1. Chicago(16-0-3)[35]- I think it’s pretty obvious why the Blackhawks are #1 in everybody’s rankings. They haven’t lost a game in regulation so far in the season. Plus Patrick Kane is tearing it up on fantasy boards right now. He has 24 points total on the season Also, Chicago is seeing a lot of help from goalies Ray Emery(8-0-0) and Corey Crawford(8-0-3) who have save percentages of 92.7% and 94.1%. This just may be Chicago’s hockey dream team.
2. Anaheim(13-3-1)[27]- Anaheim wasn’t a name placed with the cup a lot this year, but that definitively hasn’t slowed them down. They’re starting to remind people what happened in the 2006-2007 season when they beat the Ottawa Senators to win the cup. Ryan Getzlaf who’s posted 18 points this year, is the team’s leading scorer.
3. Montreal(12-4-3)[27]- The Canadians are starting to look hot again. After failing to miss the playoffs last year, Montreal hasn’t let that get in there way this year. Montreal is currently 3rd in the league with only 2.1 goals against per game.
4. Ottawa(12-6-2)[26]- Ottawa hasn’t seemed fazed by the lockout. They have jumped right back into the season and are looking alive. Only one things missing, Erik Karlsson, who was injured during February 13th’s game against the Penguins. Karlsson took an accidental blade to the back of the leg and has had season ending surgery.
5. Pittsburgh(13-7-0)[26]- The Penguins are playing like the Stanely Cup team again. With Sidney Crosby returing to the ice after his concussion all looked well for Pittsburgh till Friday night’s game
against Florida. During that game Malkin suffered a concussion and has been placed on IR(injure reserved).
6. Boston(12-2-2)[26]- Boston’s #1 penalty killing group has been much needed this year, due to no one player standing out in the points category. But Boston also averages 4th in goals against and 7th in goals for this year. Plus without Tim Thomas, who wanted to take the year off, but was also traded to the NY Islanders for a draft pick, Tuukka Rask has taken net and has a save percentage of
93%.
7. NJ Devils(10-5-4)[24]- New Jersey didn’t take much time to cope with the loss of Parise this season. Patrik Elias is currently leading the team with 22 points. But at this point Broduer is day-to-day due to a back injury.
8. Vancouver(10-5-4)[24]-This time last month, Vancouver looked a little rocky. They were ranked 16 and was looking pretty questionable at making the playoffs. They started the month off right by winning 5 straight and have went up and down since then. To make things harder, they will be without Center, Ryan Kesler, who is on IR.
9. Toronto(12-8-0)[24]- The Maple Leafs have been working hard this past month, to strengthen last month’s start. But right now they are missing goalie, James Reimer, who’s played backup goalie, but has 10 starts. But their team is hard at work in the point’s category. They have 7 players with 10 points or more.
10. Nashville(9-6-5)[23]- Nashville is another team who has climbed the ladder this month. From 19th place the Predators gained 9 spots, thanks to the help of their goaltending. Nashville’s goaltending currently ranks 7th in goals against. If Nashville looks to stay in the cup race, they are going to have to tune up in the scoring category. They currently rank dead last in scoring in the
league.
11. St. Louis(10-6-2)[22]- The month hasn’t been so hot for St. Louis though. Even though St. Louis is 5th in goals per game and 1st in power play, they have only won 4 games this month. When a team has 10 players with 10 or more points it’s usually a great thing but their goaltending hasn’t been there. St. Louis goaltending has allowed 50 goals this year.
12. Dallas(10-8-2)[22]- Dallas is another team on the rise, rising 11 spots this month. Even though Dallas has been without starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen, he is predicted to return Feb. 28 against
Edmonton. He is the team’s only goalie with a save percentage over 90%. Despite their bad goaltending they’ve only lost 4 games in regulation this month, thanks to their scoring team.
13. San Jose(9-6-3)[21]- February has been a month to forget for San Jose. The Sharks have only won 3 games this month. Even though the Sharks currently rank 5th in goaltending and in penalty kill they rank 25th in scoring in the league. San Jose needs to step it up offensively in March if the look to get back on track.
14. Phoenix(9-7-3)[21]- Phoenix ranks up 10 spots in the rankings this month. But for the Coyotes no one player is leading the team in points. It’s been a total team effort from Phoenix and their three goaltenders that have save averages over .900. Their 85% penalty kill has also been quite a help in getting back on track this month.
15. Detroit(9-7-3)[21]- The Red Wings have been a team that has battled through losing key players to retirement. But thanks to Pavel Datsyuk, Henrick Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, and rookie Dan Brunner picking up all the slack, Detroit has been pressing on. All have 16 or more points so far, and have kept Detroit in playoff shape.
16. LA Kings(9-6-2)[20]- Knock knock. Who’s there? Not the Stanley Cup 2012 champs. As far as Los Angeles goes it’s been more of a defensive year. Their offense currently ranks 19th in the league. But thanks to their goaltending and penalty kill LA is still in contention for the playoffs.
17. Minnesota(9-7-2)[20]- If you were Minnesota you would hope dropping so much money for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter would have started to bring some kind of results. In fact it has, and not good results either. Minnesota’s biggest struggle is finding the net where they are 26th in scoring. But on a good note Nicklas Backstrom has been a brick wall when it comes to guarding
the net.
18. Carolina(9-8-1)[19]- After uniting two of the Staal brothers, Carolina is looking to be Cup worthy. In fact they currently rank 6th in scoring with 46 points belonging to Eric(25) and Jordon Staa(16)l. But with the Canes struggling goaltending and now leading goalie, Cam Ward, injured it’s up to Dan
Ellis to help keep the Canes on track.
19. Winnipeg(9-9-1)[19]- Winnipeg is still struggling to compete in the NHL. They rank dead last in penalty kill in the NHL, 25th in goals against with an average of 3, and 14.3% powerplay efficiency. If Winnipeg can find some defense and goaltending they should finish okay but only that.
20. Tampa Bay(9-9-1)[19]-When a team leads the NHL in scoring they are usually rock solid right? Not the Lightning. They are being drug down by their struggling goaltending(27th overall). Garon and Lindback have a combined 65 goals allowed this season. But hopefully leading scorer Steven
Stamkos (32 points) can keep driving and finding the net till the goaltending wakes up.
21. Philadelphia(9-11-1)[19]- The Flyers have seen a lot out of Jakub Voracek, who leads the team with 25 points. The Flyers are 9th in scoring, power play efficiency, and penalty kill. No doubt Philly has struggled the past two months but they look to be gaining traction as we head into March.
22. NY Rangers(8-8-2)[18]- The Rangers are not the same team as last year. Last year they fought to the end with Pittsburgh in standings and this year they aren’t fighting much. Although, their goaltending ranks 9th in the league and they also have an impressive 7th ranked penalty kill. And right now no one really knows the situation on Brad Richards or any injury but he took a big hit during the Sabres game at the end of February.
23. Calgary(7-7-4)[18]- The Calgary Flames are hot offensively. They rank 11th in goals per game, averaging 3 goals a game. But their goaltending hasn’t been getting the job done. With starting goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff, out they have balanced between three other goalies. But all their goaltenders are struggling with save percentages around an even .900 or below. With the exception of Kiprusoff, Calgary’s goalie have allowed 46 goals in 15 games.
24. Edmonton(7-7-4)[18]- With Nikolai Khabibulin and Mark Fistric on IR and Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle day-to-day Edmonton has been cursed with injuries in February.
25. NY Islanders(8-11-1)[17]- The NY Islanders have accepted a trade to acquired goaltender Tim Thomas this month in trade for a conditional 2nd round 2013 or 2014 draft pick, but he stated that wouldn’t be ready to play anytime soon. Believe it or not the Islanders are ranked 8th in scoring and 5th in power play efficiency, but their goaltending is their biggest enemy. They average 3.4 goals against per game. If the goaltenders can stop the pucks the Islanders may still have a chance.
26. Colorado(7-8-3)[17]- Colorado hasn’t really looked good in any one category this month. I think overall Colorado needs to step it up as a team. Ranked 24th in scoring, 19th in goaltending, 29th in power play efficiency, and 25th in penalty killing, it can’t get much worse for the Avalanche.
27. Florida(6-9-4)[16]- After only winning four games in February, Florida is still near the bottom of the rankings. And as far as the rest of the season goes I don’t know if much will changed for the Panthers. Their scoring is little to none and as far as goaltending goes, the goals just keep piling up.
28. Washington(7-10-1)[15]- Washington is starting to look to play a little better. Even though they finished February 6-6 they had a couple of needed wins. With wins over the Flyers and the Lightning, rookie goalie, Holtby, is giving it all he can. But in order for Washington to really get things back into the playoff race Alex Ovechkin, needs to be the award winning Winger he used to be.
29. Buffalo(8-12-1)[15]- The Sabres have just had a bad season overall. Mid-way through the month, Coach Lindy Ruff was fired. Buffalo started the season 3-3-1 and looked to be a decent season at that but things just continued to slip away from Buffalo. But after a long February for Buffalo, and a 5 wins Buffalo dropped big in the rankings. Buffalo needs to improve both offensively and defensively to try and turn this season around.
30. Columbus(5-12-3)[13]- Columbus is just looking horrible. Their points leader has 14 points this season. There has been very little offense in Columbus. Columbus needs to find someone to lead there team. It may be mid-season and a little late for Columbus, but they still need to find a leader, and turn things around.
2. Anaheim(13-3-1)[27]- Anaheim wasn’t a name placed with the cup a lot this year, but that definitively hasn’t slowed them down. They’re starting to remind people what happened in the 2006-2007 season when they beat the Ottawa Senators to win the cup. Ryan Getzlaf who’s posted 18 points this year, is the team’s leading scorer.
3. Montreal(12-4-3)[27]- The Canadians are starting to look hot again. After failing to miss the playoffs last year, Montreal hasn’t let that get in there way this year. Montreal is currently 3rd in the league with only 2.1 goals against per game.
4. Ottawa(12-6-2)[26]- Ottawa hasn’t seemed fazed by the lockout. They have jumped right back into the season and are looking alive. Only one things missing, Erik Karlsson, who was injured during February 13th’s game against the Penguins. Karlsson took an accidental blade to the back of the leg and has had season ending surgery.
5. Pittsburgh(13-7-0)[26]- The Penguins are playing like the Stanely Cup team again. With Sidney Crosby returing to the ice after his concussion all looked well for Pittsburgh till Friday night’s game
against Florida. During that game Malkin suffered a concussion and has been placed on IR(injure reserved).
6. Boston(12-2-2)[26]- Boston’s #1 penalty killing group has been much needed this year, due to no one player standing out in the points category. But Boston also averages 4th in goals against and 7th in goals for this year. Plus without Tim Thomas, who wanted to take the year off, but was also traded to the NY Islanders for a draft pick, Tuukka Rask has taken net and has a save percentage of
93%.
7. NJ Devils(10-5-4)[24]- New Jersey didn’t take much time to cope with the loss of Parise this season. Patrik Elias is currently leading the team with 22 points. But at this point Broduer is day-to-day due to a back injury.
8. Vancouver(10-5-4)[24]-This time last month, Vancouver looked a little rocky. They were ranked 16 and was looking pretty questionable at making the playoffs. They started the month off right by winning 5 straight and have went up and down since then. To make things harder, they will be without Center, Ryan Kesler, who is on IR.
9. Toronto(12-8-0)[24]- The Maple Leafs have been working hard this past month, to strengthen last month’s start. But right now they are missing goalie, James Reimer, who’s played backup goalie, but has 10 starts. But their team is hard at work in the point’s category. They have 7 players with 10 points or more.
10. Nashville(9-6-5)[23]- Nashville is another team who has climbed the ladder this month. From 19th place the Predators gained 9 spots, thanks to the help of their goaltending. Nashville’s goaltending currently ranks 7th in goals against. If Nashville looks to stay in the cup race, they are going to have to tune up in the scoring category. They currently rank dead last in scoring in the
league.
11. St. Louis(10-6-2)[22]- The month hasn’t been so hot for St. Louis though. Even though St. Louis is 5th in goals per game and 1st in power play, they have only won 4 games this month. When a team has 10 players with 10 or more points it’s usually a great thing but their goaltending hasn’t been there. St. Louis goaltending has allowed 50 goals this year.
12. Dallas(10-8-2)[22]- Dallas is another team on the rise, rising 11 spots this month. Even though Dallas has been without starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen, he is predicted to return Feb. 28 against
Edmonton. He is the team’s only goalie with a save percentage over 90%. Despite their bad goaltending they’ve only lost 4 games in regulation this month, thanks to their scoring team.
13. San Jose(9-6-3)[21]- February has been a month to forget for San Jose. The Sharks have only won 3 games this month. Even though the Sharks currently rank 5th in goaltending and in penalty kill they rank 25th in scoring in the league. San Jose needs to step it up offensively in March if the look to get back on track.
14. Phoenix(9-7-3)[21]- Phoenix ranks up 10 spots in the rankings this month. But for the Coyotes no one player is leading the team in points. It’s been a total team effort from Phoenix and their three goaltenders that have save averages over .900. Their 85% penalty kill has also been quite a help in getting back on track this month.
15. Detroit(9-7-3)[21]- The Red Wings have been a team that has battled through losing key players to retirement. But thanks to Pavel Datsyuk, Henrick Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, and rookie Dan Brunner picking up all the slack, Detroit has been pressing on. All have 16 or more points so far, and have kept Detroit in playoff shape.
16. LA Kings(9-6-2)[20]- Knock knock. Who’s there? Not the Stanley Cup 2012 champs. As far as Los Angeles goes it’s been more of a defensive year. Their offense currently ranks 19th in the league. But thanks to their goaltending and penalty kill LA is still in contention for the playoffs.
17. Minnesota(9-7-2)[20]- If you were Minnesota you would hope dropping so much money for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter would have started to bring some kind of results. In fact it has, and not good results either. Minnesota’s biggest struggle is finding the net where they are 26th in scoring. But on a good note Nicklas Backstrom has been a brick wall when it comes to guarding
the net.
18. Carolina(9-8-1)[19]- After uniting two of the Staal brothers, Carolina is looking to be Cup worthy. In fact they currently rank 6th in scoring with 46 points belonging to Eric(25) and Jordon Staa(16)l. But with the Canes struggling goaltending and now leading goalie, Cam Ward, injured it’s up to Dan
Ellis to help keep the Canes on track.
19. Winnipeg(9-9-1)[19]- Winnipeg is still struggling to compete in the NHL. They rank dead last in penalty kill in the NHL, 25th in goals against with an average of 3, and 14.3% powerplay efficiency. If Winnipeg can find some defense and goaltending they should finish okay but only that.
20. Tampa Bay(9-9-1)[19]-When a team leads the NHL in scoring they are usually rock solid right? Not the Lightning. They are being drug down by their struggling goaltending(27th overall). Garon and Lindback have a combined 65 goals allowed this season. But hopefully leading scorer Steven
Stamkos (32 points) can keep driving and finding the net till the goaltending wakes up.
21. Philadelphia(9-11-1)[19]- The Flyers have seen a lot out of Jakub Voracek, who leads the team with 25 points. The Flyers are 9th in scoring, power play efficiency, and penalty kill. No doubt Philly has struggled the past two months but they look to be gaining traction as we head into March.
22. NY Rangers(8-8-2)[18]- The Rangers are not the same team as last year. Last year they fought to the end with Pittsburgh in standings and this year they aren’t fighting much. Although, their goaltending ranks 9th in the league and they also have an impressive 7th ranked penalty kill. And right now no one really knows the situation on Brad Richards or any injury but he took a big hit during the Sabres game at the end of February.
23. Calgary(7-7-4)[18]- The Calgary Flames are hot offensively. They rank 11th in goals per game, averaging 3 goals a game. But their goaltending hasn’t been getting the job done. With starting goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff, out they have balanced between three other goalies. But all their goaltenders are struggling with save percentages around an even .900 or below. With the exception of Kiprusoff, Calgary’s goalie have allowed 46 goals in 15 games.
24. Edmonton(7-7-4)[18]- With Nikolai Khabibulin and Mark Fistric on IR and Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle day-to-day Edmonton has been cursed with injuries in February.
25. NY Islanders(8-11-1)[17]- The NY Islanders have accepted a trade to acquired goaltender Tim Thomas this month in trade for a conditional 2nd round 2013 or 2014 draft pick, but he stated that wouldn’t be ready to play anytime soon. Believe it or not the Islanders are ranked 8th in scoring and 5th in power play efficiency, but their goaltending is their biggest enemy. They average 3.4 goals against per game. If the goaltenders can stop the pucks the Islanders may still have a chance.
26. Colorado(7-8-3)[17]- Colorado hasn’t really looked good in any one category this month. I think overall Colorado needs to step it up as a team. Ranked 24th in scoring, 19th in goaltending, 29th in power play efficiency, and 25th in penalty killing, it can’t get much worse for the Avalanche.
27. Florida(6-9-4)[16]- After only winning four games in February, Florida is still near the bottom of the rankings. And as far as the rest of the season goes I don’t know if much will changed for the Panthers. Their scoring is little to none and as far as goaltending goes, the goals just keep piling up.
28. Washington(7-10-1)[15]- Washington is starting to look to play a little better. Even though they finished February 6-6 they had a couple of needed wins. With wins over the Flyers and the Lightning, rookie goalie, Holtby, is giving it all he can. But in order for Washington to really get things back into the playoff race Alex Ovechkin, needs to be the award winning Winger he used to be.
29. Buffalo(8-12-1)[15]- The Sabres have just had a bad season overall. Mid-way through the month, Coach Lindy Ruff was fired. Buffalo started the season 3-3-1 and looked to be a decent season at that but things just continued to slip away from Buffalo. But after a long February for Buffalo, and a 5 wins Buffalo dropped big in the rankings. Buffalo needs to improve both offensively and defensively to try and turn this season around.
30. Columbus(5-12-3)[13]- Columbus is just looking horrible. Their points leader has 14 points this season. There has been very little offense in Columbus. Columbus needs to find someone to lead there team. It may be mid-season and a little late for Columbus, but they still need to find a leader, and turn things around.