Central Division Power Rankings Week 2

Salutations, and welcome back to our Central Division Power Rankings after 2 Weeks played of the 2014-2015 season. Week 1 proved the Wild want to be a dominant team this year throughout the entire league. The message was pretty simple. Their play was so convincing that they held the top spot in our first issue of Divisional Power Rankings. However, after a tough weekend of “typical” Wild hockey, that as fans, hope not to bare witness to again this year, we see them drop down this week a few spots and make room for the NHL favorite, and a surprising underdog.

So, without further ado…

Oh, almost forgot! Way to be Minnesota Vikings! I was so surprised, baffled, ferhoodled, that they couldn’t hold strong in the last two minutes of the game, against a Super Bowl fave, Kyle Orton led, Buffalo Bills team. That’s something we haven’t seen before eh? Oh well, converting on a 4th and 20 is indeed pretty ordinary.

No seriously, what were they thinking giving Brian Robison a $28 million dollar contract last year? Not to single him out individually, there are “Loadholts” of players not contributing for the Vikes, but damn. Has he even gotten a regular tackle this year? Forget sacks, I’m asking about a tackle. I just thought for sure we would get to see that awesome celly of his, “reeling in a sack” at least 15 times this year.

Anyway, Sorry back to hockey… (That’ll be my last Viking rant of the year)

1. Hawks  (+1 Last week 2nd)

(3-0-1)  7 pts

As long as their star players are scoring (which they are) and Corey Crawford continues to stand on his head in goal, they’re as dangerous as ever. Crawford is 3-0-1 with a 1.66 GAA and his 5th ranked defense in front him is strong and experienced. Everyone is contributing on the offensive side of the ice, everyone that is except Brad Richards. The million dollar contract thus far was definitely a bargain for the Hawks’ office and a good one. Richards is only putting up 13 minutes TOI as the third line center and has been the first to admit his slow start. With the incredible amount of talent within the division this year, Chicago will need all of their players efforts night in and night out throughout the season. Tough week for the Hawks ahead beginning with the Flyers at home, rematch with the Preds, and renewing the rivalry with the Blues next Saturday. The latter two being on the road.

2. Preds  (+1 Last week 3rd)

(3-0-2) 8 pts

Early dark horse of the season has got to be this group in Nashville. They’ve gotten points in all of their 5 games played in the early going. As long as they stay healthy, things look good for the Preds. Solid defense right now led by captain Shea Weber, who also leads the team with 3 goals, as well as some of the strongest goaltending in the division from Pekka Rinne and Carter Hutton. A rejuvenated Rinne has posted a 3-0-1 record and 1.23 GAA through 4 starts. Hutton had an impressive 35 save overtime loss to the Blackhawks Saturday night, and will play the same Chicago team this week on Thursday night. They’ll follow it up next Saturday when James Neal‘s former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins pay a visit.  This is an intriguing team to watch so check them out Tuesday versus the Coyotes before their Stanley Cup contender visits.

3. Wild  (–2 Last week 1st)

(2-2-0) 4 pts

Normally, after only playing two games in a week and losing them both, a team should drop more than two spots in the power rankings. That’s not the case here however. Losing the way the Wild have, to the Pacific’s elite, no one should be too upset with the way they’ve played. Each game was definitely winnable as the Wild drastically outplayed the Ducks and Kings in a matinee Sunday. The Wild more than doubled the Kings’ shot total throughout the afternoon. As they found out though, numbers are irrelevant unless you find twine. When you face stud goaltenders like Jonathan Quick and Frederik Anderson, only manage a single goal per game, and further your power play slump to a ghastly 0-16, that is not going to cut it. It’s undeniable that Thomas Vanek and Mikko Koivu continue to struggle thus far and missed opportunities galore plagued the offense in SoCal. Matt Cooke got their lone goal Sunday after only logging 7:47 TOI. That’s saying something. Again, the Wild have three days off before playing only two games this week, starting with the Coyotes on Thursday and Rangers on Saturday. They need to regain their scoring touch before Henrik Lundqvist comes to Xcel.

4. Blues  (Even-Last week 4th)

(2-1-1) 5 pts

Huge game tonight taking on the Anaheim Ducks without injured centre Paul Stastny. Stastny had his arm in a sling this morning but is not expected to miss abundant time and is listed as DTD. As is Patrik Berglund, which is great news for St. Louis. Jaden Schwartz posted a hat trick the other night against the Coyotes and looks to have a break-out year. They’ll need to continue to score goals to be successful in the weeks ahead. Their questionable goaltending entering their campaign thus far has fared well. We will see how long it lasts upon entering a brutal end to their October schedule, including Anaheim twice, Vancouver, Chicago and Dallas. For their sake, hopefully the injuries listed above are as “DTD” as coach Ken Hitchcock indicated.

5. Stars  (+1 Last week 6th)

(2-1-2) 6pts

Just when things look real good in Dallas, they blow a lead in dramatic fashion to the Flyers Saturday night in overtime, 6-5. We know they can score goals. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are as dangerous as any top line duo in the league, but their defense has not improved. At all. Offense is not enough in this league, especially if they hope to return to the playoffs and make noise. The contending teams in the central have solid D. When I say we know they can score goals, I’m talking about Benn, Seguin (4G, 4A through 5 games) and Jason Spezza who has exploded for 7 pts (1G, 6A) thus far, but where is Ales Hemsky? Pointless but plugging away, trying to help his new team even more offensively. They will need him to contribute going forward. This is a perfect example of a team, that if one of their star players goes down for a period of time, things can get ugly quick. Mix that in with bad defence and you can miss out on everything. Tuesday they host the Canucks before a couple of roadies out east with the Devils and Isles to close out the week.

6. Avs (+1 Last week 7th)

(1-4-1) 3 pts

The Avalanche have scored some goals finally and consistently since their scary 0-2 start. But now with Semyon Varlamov on IR with a tweaked groin, and Reto Barra getting injured during a defeat at the hands of the Senators this past week, the situation has gone from bad to worse in Colorado. Haven’t heard any updates on Berra’s status yet. Their defense does not look improved from last year’s though, and with an unproven Calvin Pickard between the pipes, guys like Jarome Iginla and Nathan MacKinnon need to start scoring goals. After a rough road trip through Canada, they return home looking to turn it around against the Panthers and Canucks this week. Roy’s got some talented guys in Denver and they shouldn’t panic quite yet.

7. Jets (-2 Last week 5th)

(1-3-0) 2 pts

Losers of three straight since their opening night, and only tallying one goal in that span, things don’t look bright to start the year in Winnipeg. Maybe what they need to right the ship is a 4-game home span this week. With Evander Kane out of the lineup for at least the next three weeks, someone needs to step up starting tonight when a competitive Calgary Flames team comes to town.

There you have it, your week 2 Central Division Power Rankings. This week, we will also begin our Western Conference Power Rankings. The west sure looks tough in the early going, as expected. Teams like the Canucks and Predators are already turning heads and getting attention from annual contenders.

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