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Up 1 Spot
Prev #2 |
Fans are flocking to see
"the Savard show" down in Thrasher Land. Along with the rest of the offence,
Atlanta is chewing and spitting out opposition goalies this season. Along
with Burkes Vezina- like season, Atlanta looks to coast to the President's
Trophy |
| 2. |
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Up 1 Spot
Prev #3 |
Modano has stepped up his
game this year, leading the league in points and assists. GM Wetzel must be
pleased with the play of Tugnett, who has racked up 16 wins so far.
Turgeon's great play has been somewhat of a surprise- he seems to compliment
Modano perfectly. Forward Rick Nash seems to be lost both on and
off the ice- maybe he's having trouble with the French language. |
| 3 . |
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Up 4 Spots
Prev #7 |
Khabiboulin is having
another impact year, this time with the Sharks. He can thank SJ's stingy
defense, which allows only 25.2 shots against/game. The offence is very
balanced, with 14 players having double digit point totals. Yet only Demitra
has broken the 10 goal barrier. |
| 4. |
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Up 5 Spots
Prev #9 |
GM Svensson's has a simple
strategy for success- outscore the opponent. And it seems to be working.
Chicago has the league's 2nd best offensive, and leads the EHL in shots for.
With 5 players over 25 points, and Elias leading the way with 32, they are
not going to be outgunned too often. The only weakness is goaltending, with
Nabakov still trying to find his rhythm. |
| 5. |
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Up 3 Spots
Prev #8 |
Ottawa's having another
great season, solid in most aspects of the game. The offense may be
underachieving a bit though. With all the talent they have up front, they
find themselves in the middle of the pack in goals/game. The Sens will
need Joseph to continue playing great, if they hope to challenge Atlanta. |
| 6. |
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Down 5 Spots
Prev #1 |
Goalie Turek's amazing play
this year is keeping the Oilers in the playoff picture, as the offence is
struggling to score goals. Weight, Sakic and Alfredsson have been great, but
the other players need to step up. The Oilers still have the best defence in
the league, and as the saying goes- defence win |
| 7. |
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Up 5 Spots
Prev #12 |
The Blues have
jumped up to 6th in the tough West, thanks to their great 10-4-2 conference
record. This is pretty amazing, considering they are the most penalized team
in the league (30.7/game) Samsonov and Allison are once again leading the
Blues offence, with 25 points each. |
| 8. |
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Down 4 Spots
Prev #4 |
After a great start, the
Star have cooled off a bit, falling to 7th in the West. The acquisition of
sniper Parrish has been golden so far, he has 9 points in 7 games. Great
defence and awesome goaltending from Kolzig are the main reasons for the
Star's success. This team is good, and young, and may be a powerhouse for
many years if kept together. |
| 9. |
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Up 9 Spots
Prev #18 |
Colorado has been playing
great hockey lately as they are scoring in bunches and getting above average
goaltending. Crazy thing is, for a team that scores so much, they shoot so
little. Rookie M.A Pouliot has been hot lately, as he is chasing down the
Calder trophy. Pouliot has 28 points, but more impressive is that he leads
the team with a +16 rating, which was supposed to be his weakness. |
| 10. |
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Down 4 Spots
Prev #6 |
The Bolts are playing a
solid all-round game this year. Giguere has been stellar, posting a 13-6-4
record, with a 2.86 GAA. Up front, Doan and Karyia have done the bulk of the
scoring. More discipline (2nd in PIM/game) and balanced scoring are
needed to have playoff success. |
| 11. |
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Up 11 Spots
Prev #22 |
The MVP in NJ so far must
be Jamie McLennan. His 11-5-1 record and 2.64 GAA is impressive and ranks in
the top 10 for the Vezina award. GM Klein must be enjoyin his first year in
the Devil's office as his team sits 3rd in the East. Klein pulled off a good
deal in landing sniper Leclair, who responed with 4 goals in his 1st game.
The offence must continue to improve as it sits in the bottom 3rd of the
league. |
| 12. |
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Down 7 Spots
Prev # 5 |
The Flames find themselves in the 9th
spot in the tough West, even though they are 2 games above .500. Rookie of
the Year candidate Brent Krahn continues to have Salo's number for the
starters role in net. However, Krahn hasn't played as well as he did
earlier and GM Woodward might have second thoughts about moving Salo.
Calgary must stay out of the box as they're 3rd in PIM's/Game but also own
one of the worst PK, which is a major concern. |
| 13. |
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No Change |
The Flyers find themselves
at .500 thanks to a 3 game winning streak. Recchi and Amonte continue to lead
the Flyers offensive attack with 31 combined goals. GM Bokamper is waiting
for the real Roenick to show up, as he is struggling with only 17points in
28 games. Still the Flyers are in 5th in the East, and are moving up. |
| 14. |
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Up 11 Spot
Prev #25 |
It was a rough start for
the Capitals, but thanks to 7 wins in the last 10, they find themselves back
at .500. Gm Zaugg must be pleased that his special teams are both near
the top of the league. His offence is also in full gear as Jagr has
crept within 2 points of the overall points leaders. Newly acquired
Chechmanek can also be credited to the Caps recent success, as he has posted
a 6-2 record since joining the club. |
| 15. |
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No Change |
Minny always seems to be
near that last playoff spot in the West. In hopes of keeping that spot,
their PP has to get better as it's 2nd last (8.4%) in the league. but thanks
to a tough D that doesn't allow many shots, Fernandez is able to come up
with big saves when needed. Holik has been a surprise as he leads the
team inpoints and is +11. |
| 16. |
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Up 8 Spots
Prev #24 |
As expected, the
offence has exploded into the 3rd best in the league. Already, the Sabres
have 4 players with 10+ goals, including 20 goal man Marleau. Biron has
played well in net, with a 11-6-2 record. Still, the Sabres might want to
step up their D, as they are allowing a few too many shots. |
| 17. |
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Up 3 Spots
Prev #20 |
$11 million dollar man
Dafoe is keeping the Coyotes close in most games. They have the 3rd
best PP in the league, and could surprise in the West. Briere has been
playing well, with almost a point a game. Amazingly, 7of 9 goals scored by
Nagy have been on the PP. |
| 18. |
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Down 1 Spot
Prev #17 |
The Rangers find
themselves at .500 but possibly a team waiting to take off. Star netminder
Brodeur has been playing better, but still not as well GM Blouin would like.
the Rangers have arguably the best top 4 wingers, but 2 of them (Shannahan
and Tkachuck) can't stay out of the box. Luckily, the PK has been one
of the best, and is keeping the Rangers close. |
| 19. |
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Down 5 Spots
Prev #15 |
Rookie Milan
Michalek has been the Bruins best forward so far with
almost a point/game. The rebuilding Bruins made an interesting move by
acquiring sniper Selanne. Although he has yet to score in 4 games he does
have 4 helpers. Thank god GM Krantz team is one of the most discipline in
the league because his PK 3rd last |
| 20. |
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Up 1 Spot
Prev #21 |
Toronto rookie Dustin
Brown continues to impress in Toronto as he leads the team in goals with 12.
Also impressive has been Yushkevich as he has been the Leafs best defender
and ranks in the top 5 for the Norris trophy. Still the Leafs continue to
have problems in their own end, especially in the 3rd period. |
| 21. |
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Up 8 Spots
Prev #29 |
The Kings pulled off a big
move landing Morrison and Modry in hopes of reaching .500 by reeling off
wins in 8 of their last 10 games. GM Higby must have a recipe for
success as his team scoring, defence and PK rank in the bottom 3rd of the
league. But Bure looks to have found his game, as he's tied for the team
lead in goals with 11. M. Ouellet also has 11 goals, and leads the team in
points. |
| 22. |
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Up 6 Spots
Prev #28 |
It took awhile, but the
Canucks have gotten things together, as they look to climb out of the hole
they dug for themselves. GM Al Harrison stuck to his guns by not panicking,
and his top players have responded by performing better. They are scoring,
but the defence is still letting the Canucks down. As they make a push to
get back into the top 8 in the West, Lalime must get better. |
| 23. |
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Down 12
Spots Prev #11 |
The Panthers are right in
the midst of things in the East, and they don't seem to be going away.
Rookie Staal has surpassed everyone's expectations, becoming arguably
Florida's best overall forward (11G,13A,45 hits,+4) Lidstrom is again
leading a very young, promising defence core. If Legace could elevate his
play, this could be a team to watch. |
| 24. |
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Down 5 Spots
Prev #19 |
Radivojevic who?? There's
a new leader in Pittsburgh, and he goes by the name of Mario. Sad thing is,
Mario and many other top Penguins are available as the cash-strapped team is
in need of financial aid. still, there are bright spots with youngster Kris
Beech's improved play as of late, and Rozivals 5 PP goals from the point.
Who knows, maybe those Radivojevic jersey's will have the dust cleaned off
very soon. |
| 25. |
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Down 9 Spots
Prev #16 |
The Islanders seem to be
in a re-building mode, as they dealt away fan-favorite Chris Pronger. That
future doesn't seem too far off however, with youngsters Kelly, Spezza and
Weinhandl already making an impact. The penalty killing unit is costing them
games, with a league worst 80.4% success rate |
| 26. |
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Down 3 Spots
Prev #23 |
After a Cinderella start,
the Wings have cooled off lately, going 3-7 in their past 10. The Wings have
allowed the most goals in the league, 111. Although young Sanford has
potential, it seems he's not ready for prime-time yet. P.Sykora continues to
play well, with 25 points in 27 games. |
| 27. |
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Down 17
Spots Prev #10 |
The Habs fell 17 spots
this week, thanks to a 1-7-2 slide. This veteran team seems to have lost
some of their scoring touch of a year ago. Theodore has been playing
alright, but he faces too many shots on a nightly basis. How patient will
GM Knoepfle be with his underachieving team? |
| 28. |
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Down 1 Spot
Prev #27 |
The arrival of star d-man
Pronger, and youngster Connolly have yet to have the positive impact the
fans were expecting. Leetch, Modin and Luongo have been struggling this
year, as the team struggles to mesh after a ton of player changes this year.
Could there be more deals to come?? |
| 29. |
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Down 3 Spots
Prev #26 |
One of the reasons for the
Jets lack of success this season is the inability for them to get shots on
net. 1st overall pick Zherdov is having a solid rookie season, but hasn't
been the savior many thought he would be. Hamhuis, Upshall and Arkhipov need
to start scoring some goals to take the pressure off the top line. |
| 30. |
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No Change
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The Hartford Whalers may be playing
better lately, but not good enough to get out of the basement. When you are
last in team offense, and 2nd last in team defense, it's easy to see why the
losses are piling up. Eric Messier has been a surprise, leading the team in
scoring. Recent acquisitions Malakov and Marchment have played well since
joining the Whalers. Kudos to GM Serjeant for sticking to his rebuilding
game plan.
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