Sports Logic

Earlier this week there was a question on TSN.ca's Hodge Mail asking if the "loser point" in overtime had to be changed. Wayne and I disagree on this topic, and I think once he gets back from his Halloween vacation we may have to blog about said topic. In the meantime, there were a startling number of games that went into overtime this week, and some seemed strategic from the moment the puck was dropped...Vancouver, I'm looking at you.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (11-3-0) LW: 1 – The Penguins will now face adversity for the first time all season. With Evgeni Malkin on the shelf for at least the next 2 weeks, Sidney Crosby is going to have to pick up the slack. Scoring a hat trick in the first game sans Malkin is a good start.

2. Colorado Avalanche (10-2-2) LW: 2 – It's time for another of Shaun's Bold Predictions. This is the last week the Avalanche will be 2^nd in the rankings. There is no way they can continue to get outshot and outplayed as bad as they have and continue to win.

3. Washington Capitals (8-2-3) LW: 7 – Head Coach Bruce Boudreau took my advice and reunited Alexander Ovechkin with Nicklas Backstrom. The result was a combined 6 goals and 6 assists in 3 games. You're welcome Bruce, and my gift basket had better be in the mail. Say hi to your mother for me.

4. San Jose Sharks (9-4-1) LW: 13 – It only took a month, but the Sharks have finally realized the season is underway. The Sharks won 3 in a row this week with wins over Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Colorado.

5. Buffalo Sabres (8-2-1) LW: 4 – As I mentioned last week, the Sabres schedule has been favourable in the first month. A 4-1 win over New Jersey early in the week was very impressive. A 5-0 loss to the Islanders was not.

6. Chicago Blackhawks (8-4-1) LW: 6 – Cristobal Huet has solved his goaltending problems. I will take credit for this because I picked up Antii Niemi in my fantasy hockey league as a backup. If nothing else, I destroy goalies in fantasy hockey, right Cam Ward? The Hawks were 2-1 this week and they did so without captain Jonathan Toews who is still concussed after Willie Mitchell filled him in.

7. Los Angeles Kings (8-4-2) LW: 14 – The up and down Kings continue their week to week play. I recently made a bet that the Kings won't make the playoffs, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about it. I don't think the Kings can compete with the better teams in the west, and like Buffalo their schedule has been relatively easy, though not to the same extent.

8. Phoenix Coyotes (9-4-0) LW: 15 – Colorado, Los Angeles and now Phoenix in the top 8 teams in the league? What is this, Bizarro World? Every time the Coyotes stumble and it looks like they're done, they bounce back and pick up wins. If only they weren't trying to compete with Vancouver and New Jersey for the title of "Most Boring Team in the League".

9. New Jersey Devils (8-4-0) LW: 11 – After a 4-1 loss early in the week, Coach Lemaire tightened that defence up, and the Devils won a couple of "exciting" 2-1 games. I understand that winning is more important to fans than being exciting for the most part, but this type of play is what the NHL recognized as a factor in not gaining new fans and got rid of in 2005.

10. Calgary Flames (7-4-1) LW: 3 – The Flames have wrapped up a 5 game homestand that took 21 days to complete. Now they will play a compressed schedule until the Olympic break. No, there's nothing wrong with the NHL schedule at all. PS: If this is what the Flames are going to get out of Jarome Iginla this season, it will be another early playoff exit...if they're lucky.

11. New York Rangers (8-4-1) LW: 5 – Losses to the Islanders and Minnesota this week? Really? And who was out of the lineup for the Rangers this week? Marian Gaborik had a "lower body" problem this week, so if you had "Under Nov. 1" in the pool, congratulations to you.

12. Philadelphia Flyers (6-4-1) LW: 8 – In one respect, you can accept losses to San Jose and Washington because those are elite teams in the league. On the other hand, if you fancy yourself as a contender, which Philadelphia does, you need to be competitive in those games, which they were not.

13. Ottawa Senators (6-4-2) LW: 13 – One month into the year and I still don't know what to think of Ottawa. They are getting little production out of Spezza and Kovalev yet they continue to win. I guess that's what separates this team from previous incarnations, the depth.

14. Detroit Red Wings (5-4-3) LW: 22 – I'll admit that the Red Wings probably don't deserve to be here considering they have ECHL calibre goaltending this season. With that being said, they looked like the Red Wings of old while on their Western road trip this week. Everytime they looked dead in a game, they stormed back. Channelling my inner Craig MacTavish, this road trip was a microcosm of their season.

15. Dallas Stars (6-3-5) LW: 16 - I struggled with this placement as well. The Stars are employing a weird strategy this season. They seem to be playing for overtime, but once they get there, they simply can't win.

16. Vancouver Canucks (7-7-0) LW: 17– With a rash of injuries this season, the Canucks are very lucky to be .500. Of course when your strategy involves playing for a 0-0 shootout from the opening faceoff, it makes winning with an AHL team in the NHL a little easier. I will forego my opportunity to rant about this further until a later date.

17. Edmonton Oilers (7-6-1) LW: 9 – With the exception of the 6-5 win over Detroit (who I think put the equipment manager in net) the Oilers offence struggled. They were shut out three times this week, but as Mike Brophy said this week, "The Oilers are missing the puck-moving ability of Souray, Visnovsky and Staios." Don't worry Broph, 1 of those 3 (Visnovsky) moves the puck well. To paraphrase Meat Loaf, missing 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

18. Montreal Canadiens (7-6-1) LW: 20 – You know the old expression "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings"? How's this for a new one. "It ain't over until 21,000 fat people stuffing their face with smoked meat sandwiches and poutine sing" During the Leafs/Canadiens game on Saturday night, with 3 minutes left and their team up 4-2, Habs' fans started singing "na na na hey hey hey goodbye" for some reason I still haven't figured out. Nonetheless, the Leafs scored two goals late in the game to force overtime where Montreal won, saving their fans a whole bunch of eggy faces.

19. Boston Bruins (6-5-1) LW: 18 – The Bruins also have a rash of injuries, yet they remain competitive. How do they do it you ask? The same way any other team seemingly should, by trapping. It just dawned on me as I am writing this, has the NHL become boring this season? Sounds like a blog idea...

20. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-5-1) LW: 10 – What the hell has happened to Columbus? They were looking like a legitimate division contender two weeks ago and now they look lost. If Steve Mason's body language is an indication of anything, perhaps it's time to give him a few games on the bench.

21. Atlanta Thrashers (5-4-1) LW: 19 – How do you feel if you are the Atlanta Thrashers right now? Your entire playoff hopes are hinged on how fast Ilya Kovalchuk's broken foot heals and given the history of European players with his reported attitude, they could be waiting a while.

22. Nashville Predators (6-6-1) LW: 26 – Well isn't this a friendly little surprise? The Predators have won 3 in a row including a shutout win over the Blackhawks. I don't expect this "winning" thing to continue in Nashville, but it is fun while it lasts.

23. Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-4) LW: 23 – Maybe I was w-w-wrong about Steven Stamkos as an NHL player. I'll admit I didn't see what all the fuss was about, but with 10 goals in 11 games, he is quietly becoming a star in the league. That happened just in time for Tampa, since Vincent Lecavalier apparently retired over the summer.

24. New York Islanders (4-4-5) LW: 28 – Here's another team with 3 wins in a row. The Islanders have beaten the Rangers, Capitals and Sabres this week, and that is thanks in large part to Jeff Tambellini who recorded his first NHL hat trick this week.

25. Minnesota Wild (5-9-0) LW: 27 – The Wild don't have a lot to look forward to this season, but they can always remember that fateful day in late October when they beat the Penguins and their entire season turned around...until they played their next game and got wiped off the map. (Textual dramatization, may not have happened)

26. Florida Panthers (4-7-1) LW: 29 – Look at all of these weekly bottom feeders winning games and moving up in the standings. I don't expect this trend to continue, and in Florida it's all but assured that it won't. It's a terrible team in a terrible sports market where they don't even support winners. If the Panthers are in Miami in 3 years, I'll be very surprised.

27. St. Louis Blues (5-6-1) LW: 22 – The Blues are a victim of their own expectations. No one expected them to struggle like this, and just after winning back the fans, it's probably not a good idea to have a home record of 2-5-0. That doesn't exactly keep them coming back for more...especially since one of those two wins was a home game in Stockholm and the other was against Minnesota.

28. Anaheim Ducks (4-6-2) LW: 24 – Forget the fact that they beat a broke-ass Vancouver team who was playing on back to back nights. This Ducks team isn't very good and they can't keep themselves out of the penalty box. In their loss to Toronto this week, they gave the Leafs 11 power plays, including three 5-on-3 advantages. That my friends is a sure fire recipe for disaster...and losing to the Leafs is the equivalent of a tornado during an earthquake.

29. Carolina Hurricanes (2-7-3) LW: 27 – If the Leafs keep picking up points, the 'Canes could quickly find themselves as the worst team in the NHL. Ah, the Curse of the Whalers strikes again. Apparently there's a little known clause in the Hurricanes' players' contracts. They only have to play decent hockey every other year for the contract to remain valid.

30. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-7-4) LW: 30 – I'm going to say something nice about the Leafs this week. Tomas Kaberle leads all defensemen in NHL scoring, and is proving to be a real offensive catalyst for his team. So you know what this means – He will be wearing a different jersey by mid-January.