2009 NHL Power Rankings: Week 8

by: CoreyS On Wednesday, November 25, 2009

As has been the case all year so far, week 8′s edition of the 2009 NHL Power Rankings has a lot of movement with a handful of teams making some big positive leaps up the rankings while another handful taking a few steps backwards down the rankings.

The biggest loser in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Atlanta Thrashers dropping 5 spots to end up at #22. The Thrashers will be looking for some consistency over the next few games as they’ve had a combination of a lot of good and a lot of bad weeks so far this season.

The biggest gainer in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators both moving up 4 spots to land at #5 and #18 respectively. The Blackhawks are on a roll as they’re finally getting some consistent goaltending from Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi while the Predators are finding some chemistry as all of their key players are finally healthy.

Lets take a look at the rest of the league: NHL POWER RANKINGS for week 8.

Rank	Record	PRV	Comment
1	16-5-4	-	Big week for Joe Thornton as he collected 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points.
2	15-8-0	-	Won two of their three games last week including a 5-2 win over Anaheim.
3	13-5-5	2	Were able to handle life without Alexander Ovechkin fairly well, which is a good thing as Ovie hasn’t exactly looked the same since returning from his injury.
4	13-6-2	1	Despite the Flames so-so play last week Jarome Iginla has been on fire so far in the month of November netting 12 goals in 10 games so far.
5	15-5-2	4	Click Here to watch and vote for Patrick Sharp as Victoria’s Secret Sexiest Chicago Athlete.
6	13-7-3	2	Were only able to win one of their three games on their Western Canadian road trip.
7	14-6-1	1	After winning their first 6 games in the month of November the Devils are on a bit of a slide loosing their last three games in a row.
8	12-6-3	-	Saw their three game winning streak come to an end with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Predators.
9	12-7-1	2	Will have to make due without Daniel Briere for two games as he’s been suspended for his hit on Colorado’s Scott Hannan.
10	12-6-2	-	Have two tough games this week against the Capitals and Flyers.
11	13-9-1	3	Picked up two big wins over the Wild and Flyers.
12	11-6-4	1	The Wings will be in tough the next month after losing Niklas Kronwall on the dirty hit from Canadiens’ forward Georges Laraque Saturday night.
13	13-9-2	2	The Kings will be in tough as well with Ryan Smyth gone for up to over a month with the ever popular “upper-body injury”.
14	11-10-1	2	Rough week for the Rangers losing to both the Capitals and Panthers.
15	11-6-3	3	Great week for not just the Sens but Mike Fisher as well who was named the 3rd Star of the week for collecting 6 points (two goals & 4 assists) last week.
16	9-5-7	1	So-so week for the Lightning going 2-1-1 beating the Coyotes and Thrashers.
17	12-11-0	1	Even though they’ve fared well without him, the Canucks received a boost with the return of Daniel Sedin to their lineup.
18	12-8-1	4	Great week for the Preds as they won all three of their games and are now on a 5 game winning streak.
19	10-8-4	2	Solid week winning two of their three games against the Islanders, Thrashers and Sabres.
20	10-6-6	-	Nice week for the Stars pulling out two wins over the Red Wings and Devils.
21	9-11-3	2	Things could get interesting depending on how long Nikolai Khabibulin is out for with his sore back.
22	10-7-3	5	Terrible week for the Thrashers loosing all three of their games to the Bruins, Penguins and Lightning.
23	10-9-2	2	Currently riding a three game winning streak.
24	11-11-1	-	Solid week for the Habs thanks to the great play of goaltender Carey Price who won 2nd Star honors.
25	8-8-7	2	Rough week for the Islanders losing to the Wild and Blues. Help could be on the way however as Rick DiPietro has begun practicing.
26	8-8-4	-	The Blues’ young guns showed off some of their flash last week as both David Perron and T.J. Oshie scored highlight reel goals.
27	7-11-3	-	Are still looking to find their groove after winning just one of their three games last week.
28	8-12-2	-	Are hoping a shake up will lead to some wins as the team traded for Guillaume Latendresse from the Canadiens in exchange for Benoit Pouliot.
29	5-12-5	1	Were able to record back-to-back wins over the Maple Leafs and Lightning.
30	4-11-6	1	Although they were able to pull out a win over the Capitals the Leafs still had a rough week losing to the Senators and Hurricanes.