Central Divison Power Rankings: Preds On Top
By Mark Harris
Now that we are a bit into the young 2014-15 NHL season we present to you our Central Division power rankings.
Each week we will rank the Central Division, numbers one to seven based on each team’s performance in their previous weeks and how they have fared so far this season.
With that being said, power rankings don’t really mean much, actually they don’t mean anything if you think about it. Power rankings do however differ from the NHL standings of course, they are opinionated (which is what we’re going for) and of course also differ from the standings seeing that the standings are official and mean everything while again, these are more of a weekly update of the team’s performances on the ice week in and week out.
So, without further a due, here is the first installment of our Central Division power rankings.
1. team. 151. Indeed, this is a Nashville Predators blog, but in my opinion Nashville sits atop the Central Division even after being shutout by the Pittsburgh Penguins two days ago. The Predators were the last team in the entire National Hockey League to suffer a regulation loss, therefore they are the top team in the toughest division in the NHL. <a href=. (5-1-2). Previous: . Nashville Predators
94. No, of course Chicago can’t be far down the list. Perhaps Chicago would be first team on the list this week, but they fell to the Predators 3-2 this past Thursday. James Neal, as mentioned above, lit the lamp three-times against the Blackhawks. Following their loss to Nashville, Chicago fell to St. Louis in the same fashion, 3-2, but bounced back with a win at home against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. If <a href=. (5-2-1). Previous: . Chicago Blackhawks. 2. team
Minnesota Wild. 3. team. 98. The Minnesota Wild have played the fewest amount of games among all Central Division teams, six, but they have been impressive in those six games. The Wild, as of the moment this is being written, have the second best penalty-kill numbers in the NHL followed by only allowing one goal per night on average. Defensively and goalie-play wise the Wild have arguably been the best team in the entire league. Minnesota’s number one netminder <a href=. (4-2-0). Previous:
team. 119. The Stars and St. Louis Blues could both be ranked number four here, but as of today the Dallas Stars have been just a bit more impressive than the Blues. The Stars dropped their first two games of the season then bounced back with wins on the road against Columbus and Pittsburgh. Dallas has been scoring a lot of goals (3.5/game) but they’ve also allowed far too many goals (3.5/game). <a href=. (4-2-2). Previous: . Dallas Stars. 4
99. St. Louis has been a bit of a mystery this season, definitely the mystery of the Central Division so far this year. The Blues are the fifth best team in the NHL when it comes to goals against with an average of two-goals a night, but their highly touted offense hasn’t been able to find the back of the net as much as expected. The Blues have only scored 16-goals so far this season in their seven-games played. Killing off penalties has been a bit of a struggles so far this season as well for St. Louis, only killing off 76% of the opposition’s penalties making them the 25th worst team in the NHL in that category.. (3-3-1). Previous: . St. Louis Blues. 5. team
Winnipeg Jets. 6. team. 107. Yes, you are reading this correctly; the Winnipeg Jets are not the worst team in the Central Division as of today. The Jets just beat the worst team in the Central Division by the score of 2-1 on Sunday, thus making them the number six team in our Central Division power rankings. Winnipeg really has not been THAT bad this season, their penalty-kill percentage (88.2%) is fifth best in the league and <a href=. (3-5-0). Previous:
team. 103. If you haven’t been paying too much attention to the hockey world outside of the Nashville Predators, you have missed a surprising start to the season for one hockey club in particular, the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado won the Central Division last season in acquiring an astounding 112-points under first year head coach Patrick Roy; this season that same hockey team has gotten off to an abysmal start. Most people predicted the Avalanche to have a drop off this season, and while it is still very early in the season those predictions seem to be right thus far. Some may have thought that after not scoring a goal in their first two games of the year in losses to Minnesota they were just kicking off some rust and they would jump back into form. While they did get a win in their third game of the season against the Boston Bruins, they reeled off four straight losses following their first win of the season. Colorado did lose their third leading goal scorer in <a href=. (2-4-3). Previous: . Colorado Avalanche. 7
How would you rank the Central Division as of today? Keep an eye out next Monday for next week’s Central Division power rankings.