Monday, November 4, 2013

NHL Power Rankings: Week #5 (2013-14)

As the season is in full effect & teams are starting to hit a rhythm, we're finding some trends that have the possibility of becoming statistical anomalies. Just like last season's Tampa Bay anomaly, we have Detroit, Nashville, & the N.Y. Rangers all knocking on the doorstep of weirdness. But, once again, before we continue into this explanation, welcome to the Week #5 T.O.A.'s 2013-14 NHL Power Rankings!

We bring up our first case in Detroit. They are currently ranked 16th & last week were ranked 19th. They are one of 10 teams to have cracked 20 points this season. They have a formidable squad especially with the two huge off-season acquisitions of Stephen Weiss & Daniel Alfredsson. But once you take a deeper look, the team is flawed, which shows up in the rankings. The mean (average) score for "Goals For" (GF) of the top 9 teams are 48.6 goals this season; Detroit has 38. What's kept them in contention in the standing is their amazing "Goals Against" (GA) stat of 37, giving them a +1 goal differential & not anything lower than midway of the pack in the rankings.

Our second case is that of the N.Y. Rangers. The Rangers had a horrific start this season & once sat on the basement thrown for a brief time. Where most N.Y.-centric sports media (like ESPN or S.I.) may falter, TOA prevails & sheds light on their 3 game winning streak. N.Y. may seem to have turned things around, but once again look at the GF. The Rangers are second to last in the category, only posting 25 this season & seriously effecting any chances of redemption unless they really turn things on mid-season. To put it into perspective, Buffalo (which is just a dumpster-fire at this point), has more goals this season & is ranked last.

And finally we come to Nashville, who was in our sight since last week. Nashville is sporting a respectable 7-5-2 record, which at this pace may earn them a playoff spot come April. But for a slightly-above mediocre record comes consequences. Nashville has a -9 goal differential this year & a low 31 GF (a deadly combination). This data, to the logical mind, transforms into a narrative of low-scoring close wins & blow out losses.  If the Preds qualify once playoffs come, they will most likely be out in the first round due to their lack-luster scoring (sorry Preds fans, but they need to pick it up). Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the Week #5 T.O.A. Power Rankings, we'll keep tracking these anomalies as they continue to grow:

RankTeamRecord+/-Power Index
#1San Jose Sharks
San Jose Sharks
10-1-3 (23 pts.)Even7.8571
#2Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
12-1-0 (24 pts.)Even7.6154
#3St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues
8-2-2 (18 pts.)Even6.75
#4Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim Ducks
11-3-1 (22 pts.)Up 25.9334
#5Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
9-2-4 (22 pts.)Up 55.9334
#6Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
11-4-0 (22 pts.)Up 25.8667
#7Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning
10-4-0 (20 pts.)Down 35.7857
#8Phoenix Coyotes
Phoenix Coyotes
10-3-2 (22 pts.)Up 15.4667
#9Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
10-5-0 (20 pts.)Down 25.3334
#10Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
8-5-0 (16 pts.)Down 54.6923
#11Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
10-5-1 (21 pts.)Up 24.5
#12New York Islanders
N.Y. Islanders
8-4-0 (16 pts.)Even4.0714
#13Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
8-4-3 (19 pts.)Up 14.0667
#14Los Angeles Kings
L.A. Kings
9-6-0 (18 pts.)Down 24.0667
#15Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
8-7-0 (16 pts.)Down 44.0667
#16Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
9-4-2 (20 pts.)Up 34
#17Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
7-7-0 (14 pts.)Up 13.9286
#18Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
6-6-2 (14 pts.)Down 23.0714
#19Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
4-6-4 (12 pts.)Up 12.9286
#20Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
6-6-2 (14 pts.)Up 22.8571
#21Nashville Predators
Nashville Predators
7-5-2 (16 pts.)Up 32.5
#22Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus Blue Jackets
5-8-0 (10 pts.)Down 52.2308
#23Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg Jets
5-8-2 (12 pts.)Down 21.7334
#24New York Rangers
N.Y. Rangers
6-7-0 (12 pts.)Down 41.2308
#25Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes
4-7-3 (11 pts.)Down 20.7857
#26New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
3-7-4 (10 pts.)Even0.6429
#27Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers
3-10-2 (8 pts.)Down 20.2667
#28Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
3-8-3 (9 pts.)Down 10.2143
#29Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
4-9-0 (8 pt.)Down 1-0.0769
#30Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
2-13-1 (5 pts.)Even-1


Who's Hot?: N.Y. Rangers & Chicago

Who's Not?: Boston, Montreal, Columbus (last week "Hot"/ week before "Not")

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