Hockey Heaven & Hell

Written by Bob G. | 17 January 2012

Welcome to Hockey Heaven and Hell - a power ranking of NHL hockey teams. Teams will fall into one of three groups of ten - Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. You’ll find this ranking to be different than most of the other power rankings out there, in that it’s based on where teams are currently projected to finish in overall points at the end of the regular season. Factored into the projections are such stats as goals scored/allowed both home and away, strength of schedule to date, strength of schedule remaining, and quality of recent play.

Hockey Heaven

There's a German drinking song that goes, "In heaven there is no beer, that's why we drink it here." Well, if there's no beer there, there can't be hockey either. So enjoy watching the NHL while you're still able to.

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Comment
1 (1)	Boston Bruins	29-12-1	The Bruins continue to do what they're best at - racking up wins, penalty minutes, and suspensions.
2 (2)	New York Rangers	28-11-4	With Martin Biron playing so well in a backup role, the Rangers have the luxury of giving Henrik Lundqvist more rest than he's gotten in past years. That might bode well for their chances in the playoffs.
3 (5)	Detroit Red Wings	29-15-1	The Red Wings are nearly unstoppable at home, with an 18-2-1 record. Goalie Jimmy Howard is having a career year, with a league-leading 27 wins, and a GAA of 1.98.
4 (3)	Vancouver Canucks	28-15-3	Roberto Luongo update - October GAA: 3.54, November-January GAA: 2.09.
5 (8)	St. Louis Blues	27-12-6	Ken Hitchcock has done wonders in St. Louis, putting up a 21-5-6 record and catapulting the Blues to the top spot in the West since taking over as head coach. Jaroslav Halak is back on track, giving Hitchcock no wrong answers when it comes to picking starting goalies.
6 (6)	San Jose Sharks	25-12-5	The Sharks continue to hold off the Kings in the Pacific Division, posting a 10-2-2 record in their last 14 games.
7 (13)	Chicago Blackhawks	27-13-6	Ray Emery held down the fort in net in mid-December, posting a 5-1-0 record, and giving Corey Crawford a chance to get his head back in the game. Crawford's GAA was 3.00 through December 5th, but has been 2.49 since Emery's streak.
8 (9)	Philadelphia Flyers	26-13-4	Despite all their talent, one has to wonder how far the Flyers can go in the playoffs without the services of Chris Pronger.
9 (20)	Nashville Predators	26-15-4	The good Pekka Rinne is back, as he's posted a 14-2 record and a 2.37 GAA since December 8th.
10 (17)	Ottawa Senators	25-16-6	Ottawa is making a run in the Eastern Conference - could Kyle Turris be the key? The Sens are 10-2-2 since the trade with the Coyotes.

Hockey Purgatory

Purgatory - a place of transition, where those who redeem themselves can find their way to Heaven, while those that don’t could go straight to Hell.

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Comment
11 (4)	Pittsburgh Penguins	23-17-4	The Penguins better have good health insurance, what with the reoccurrence of Crosby's concussion symptoms, Kris Letang's concussion, and the knee injury to Jordan Staal. James Neal must have seen one of those televangelists, who miraculously cured his broken foot by commanding him to "Heal thy heel!"
12 (14)	Los Angeles Kings	22-15-9	The Kings finally seem to be putting things together. With an 8-1-5 record in their last 14 games, they are one of the hottest clubs in the league.
13 (26)	New Jersey Devils	25-17-2	Despite having a negative goal differential, the Devils are getting it done via shootout, with a league-best 8 shootout wins (vs. only one SO loss).
14 (12)	Toronto Maple Leafs	22-17-5	The good news? James Reimer is back. The bad news, at least as far as Reimer is concerned? Jonas Gustavsson isn't ready to give up the #1 goalie spot.
15 (25)	Washington Capitals	24-17-2	It doesn't appear as if things are much different In Washington under coach Dale Hunter. Hunter's record since taking over? 12-8-1. Bruce Boudreau's record before being fired? 12-9-1.
16 (10)	Phoenix Coyotes	21-18-7	The Coyotes have stumbled a bit lately, going 3-5-4 in their last 12 games (although to be fair, their schedule has been pretty tough). With six of their next seven games at home, perhaps they'll be able to get back on track.
17 (21)	Dallas Stars	24-19-1	Dallas was hot to start the season, with an 11-3-0 record. But injuries to defenseman Alex Goligoski, then goalie Kari Lehtonen took their toll, and the Stars have gone 13-16-1 since. Now they'll be without Jamie Benn and Mike Ribiero for a while.
18 (11)	Florida Panthers	21-14-9	Florida still holds down the top spot in the South, but injuries to Jose Theodore and Jakob Markstrom have left the Panthers weak in goal.
19 (18)	Winnipeg Jets	21-19-5	After getting bombarded with seven goals in game against the Red Wings on December 10th, goalie Ondrej Pavelec has posted a 2.28 GAA in 12 starts.
20 (7)	Minnesota Wild	22-16-7	Goaltending can only take you so far. The tandem of Backstrom and Harding are coming down from their insanely good start, and the offense just isn't picking up the slack.

Hockey Hell

Hockey Hell - the place where the truly wretched go. If there’s any question as to whether these teams belong here, just listen to what their fans are saying: "What the hell are they doing out there?", "What in the hell is the coach thinking?" and "Why in the hell am I paying so much for tickets to watch this crap?"

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Comment
21 (15)	Montreal Canadiens	17-20-8	Rather than Bleu Blanc Rouge, les Canadiens are more noire et bleu, after the way opponents are treating them. Of course, new coach Randy Cunneyworth wouldn't understand that, because he doesn't speak French. Perhaps someone should have listened to Michael Cammalleri, instead of trading him. Losers, indeed.
22 (19)	Colorado Avalanche	24-21-2	The Avs have climbed back into playoff contention over the last month, with a 10-4-1 record. That's thanks in large part to the play of J.S. Giguere, who was 6-2-1 with a 2.19 GAA.
23 (24)	Calgary Flames	21-20-5	You would have thought that losing defenseman Mark Giordano would have really hurt the Flames, but they managed to go 11-7-4 without him.
24 (29)	Anaheim Ducks	15-22-7	You knew the Ducks were better than their poor record showed, and finally they're showing some signs of life. They've got a modest 5-0-1 streak going, over which they're scoring more than 4 goals a game and allowing less than 2.
25 (30)	Carolina Hurricanes	16-24-7	As seems to be the case almost every year, it takes a while for the Canes offense to kick it into gear. Over their first 28 games, they averaged just 2.36 goals per game. In their last 19 games, they've averaged 3.00 goals per game.
26 (27)	New York Islanders	16-21-6	The good news? Evgeni Nabokov is starting to look like he did when he played for the Sharks. The better news? Rick DiPietro won't be around the rest of the season to steal starts from him.
27 (16)	Edmonton Oilers	17-23-4	The combination of overachieving goaltending and youthful inexperience were bound to catch up with the Oilers eventually. Injuries to Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins have only accelerated their spiral downward.
28 (23)	Tampa Bay Lightning	17-23-4	Tampa Bay is 6-14-2 in their last 22 games, and have allowed almost 4 goals per game over that span.
29 (22)	Buffalo Sabres	19-21-5	Since starting the year 12-7-0, the Sabres have gone 7-14-5. Sure they've had a lot of injuries, but so have the Penguins, and you don't see them collapsing like this.
30 (28)	Columbus Blue Jackets	12-27-5	Can things get any worse for the Blue Jackets? Jeff Carter and James Wisnewski are both out, and trade rumors are swirling concerning Rick Nash.