Sports Logic

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-2-0) LW: 1 – For the third week in a row, the Penguins are the class of the NHL. With the loss of Sergei Gonchar however, the Penguins could find themselves coming back to the rest of the league.

2.
Colorado Avalanche (8-1-2) LW: 4 – Okay, this is starting to look less like a fluke start and more like a team actually playing solid, fundamental hockey. Of course it doesn't hurt that their goaltender is playing out of his mind. Craig Anderson's numbers are Vezina worth in the early going. (8-1-2, .936 SV % and a 2.14 GAA)

3. Calgary Flames (7-2-1) LW: 6 – For the first time this year the Flames actually outshot a team on Saturday night. Brent Sutter's system may be taking shape in Calgary and if Jokinen and Iginla find their stride and the secondary scoring continues, the Flames will be no fun for anyone to play.

4. Buffalo Sabres (6-1-1) LW: 9 – I reluctantly put the Sabres in this spot and here's why: Their 6 wins have come against Phoenix, Nashville, Detroit, New York Islanders, Florida and Tampa Bay. That my friends is what we call an easy schedule. We still have to give "mad props" to the Sabres for winning those games.

5. New York Rangers (7-3-1) LW: 2 – Normally I am the hanging judge when a team loses 3 games in a week, but I will give the Rangers the benefit of the doubt this time. Just for future reference, when you are playing an offensive dynamo like San Jose, it's probably a good idea to play your Vezina nominated starter, and not your backup with the cool mask.

6. Chicago Blackhawks (6-3-1) LW: 5 – The goaltending is getting better in Chicago, but it's still a concern. Antii Niemi forgot that it's a 60 minute game on Wednesday against Vancouver and checked out with 5 minutes to go. Cristobal Huet responded with a shutout on Saturday, but it was against Nashville, so is it really that impressive?

7. Washington Capitals (6-2-2) LW: 12 – The Capitals went unbeaten this week without any help from Alex Ovechkin. Of course, the wins came against Atlanta and the Islanders, so that takes some of the shine off my initial comment.

8. Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-1) LW: 10 – I know Wayne is planning on addressing it in detail, but in quick form, I have no issue with the Mike Richards hit. Of course TSN will beat this hit to death for a week and Bob McKenzie will probably want Richards suspended for 200 games.

9. Edmonton Oilers (6-3-1) LW: 8 – Dustin Penner, Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner are the toast of the town after a 13 point effort against Columbus this week. It was only one game, but it was an impressive effort nonetheless.

10. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-3-0) LW: 3 – One week after I give the Jackets some credit for being a contender, they go out and give up 16 goals in 3 games. They won one of them and blew a 3 goal lead in another, but Columbus won't win many games if they want to play run and gun hockey.

11. New Jersey Devils (6-3-0) LW: 16 – If you want to move up in Shaun's power rankings, the best way to do it would be to beat the top 2 teams from last week as New Jersey did. Now if only they could be a touch more exciting, they might crack the top 10.

12. Ottawa Senators (5-2-2) LW: 7 – If you want to move down in Shaun's power rankings, you allow 6 goals to Nashville as Ottawa did. Ottawa did score 5 goals in the 3^rd period to force overtime in that game, but if you score 5 goals, you should beat Nashville every day of the week.

13. San Jose Sharks (6-4-1) LW: 11 – I think it's time to give San Jose a compliment sandwich. They looked impressive in a 7-3 win over the Rangers. What the hell are they doing losing 5-2 to Tampa Bay? Now something nice...You know what, after a 5-2 loss to Tampa, they don't deserve it.

14. Los Angeles Kings (7-4-0) LW: 17 – The Kings are going through weeks where they either win them all or lose them all. So with that in mind, the Kings are yo-yoing around the power rankings from week to week. Unrelated to that, Ryan Smyth is having one hell of a start to his season (6G, 9A) and he's really helping out Anze Kopitar (8G, 11A).

15. Phoenix Coyotes (6-3-0) LW: 13 – If you eliminate the "sold out" home opener, the Coyotes are averaging under 9,000 fans per game in their next 4 home games. As bad as that might seem, it's a lot better than I expected. It's pretty obvious that this is the last season for the Coyotes in Phoenix.

16. Dallas Stars (5-2-4) LW: 15 – The Stars are still a tough team to figure out. They only have 2 regulation losses, so they are keeping games close. Eventually they are going to have to do more than just keep it close, but for now it's working.

17. Vancouver Canucks (5-5-0) LW: 20 – The Canucks impressed me with a 3-2 win against Chicago this week. Sure they beat Toronto, but who doesn't these days? Though allowing Toronto to get 35 shots is something they might not want to get in the habit of doing.

18. Boston Bruins (5-4-1) LW: 22 – How is it that the Bruins lose their power forward, perennial leading scorer, and trade away a depth forward THEN start winning? It's a weird situation in Boston, but maybe they aren't as bad as they looked to start the year.

19. Atlanta Thrashers (4-3-1) LW: 14 – A little step back to reality for the Thrashers, who started as hot as they did. But losing to Washington and San Jose isn't something to hang their heads about.

20. Montreal Canadiens (5-5-0) LW: 27 – Maybe there is some life in the Canadiens after all. After stapling Carey Price to the bench, the Habs reeled off three wins in a row with Jaroslav Halak in net. If last year is any indication, this is a short term solution at best.

21. St. Louis Blues (4-4-1) LW: 18 – The Blues are still finding their way after returning from Stockholm. It's either that, or they simply aren't that good. They looked god-awful in a 5-1 loss against Pittsburgh earlier in the week.

22. Detroit Red Wings (3-4-2) LW: 19 – You want another reason why Detroit's run is ending? This week they played Phoenix and Colorado and lost both games. I'm willing to bet they had those 2 games pencilled in as wins before the season started.

23. Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3-3) LW: 24 – I would like to congratulate Tampa on being this week's best of the also-rans in the NHL. Tampa might be better than their record shows after beating San Jose and forcing Buffalo to overtime.

24. Anaheim Ducks (3-5-1) LW: 21 – If anyone had the Ducks struggling this badly out of the gate, you are much smarter than I. I knew they'd miss Chris Pronger, but I had no idea it would be this much. The Ducks could very well be the answer to the trivia question "Which team did the Leafs beat to end their winless start?"

25. Nashville Predators (3-6-1) LW: 26 – I don't have much to say about the Preds this week, so I will do my best Mike Brophy power rankings analysis. Jason Arnott hurt his arm and is on the IR. Thanks Broph. How are you not in the Hall of Fame?

26. Minnesota Wild (3-7-0) LW: 29 – You're welcome Minnesota. One week after I blasted them for showing no heart, they turn around and beat the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche and the much less of a juggernaut, Carolina Hurricanes.

27. Carolina Hurricanes (2-5-3) LW: 23 – You know how people like to say a good goalie can win you games? That is quite untrue in Carolina. Cam Ward stands on his head nightly and the team around him stinks. You're killing my hockey pool Carolina...pick up your damn socks.

28. New York Islanders (1-4-4) LW: 28 – I know you're all wondering who is leading the Islanders in shifts per game, and I will provide the answer. Radek Martinek is averaging 26.4 shifts per game, which is about right for a player of his cali...I have no idea.

29. Florida Panthers (2-6-1) LW: 25 – It might be unfair for me to put the Panthers below the Islanders, especially after a tough week of games against Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. It might also be unfair for the Panthers to draft high profile players and never develop them properly, but they do a damn fine job of that.

30. Toronto Maple Leafs (0-7-1) LW: 30 – As bad as they may be, the Leafs are getting very unlucky. On a nightly basis they are running into a goalie who stands on his head. Of course the counter argument would be to put players in the line-up who can actually put the puck in the ocean, but I digress.