• Ligue de HockeySim Nationale
  • 33 47
    Jets10
    Senators4
    0 Likes
  • 34 48
    Senators
    Jets
    0 Likes
  • 33 47
    Penguins4
    Moose3
    0 Likes
  • 34 48
    Moose
    Penguins
    0 Likes

Power Rankings - Week 4

2022-12-13

Here's what happened this week:

Power Rankings Week 4

 

Let's get the big surprises out of the way first:

1 - Tampa made it into the coveted "top row" this week. Having a 4-0 week, while beating one (formally two) powerhouses will do that. They really are one of the more exciting teams to watch. Now, getting to the top row is much easier than staying there, as former powerhouse number 1 found out.

2 - Detroit... It broke my heart to bump them out of the top row. It's tough love though. It had to be done. That said, I will give them credit that playing 4 games in a row, 3 of them on the road... it's a bit of a raw deal. That's why they only fell to 9th. Washington is close behind, and hungry for the top row as well.

Speaking of Washington, it may seem as though they also got a bit of a raw deal staying in 10th place. They did beat Ottawa, and squeezed Detroit out of a playoff spot (but that was more due to Detroit's self sabotage), however the majority of their wins are coming against bottom 6 teams. They currently have 9 wins and 7 out of those 9 wins have come against: MIN, NYR, COL, VAN, CHI and PHI. They need to pull out more big wins against top row teams to move up into the top 8.

Generally speaking, you are supposed to beat the teams beneath you in the rankings, and you are "forgiven" for losing to teams above you. That's why it's so hard to stay at the top. Teams generally move up the power rankings by beating teams ahead of them, and fall back by losing to teams behind them.

Which brings us to LAK, MTL and WPG - all hovering atop the league. WPG looked human this week; however, they are first in the league for Goals Against by a wide margin. LAK are first in the league in Goals For, but suffered their first losing streak of the year - both losses coming against weaker teams. And MTL... they are neither particularly strong defensively (8th in GA) nor spectacularly strong offensively (5th in GF) BUT... they are getting the job done, consistently, and they are 9-1 against teams in the East (arguably the stronger conference); compared to WPG (6-4 vs EAST) and LAK (6-2 vs EAST). 1st is a tough spot to stay in and MTL will have to improve against the West in order to stay there...

Speaking of MTL's medocre record against the west (5-3), EDM had one of the toughest weeks, facing 4 top row teams, and coming out 2-2, winning at home (against MTL) and losing on the road. As Ottawa pointed out on Sunday, the top 4 in the west seems to be a lock already in the season, but, EDM is still keeping it interesting, and could be a darkhorse come playoff time, especially if their schedule gets easier.

CGY seems to have woken up after a piss poor start. After being threatened with his 86th concussion, Darcy Kuemper is actually starting to look like an 87 overall goalie, and CGY are now 3rd in the league for Goals Against. They will have to increase their scoring (7th in GF) to challenge for 2nd or 1st in the division though.

Is it just me, or did MIN just bottle up all their frustrations and then take it out on CHI? Still... Bedard AND Slafkovsky (who still isn't activated on their team despite him playing 23 games in the NHL. Odd...) that could still turn around their 23-24 season. Close to 30 mil in cap space doesn't hurt either. They seems to be taking the Seattle approach to expansion, rather than Tampa's Vegas strategy. I'm a believer that it will pay off in the long run and look forward to them tightening up the west to the same standards as the East.

I'll give it to NYR - while they are losing, they are only losing by 1-goal games, even against top teams like WPG and division rivals like WSH and TBL. They may be last in the divison right now, but unless they actively embrace the tank, I don't see them finishing last, that will most likely be reserved for PHI.

PHI has finished last in the Thibault division since the 18-19 season and, after a decent start to the season by their standards, has started to fall off. Losing to MTL twice... that's rough, but understandable. But losing to CHI AND VAN in the same week... that's the sign of a team giving up. They do still hold their 1st round pick, so, should they chose to embrace the tank and don't foolishly trade away their 1st round pick  - Bedard could be just what this franchise needs to turn things around. Because let's face it, on paper, PHI isn't as awful as their record would suggest. Maybe they need a change behind the bench or some other shake up. If Detroit can fall out of a playoff spot, anything is possible, right?

Speaking of teams at the bottom who traded their 1st round pick, afte impressively securing 3 points against top row teams last week, COL went 0-3 this week. Their top 6 has some serious star power, and they have Hellebuyck... but their defence could sure use a top prospect or two. I don't see them falling behind CHI or VAN, but MIN has started to pull away from them, so I don't see very much upward mobility without some power moves.

OTT is being OTT... wake me when the playoffs start. While they are consistently good, we kind of expect them to be at this point, and thus... not very interesting to follow. I suspect they are playing it cool, like Tampa after their humiliating 1st round exit to Columbus. OTT doesn't seem to care about being top in the league, but I expect them to turn it on in the playoffs and make a cup run.

Likewise, CHI and Van... doing their tanking thing. They are slightly more interesting to follow than OTT though, because you never know who's going to suck more each week. This week CHI reclaimed the bottom spot with 8 GF and 27 GA, compared to VAN's 11 GF and 23 GA.

Last but not least, PIT. They had a rough week - going 0-3 against top row teams. They win when it counts though, and they remain competitve. If they start to lose to bottom row teams, I could see them dropping out of the top row. Especially with WSH and DET hungry to get into the top row.