Power Rankings - Week 8
2023-01-22
Good Evening Chums,
Here are the power rankings for Week 8
Now then...
Not too many surprises this week. Except for DET going full Rocky Balboa on MTL "Apollo Creed". After squeeking out a decision in a shootout, and then coming back to beat them in regulation the 2nd time. That was unexpected and very entertaining. Do not count DET out just yet. There's still much more hockey to play.
MTL on the other hand, slipped down the rankings to their lowest spot since WEEK 2. Goes to show how long they've been dominating for. I'm sure they will bounce back this week.
OTT dethroned CGY this week. Spanking them 4-1. OTT didn't have a spectacular week, but they only played teams in the top row and they were undefeated in regulation. I'll overlook the OT loss to TBL, because TBL can be a little sneaky sometimes... like Pearl Harbor... Seriously though, TBL even kept it close against MTL. These 1-goal games against top teams is what keeps TBL in the top row. They are rarely blown out and you always have to take them seriously when playig against them.
Those you don't have to take seriously, are of course those that have embraed the tank. VAN, PHI, MIN - good on them for having at least 4 draft picks each (6 for VAN); and they all have their own 1st. While I don't think any of them will catch CHI on the race to the bottom, they should be very happy on draft day. Provided they trade their veterans and not their draft picks... like a certain unnamed team... Not to dogpile on, but I saw today that COL doesn't even have a 2nd round pick in 2023.... ouch. Funny story, their 2nd round pick belongs to PHI! All things considered, PHI could look pretty decent next year if they play their cards right. COL, time to embrace the tank. Sell off the assets at the trade deadline and try to recupe some picks. CHI has already started. I'm sure VAN is next. Or that crafty NYR.
Speaking of... NYR seems to caught between a rock and a hard place right now. They are clearly better than the tankers, just hitting 30-points on the season. But they are still a long way off the next team above them (TBL) sitting at 39-points. They are going to have to put together a string of victories to move up in the rankings.
I really wish the top row could have had more teams this week. EDM was on quite the run, handing LAK an unexpected defeat. But that loss to NYR 5-4 kept them out of the top row. They fought hard, but ultimately the top teams are the top for a reason, and they won't be easily passed over.
WSH too didn't have an awful week. But they really needed a win over OTT, and it didn't happen. They didn't drop so much as they were passed by DET's 4-0 week, beating MTL twice. Hard to argue that performance doesn't belong in the top row.
WPG didn't have a great week either. Being CHI twice and losing to PIT in OT. That said, they are 1st in GA and 3rd in GF. How do you NOT put them in the top 3. GF maybe. Those stats can be skewed by playing the tankers and beaing them 8, 9, 10 to 1. But GA... hard to argue against 1st in the league. We'll see how they do next week in their rematch against PIT.
I wouldn't read too much into the movement in the top 6. The teams are SO CLOSE (WPG, PIT, OTT, CGY, LAK, MTL) while it may look like a team dropped or rose by 3 spots, it doesn't mean THAT much considering how well all these teams are playing.
And while it may look like I'm disrespecting LAK keeping them our of the top spots, it's really more their schedule that I'm disrespecting. In their last 8 games, only 1 was against a playoff calibre team (EDM) and they lost it. Out of 34 games, they've played COL - 3 times, CHI - 3 times, VAN - 5 times, MIN - 2 times, WPG - 0 times (I mean come on... who doesn't want to see that matchup), PHI - 4 times, OTT - 0 times (that's two top teams they havent played a single game against), NYR - 2 times. So 19 of their 27 wins are aganist the tankers... Pretty sweet schedule, let's see how the 2nd half of the season looks...