Power Ranking- Hockey

Updated on 11/30/05
Thanks to Hockeyanalysis.com , ESPN, and TSN for the rankings

I usually look forward to checking out ESPN's power rankings, mostly because my Wings are always near the top (maybe a bit of American favor?mmmm..). Anyways, on my holiday break I came across two more great places for power rankings (links above) TSN and Hockey Analysis.com. So, using their already built computer rankings I decided to take it a step further and combine all three of the rankings to produce an ultimate rankings on a weekly basis. Now all 3 have the Sens at #1 so I'm sure my rankings won't move them down at all.

So here they are, the NHL power rankings posted here on 11/30/05.

First lets start out with TSN Rankings:

TSN	#
Sens	1
Kings	2
Flyers	3
Aves	4
Stars	5
Wings	6
Rangers	7
Pred	8
Coyotes	9
Canucks	10
Flames	11
Oilers	12
TB	13
Leaf	14
Wild	15
Hurricanes	16
Ducks	17
Habs	18
Sabres	19
Islanders	20
Devils	21
Thrashers	22
Bruins	23
Pens	24
Blackhawks	25
Sharks	26
Panthers	27
Caps	28
Blues	29
Bluejackets	30

A couple of notes here: The Canes ranked at #16, can anyone honestly say that there are 16 teams better then the Canes? (Keep in mind their record is 16-8). The Ave ranked above the Wings even though the Wings handed the Aves a loss this week and have a better record. Wings (18-8) vs. Aves (14-11) MMM??

Ok and now onto ESPN's Ranks:

ESPN	#
Sens	1
Wings	2
Kings	3
Rangers	4
Canucks	5
Habs	6
Leafs	7
Hurricanes	8
Flames	9
Stars	10
Pred	11
sabres	12
oilers	13
coyotes	14
aves	15
flyers	16
TB	17
ducks	18
devils	19
wild	20
Islanders	21
Thrashers	22
sharks	23
Blackhawks	24
bruins	25
pens	26
caps	27
Bluejackets	28
panthers	29
blues	30

Couple of notes here: Love how the Wings are ranked 2nd here, but the Habs higher then the Preds, and Canes? MMM, this is what pushed me to do the UPR (Ultimate Power Ranks).

Let's move onto the HA.com Power Rankings:

HA.com	#
Sens	1
Hurricanes	2
Kings	3
Pred	4
Stars	5
Wings	6
Aves	7
Sabres	8
Canucks	9
Leafs	10
Habs	11
Flyers	12
Rangers	13
Flames	14
Oilers	15
Coyotes	16
Devils	17
Islanders	18
TB	19
Ducks	20
Wild	21
Thrashers	22
Blackhawks	23
Sharks	24
Caps	25
Bruins	26
Panthers	27
Pens	28
Bluejackets	29
Blues	30

Ok, no notes here let's just move onto the UPR.

What I did was take the above three power rankings and listed them out side-by-side and gave them a listing from 1-30 (1 being the top team in the ranks and 30 being the bottom). Then I added each teams' points together and the lowest score was the the best team (IE the Sens at 3 points).

Let's move on: here they are combined with the points for each team:

TEAM	UPR Points	UPR
Sens	3	1
Kings	8	2
Wings	14	3
Stars	20	4
Pred	23	5
Canucks	24	6
Rangers	24	7
Aves	26	8
Hurricanes	26	9
Flyers	31	10
Leaf	31	11
Flames	34	12
Habs	35	13
Coyotes	39	14
Sabres	39	15
Oilers	40	16
TB	49	17
Ducks	55	18
Wild	56	19
Devils	57	20
Islanders	59	21
Thrashers	66	22
Blackhawks	72	23
Sharks	73	24
Bruins	74	25
Pens	78	26
Caps	80	27
Panthers	83	28
Bluejackets	87	29
Blues	89	30

And there you have it, even though my Wings are 3 and below the Kings (who they beat this week). I guess with the loss of Legace for a bit that's were the Wings should be ranked. Until next week these are the UPR's posted on 11/30/05

One more quick note: notice to the right below the links there is a counter with Goals per game from 03-04 season and a comparison for the 05-06 season. good stuff...

Thanks-Giving REDSOX style!!!

Oh boy here we go, RSN (Red Sox Nation) is dancing in the rain today as a TENTATIVE agreement is in place to trade Hanley Ramirez, Anibel Sanchez, and a PTBNL for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. This is what you call a Wicked Pissah of a deal here in Boston. Even though Lowell dropped considerably in product from 04-05, he is still a Gold Glove winning 3rd basemen and to get a 25 yr old stud like Beckett is a no brainer.

Here is what the great Peter Gammons had to say about the deal:

Nov. 21

In the end, the Red Sox have the tentative agreement to acquire Josh Beckett for two reasons:

1. They had the player Florida most wanted, shortstop Hanley Ramirez.
2. They would take the remaining two years and $18 million owed to Mike Lowell.

"This is a no-brainer for Boston," said one American League GM of the deal that, barring some problem with medicals, will send Beckett and Lowell to Boston for Ramirez, prized pitching prospect Anibal Sanchez and a Single-A pitcher not on Boston's 40-man roster. "Beckett is a premier player, 25 and entering his prime. He could go win the Cy Young award in the next two years."

At the end of the season, Boston's rotation had three 39- to 42-year-olds -- David Wells, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield -- along with Matt Clement and Bronson Arroyo. Now if they can sign Beckett, who is two years from free agency, to a long-term deal, they'll have three premier power pitchers in their rotation in Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon (24) and left-hander Jon Lester (21), plus two premier young power relievers in Craig Hansen and Edgar Martinez. That's pretty good work from Boston's GM-by-committee of Jed Hoyer, Craig Shipley, Ben Cherington, Peter Woodfork and Bill Lajoie.

The gamble for Boston is Lowell, who at 31 dropped to a .236 batting average with eight homers after averaging .285 with 30 homers, 95 RBI and an .875 OPS the previous two seasons. But his character, his Gold Glove award and encouragement that 2005 was simply an off year led Boston to take him to get Beckett. Kevin Youkilis may now play first, with Bill Mueller being a free agent and rumored to be headed to the White Sox.

Beckett has never started 30 games in a season, but he seemed to turn the corner in 2005, going 15-8.

Stuff? Unquestioned. He was in the top 10 in the NL in fewest home runs per 9 IP, strikeouts per 9 IP, hits per 9 IP, highest average fastball velocity (second to A.J. Burnett), with most pitches over 95 mph.

Heart? Game 6, Yankee Stadium, 2003 World Series.

The Marlins know they cannot sign Beckett, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to long-term contracts. With the many hurricanes in south Florida, they are not getting enough public funds to build a stadium. So Carlos Delgado will soon follow Beckett out of Florida -- a West Coast team might be where he winds up -- as will Juan Pierre.

But in many ways, the trade will hurt the Marlins the most, because of what Beckett has meant to the franchise. And what he, Papelbon and Lester may mean to Boston over the next six years.

Read that last paragraph again: What Beckett, Papelbon, and Lester may mean to Boston over the next six years. Damn that sounds unbelievable... All RSN needs now is a Damon signing, a Wells trade to SD for Dave Roberts and mid-relief help and Manny to stay in Beantown. The Sox are top contenders in 06. Let's GO SOX!!

Oh and I'm starting to like this routine we are getting in with our Thanksgiving trades. I mean the last one got a WS ring (two words: Curt Schilling) and this one, well lets just hope, and wait and see.

Let's GO SOX!!

Scary night for the Wings

Wow, what a night to be a Wings fan. I found out that my internet provider, Comcast, provides it's customers with internet feeds of each nights' top game. To my excitment I found out that, the game last night was Nashville vs. Detroit. Needless to say, I was pumped. I went home, pulled up Comcast and found, sure enough, the game just starting. I was pumped and still am to have this feature. Finally, Comcast has given me somthing extra for the butt-raping I take by having them as my cable and internet provider.

Anyways on to what really mattered last night, Jiri Fischer. With 7:30 left in the 1st period, the game was halted. Due to Jiri unconcious on the Wings bench, hunched forward, and then falling to his side. Jiri Fischer suffered a seizure and was not breathing and without pulse before the Detroit doctors could revive him using CPR and a Defibulator. The scariest moment I have ever watched in professional hockey. A stretcher was skated out by team captains Steve Yzerman and Chris Draper. After a few minutes, Jiri's wife was brought over to the bench by Brendan Shanahan.

Jiri is now is stable condition breathing on his own and in good spirits. The game was cancelled and will be reschedualed at a later date. My prayers and well wishes are with Jiri, his wife, and the rest of the Redwings family as they try to recover from, I'm sure, the most shocking thing any of these players have ever been a part of. Good luck Jiri, come back soon.

Big Game for Wings

After a tough loss to the St. Louis Blues (3-2 on 11/19 recap). The Wings have lost a season-high 4 straight games and need to take down the Nashville Predators to get back on track. But here is the reason for my post, not to particulary talk about the Redwings, but to complain about the lack of hockey and also the lack of different teams on TV.

Let me start off by saying how I live in boston and I am able to watch every Bruins game through N.E.S.N (the way the Bruins are playing, it can be more pain then pleasure: 0-6 in the last six games and 7-10-5 overall). So, if I lived in a city with no hockey team my chances of actually watching a game on TV is cut down by like 75%.

My true complaint is with OLN. I do appreciate that OLN picked up the networking rights to the NHL (3 years for 207.5 million), with only a maximum of 2 games a week and 58 games total. See, here is where my disapointment starts: why only 1-2 games a week? Seriously, go to OLN and any night of the week that hockey is not on check out the schedule for OLN: bull riding? reruns of survior? I mean come on! Has hockey gone down that far that people would rather watch 3 hours of bull riding rather then a hockey game? That is my frusration.

Tonight the top 2 teams in the WcC (Western conference Central) play each other, as well as the future of the NHL playing each other Sid the Kid vs. Alex the Great. And OLN decides to show 7 hours of Shark Hunters, yes that's right 7 hours. I mean come on. OLN couldn't put in a 2 hour hockey game? Aren't they just hurting their own investment? I mean they did pay 207.5 million for this, so is OLN only going to show a total of 174 games over 3 years for 207.5 million? It seems like a wasted purchase. OLN pays $1,192,528.70 per game!!!

So, my question to OLN is why give up on your product before you even give it a chance? I used to hate ESPN broadcasts of the NHL (partly because I grew up watching CBC Unparell hockey coverage) but now I would do back flips for Tuesday night hockey on ESPN with Darren "i sucked in goal" Pang and Barry "huge mullet" Melrose. Mostly I am pissed becasue I have been only able to see one Wings game this year and that my friends is just wrong.
GO WINGS!

Rough week for the Wings

The Redwings need to get back to hockey town. After a weeklong road trip and three losses, the Wings desperatly need to go back to the Joe. Detroit moved their record to 15-4-2 with losses to Vancouver (L 4-1), Calgary (L 3-1), and Edmonton (L 6-5).

Manny Legace gave up 4 goals on 26 shots in a Nov 13th loss to Vancouver and gave up 3 goals on 28 shots in a Nov 16th loss to Calgary. Chris Osgood then stepped in and gave up 6 goals on 28 in a Nov 17th Overtime loss to Edmonton.

Even though the Wings goal-tending duo gave up 13 goals in 3 games, their offense sputtered and could only must 7 goals on 85 shots for a shooting precentage of .082%.

I know what you are thinking, isnt shooting % only for Basketball? Nope, not here in Totter's World. After attending a few Bruins games and watching what little hockey OLN actaully shows, I think this is a very valid stat. Take the Bruins for instance, during the game vs. the Sens. I attended the Bruins out-shot the Sens 17-5 in the 1st period, but remianed tied at 1-1. This would give Boston a shooting % of .058%, but the Sens recieved a shooting % of .200%.
For the game, the Bruins received a S% (shooting percentage) of .051% and the Sens looked much better here with a S% of .166%. So as you can see by this stat, the Sens had quality shots and really controlled the game through-out.

For the season, Detroit has an average S% of .116% with an average of 3.17 goals per game and and an average of 31.7 shots per game.
Here is what the rest of the league has as an Average S% per game.
As you can see the AS% (Average Shot Percentage) can be, for the majority, tracked back to the teams overall Points.

RK	Team	P	G/G	S/G	AS%
1	DET	32	3.71	31.8	0.117
2	MTL	29	3.21	31.5	0.102
3	CAR	29	3.67	30.7	0.120
4	OTT	28	4.59	35.8	0.128
5	NSH	27	2.88	26.4	0.109
6	LAK	27	3.7	29.8	0.124
7	CGY	26	2.57	28.3	0.091
8	VAN	26	3.35	30.1	0.111
9	NYR	25	3.1	30.7	0.101
10	DAL	25	3.37	27.2	0.124
11	PHI	24	4.24	33.9	0.125
12	TOR	24	3.6	26.7	0.135
13	EDM	23	3.1	28.1	0.110
14	COL	22	4.06	29.5	0.138
15	TBL	21	3	31.9	0.094
16	NYI	20	3	30	0.100
17	BUF	20	3.37	32.1	0.105
18	PHX	20	2.62	27	0.097
19	BOS	19	3.25	33.2	0.098
20	NJD	18	2.83	29	0.098
21	ANA	18	2.68	31.8	0.084
22	PIT	18	2.95	28.6	0.103
23	SJS	18	2.61	32.3	0.081
24	MIN	18	2.58	24.5	0.105
25	FLA	16	2.2	31.6	0.070
26	ATL	15	3.56	32.4	0.110
27	WSH	14	2.58	26.3	0.098
28	CHI	14	2.72	30.4	0.089
29	CBJ	10	1.74	26.9	0.065
30	STL	9	2.56	28.4	0.090