Depending on when various sources picked their rankings, we’ll probably see some weird movement from the Hawks. After the two losses in a row to the Stars and Canucks the Hawks have (kinda) turned things around against the Predators and Wild. Of course neither of those teams are really lighting the world on fire.
SBN Power Rankings: We’re a fickle bunch here at SBN it seems. The Hawks dropped from 4th overall down to 8th. Likewise the Hawks fell out of the top spot in the West down to 3rd overall behind the Avs and Flames (both teams the Hawks have beaten.. just sayin’)
This brings up something McClure and I were talking about earlier – how long are the Avs going to stick around? Is Anderson going to keep this team in the running for the year? I’m hoping they last just long enough for people to write their mid-season playoff predictions so everyone is high on them. I’m still thinking they’ll miss the playoffs..
The Hockey News: Just like SBN – THN has dropped the Hawks down from 4th to 8th. Their main blurb is about Sharp though who hasn’t really been all that noticable despite his team-leading 5 goals.
NHL Fanhouse: The Hawks took a huge drop in this poll – from 4th all the way down to 11th. They’re seem about a week late in the “is there a goalie controversey” topic but they published the rankings on the 23rd meaning they wrote it before Huet’s allowed only one goal in the last 6 periods.
TSN: Finally a power ranking where the Hawks improved. They were an insanely low 15th overall last week. They’re now 11th.
ESPN: Another ranking with the Hawks moving upwards, from 10th up to 7th (highest of the week). They also throw in a pretty odd Alka Seltzer reference too.. just for kicks I guess
League Wide Stats:
The Hawks dropped in overall points, faceoff%, power play %, and PK%. So stats haven’t been good overall for the Hawks this week. With so many players missing time now though it’s nothing to be concerned about, especially since the Hawks are still winning games.
Points: Tied for 5th with San Jose and Calgary (15)
Goals For/Game: 13th overall (3.18)
Goals Against/Game: 5th overall (2.36)
Shots/Game: 2nd overall behind the Sabres (34.2)
Shots Against/Game: Top of the Pops (22.3)
Faceoff %: 4th overall (53.2) Come back soon Toews
Power Play: 17th overall (19.5)
Penalty Kill: 7th overall (83.7)