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NHL Power Rankings: Not ours, someone else’s

Rangers win again

We’ve discussed doing NHL power rankings on PHT, but they take a lot of work, so every once in a while we’ll link to someone else’s power rankings and comment on those instead.

Rangers win again

Today, we’re discussing Scott Cullen’s rankings at TSN.ca, published today (Dec. 13).

Power Rankings

A few thoughts:

----Agree with the Rangers at the top. After a two-game hiccup versus the Leafs and Lightning, New York destroyed Buffalo and Florida, 4-1 and 6-1, respectively. Everyone knew the Rangers could play defense, but now they’re starting to put the puck in the net. In their last nine games, they’ve scored at least four goals in six of them.

----Canucks all the way up to No. 2, inching ahead of the Bruins. It’s pretty much a coin toss between Vancouver, Boston and Detroit. All three are playing great hockey and outscoring their opposition by a wide margin. Cullen dropped the B’s to No. 3 because Zdeno Chara is injured. Fair enough. He’s good.

----Wild fans: furious. First overall in the standings, No. 8 in the rankings. To be fair to Cullen, his methodology is statistically based, and Minnesota’s goal differential (plus-15) is only seventh best in the NHL. Still deserve to be higher though.

----I’d put the Wild ahead of the Panthers. Florida’s a pretty pedestrian 5-3-2 in its last 10 and, as mentioned, just got blown out by the Rangers.

----I’d put the Blues ahead of the Panthers, too. St. Louis has at least a point in 14 of the 16 games its played under coach Ken Hitchcock. Last week, the Blues beat Detroit and San Jose.

----Absolutely no way the Oilers (No. 15) should be that high. They’re 5-10-1 in their last 16. They lost at home to Carolina last week. Edmonton’s not a good team.

----Nashville at No. 12 is generous. The Preds are 4-6-1 in their last 11. True, they’re won two in a row, but they needed a miracle finish to beat the Blue Jackets Thursday and barely got by Anaheim Saturday.