 37 | 22 | 21 | 95 | 112.1 |
7 | Anaheim Ducks | 80 | 39 | 23 | 18 | 96 | 111.9 |
8 | Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 33 | 25 | 22 | 88 | 107 |
9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 79 | 32 | 25 | 22 | 86 | 105.3 |
10 | San Jose Sharks | 80 | 37 | 28 | 15 | 89 | 105.2 |
11 | Boston Bruins | 80 | 38 | 30 | 12 | 88 | 105.1 |
12 | St. Louis Blues | 79 | 36 | 29 | 14 | 86 | 105 |
13 | Edmonton Oilers | 79 | 34 | 26 | 19 | 87 | 105 |
14 | Ottawa Senators | 79 | 33 | 27 | 19 | 85 | 104.8 |
15 | Nashville Predators | 80 | 34 | 28 | 18 | 86 | 103.8 |
16 | New York Islanders | 79 | 30 | 29 | 20 | 80 | 103 |
17 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 79 | 29 | 30 | 20 | 78 | 101.1 |
18 | Carolina Hurricanes | 79 | 28 | 30 | 21 | 77 | 99.1 |
19 | Calgary Flames | 80 | 31 | 32 | 17 | 79 | 97.5 |
20 | Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 31 | 35 | 14 | 76 | 94.9 |
21 | Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 25 | 35 | 20 | 70 | 92.8 |
22 | Los Angeles Kings | 79 | 25 | 34 | 20 | 70 | 92.6 |
23 | Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 24 | 33 | 23 | 71 | 92.3 |
24 | Dallas Stars | 80 | 28 | 36 | 16 | 72 | 91.7 |
25 | Florida Panthers | 79 | 21 | 35 | 23 | 65 | 88.3 |
26 | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 16 | 36 | 28 | 60 | 85.5 |
27 | New Jersey Devils | 79 | 18 | 37 | 24 | 60 | 84 |
28 | Vancouver Canucks | 79 | 19 | 40 | 20 | 58 | 80.2 |
29 | Arizona Coyotes | 80 | 19 | 41 | 20 | 58 | 79.9 |
30 | Colorado Avalanche | 79 | 14 | 54 | 11 | 39 | 66.3 |
Sure, they haven't been very good lately, but the Isles are still in the top 16, and solidly above average. The fact that they're in the stacked Metro is really sinking their playoff hopes, much more so than their performance.
I said it last week, but since that article was completely in the shadow of bigger news (Tavares getting hurt, etc.), I'll say it again here: It doesn't matter how badly you think Snow or Capuano or ownership or various players performed their duties this year, the Isles were still good enough to be in the playoffs, if you take into account their strength of schedule. Put them in any other division, and they'd likely have a handful more points than they do now.
Yes, I know they actually played pretty well against the upper half of the Metro. It doesn't matter. They likely would have had more points if they played the Metro half as often and one of the other divisions twice as much.
No playoffs format is perfect. The NHL's is no exception.
By the time this article posts, the Isles might already be eliminated. Regardless, there will be one final article next week. Power rankings are only done for the regular season.