Northwest Division Power Rankings: Week 1
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Vancouver Canucks(2-2-1, 5 pts, 2nd in Division Standings): The Canucks are undefeated at home so far, but two losses to the team they put out of the playoffs last year, the Los Angeles Kings, won’t sit very well. Cory Schneider got his first win of the season last night against the Carolina Hurricanes, so hopefully Luongo might get some help this year and not fall apart in the playoffs. Speaking of Chicago (where Luey was handled mercilessly in the last two postseasons), the ‘Nucks make their first trip back on Wednesday.
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Colorado Avalanche (3-2-0, 6 pts, 1st in Division Standings): Off to another pretty decent start after last year’s Cinderella-story season, the hotshot Avs gave the league plenty of notice last year that their young roster was not to be trifled with. Opening week wins against Chicago and road wins in Detroit and New Jersey should have the Avs feeling good, but that -2 goal differential has to be troubling, as only Anaheim has allowed more goals so far.
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Calgary Flames (2-2-0, 4 pts, 4th in Division Standings): Despite scoring just 8 goals through their first 4 games, the Flames have managed to pull off wins against their provincial rival Edmonton Oilers and the LA Kings. Unfortunately, in their two losses, the Flames have managed a grand total of zero goals. If nothing else, it should make the pre-game speeches pretty straightforward: Score goal, win game. No score, no win. (Admittedly not as funny as the French accent I pictured it being said with, but too bad).
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Edmonton Oilers (2-2-0, 4 pts, 3rd in Division Standings): While the Oilers got off to a fine start with wins over Calgary and Florida, and their youngsters look great, losses to Minnesota and Calgary showed some of the weaknesses that come with young teams like the Oil. A tough stretch over the rest of the month will say alot about the true nature of this Oilers’ club, as San Jose, Chicago and Calgary are all on the schedule.
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Minnesota Wild (1-2-1, 3 pts, 5th in Division Standings): More a favor to the Oilers, who will likely spend most of the season in the power rankings basement, than a slight on their early record, the Wild open the year at the bottom of their divisional power rankings after an opening week that saw them drop back to back games to Carolina in Finland and lose at home to lowly Columbus. I’d expect Niklas Backstrom to get his act together and start giving the apparently still-breathing Minnesota offense some help in the next week or two.
