Power Rankings: The Colorado Avalanche are the NHL’s new top team

Cam Lewis
Cam Lewis
Power Rankings: The Colorado Avalanche are the NHL’s new top team

It’s Monday, so it’s time for an updated Elite Eight and a quick look around the league.

The Elite Eight

1. Colorado Avalanche (28-8-3)

Remember when the Avs got dropped by a score of 8-3 by the Maple Leafs? That was back on Dec. 1. Since then, they’ve only lost in regulation once. That’s a 17-1-2 stretch. Colorado plowed through Minnesota, Anaheim, L.A. and Montreal last week, pushing its winning streak to six. It’s time to crown them as the top team in the league.

2. Florida Panthers (28-9-5)

A ho-hum road trip from the Panthers also allowed the Avs to jump into the top spot. The Panthers got dropped 5-1 by the Flames, hammered the Oilers 6-0, edged out the Canucks in a shootout and then lost 5-3 to the Kraken.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (27-9-2)

It was a high-event week for Carolina. They pulled off a massive 7-1 win over the Bruins and followed that up with another huge 6-3 win over the New York Rangers. Immediately after that, they suffered a 7-4 loss to the Devils, a team outside the playoffs.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning (28-10-5)

The Lightning put together a decent trip through California last week. They beat the surging Kings, lost to the Ducks and then finished off with a win over the Sharks. In eight games since returning from injury, Nikita Kucherov already has 13 points.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (25-10-3)

Like the Lightning, the Leafs remain in the same spot as last week after splitting their trip to New York. Toronto got goalie’d by the Rangers and then edged out a 3-1 win over the Islanders. Are Islanders fans still angry at John Tavares? You bet they are.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins (26-10-5)

After a little blip earlier this month, the Penguins are rolling along again. They beat the Golden Knights, Senators, Blue Jackets and Jets last week and are now on a five-game winning streak. Getting Evgeni Malkin back certainly helps, as he has seven points through seven games this season.

7. Minnesota Wild (24-10-3)

Since dropping five games in a row in late Dec., the Wild have pulled themselves together, winning five of their last six outings. The one loss in those six games was a shootout loss to the mighty Avs. Minnesota is fourth in the Central Division in terms of points, but has a higher points percentage than both the Blues and Predators, on whom the Wild have games in hand.

8. Boston Bruins (24-12-2)

Finally, we have the Bruins rounding out this week’s Elite Eight. Boston kicked off the week by getting pounded 7-1 by Carolina and then bounced back with wins over the Capitals and Jets. Though they’re 10th in the league in points percentage, I have them in here because they boast the league’s top underlying numbers.

Worth Mentioning…

Sticking with the Bruins for a moment, Brad Marchand had himself quite the week on social media.

After Boston’s embarrassing loss to Carolina, the Hurricanes’ social media team posted “L stands for Lamborghini,” to which Marchand took a deep jab at non-traditional hockey markets…

He didn’t stop there. After multiple Oilers fans tossed jerseys on the ice following Edmonton’s 6-0 loss to Florida, Marchand gave his thoughts on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s futures with the team.

It seems the jersey toss worked for the Oilers, though. Edmonton finally picked up its first win of 2022 and snapped its seven-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Mikko Koskinen made a whopping 44 saves, picking up his first win since all the way back on Dec 1.

This Week’s Disaster…

This was an ugly week for hockey.

AHLer Krystof Hrabik was suspended for 30 games for making a racist gesture at Boko Imama and, shortly after that, ECHLer Jacob Panetta made a racist gesture at Jordan Subban.

The unfortunate irony here is that both of these things happened the same week that Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first Black player, finally had his number retired in Boston. While this week should have been all about celebrating O’Ree and the path that he opened for Black players, we’re instead reminded of the toxic culture that’s embedded within the sport.

What now? How does this problem get solved? As Ryan S. Clark said in The Athletic, it’s more than just saying ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ and handing out suspensions.

Clark wrote:

“Suspensions are a start. So is outright releasing players. But more has to be done. It has to go beyond making statements pledging that those who commit racism and racist acts are going to learn. Do more than have them read books or go through a certification course. Send them out into the communities they offend. Have them meet the children who will someday become the adults, who have spent a lifetime dealing with this. Force them to do the work they should have been doing in the first place, in the hopes that they can prevent others from making the same mistakes.”

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