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1. BOSTON BRUINS Best 1-2 punch in the world. On Wednesday, Tuukka Rask had a 41- save SO over LA Kings. On Thursday, Tim Thomas set a Bruins franchise record of 47 saves in a win against the Sens, which means back-to-back stolen wins by their goalies. Several teams haven't had their goalie steal them even one game so far this season. |
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2. MINNESOTA WILD First overall in NHL standings! Niklas Backstrom's been lights out. Josh Harding's been lights out. Former NHL Goalie Jeff Hackett's nephew, Matt Hackett, kept the hot play going between the pipes by stoning the Sharks and Kings during his NHL debut last week. Can you say DEPTH? |
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3. NEW YORK RANGERS Henrik Lundqvist has been King Henrik, luckily he wasn't seriously injured on that rising missile from Sheldon Souray. Marty Biron has given the Rangers points in almost every start and brings great intangibles to the Blueshirts as well. |
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4. ST. LOUIS BLUES Full praise for Ken Hitchcock for getting his cast of talented young players to buy into checking and defending, but Brian Elliott has been amazing from day one! This guy is having one of the best turnaround seasons I've seen in a long time. Leads the NHL in save percentage and shutouts. Jaroslav Halak has also found his groove and looks more like the Halak I played against in Montreal. |
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5. DETROIT RED WINGS While many people in the hockey world sleep on Jimmy Howard, I'm not one of them. He's improved so much during these last three years. Mike Babcock told me he's really improved his conditioning as well. All he's doing is leading the NHL in wins. Ty Conklin can still play, tough to get in with Jimmy on fire right now. |
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6. LOS ANGELES KINGS Jonathan Quick is a top flight goalie, reminds me so much of Miikka Kiprusoff with his style, compete level and flexibility. Jonathan Bernier has an amazing upside, but it's tough to make strides and learn the league with such infrequent starts. |
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7. VANCOUVER CANUCKS I said it last year: If I'm Tampa I'd be "speed" and "repeat" dialing Mike Gillis to try to get Cory Schneider, he's a great luxury and security player for the Canucks. This guy is for real. Roberto Luongo's game is starting to round into form. The biggest challenges for him will be mental over technical and sometimes those challenges are even tougher. |
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8. SAN JOSE SHARKS Antti Niemi has stolen a few games and looked rock solid in most, but he needs the Sharks' big guns to turn it up a notch or three. Thomas Greiss is very good, smooth and efficient, with a similar style to Hedberg. |
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9. FLORIDA PANTHERS Jose Theodore has been excellent, still getting it done! Don't forget last year his numbers were identical to Backstrom's and he's a $6 million per year goalie. Scott Clemmensen has been very good in winning four of five since his knee surgery. |
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10. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS I love this goalie combo! Marc-Andre Fleury might be the most talented and technical goalie out there, but underrated by many and don't ask me how. Brent Johnson gives the Pens a chance to win every game he plays. He has an awesome glove hand and might be the best puck handling 'tender in the NHL right now. |
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11. DALLAS STARS Kari Lehtonen was off to an amazing start, and then the goalies dreaded groin injury pops up and it looks like he'll be gone for a while. Andrew Raycroft played very well in a few, but got touched up recently. Richard Bachman is an awesome story, has been amazing so far, and plays much bigger than his size. I have a feeling he's going to run with it until Kari returns. |
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12. EDMONTON OILERS Best start of Nikolai Khabibulin's career, the Oilers need him to keep it up. Devan Dubnyk has played well overall, but again it's tough to get into a groove and learn the NHL when you don't play consecutive games. |
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13. MONTREAL CANADIENS Carey Price is a workhorse and is bigger than many D-Men, can't fathom how bad the Habs would be without this young man. Peter Budaj can give them a chance to win when he plays; his best game was the OT win at Nashville. |
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14. BUFFALO SABRES Is Ryan Miller wearing a flashing sign that reads 'Hit Me' to opposing players or WHAAAAT? Jhonas Enroth has cooled off. Injuries to this team have had a huge impact on their recent poor record. |
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15. PHOENIX COYOTES Replacing the goalie (Ilya Bryzgalov) who was tied for an NHL-best 78 wins over the last two seasons seems tough to do, unless you have Mike Smith waiting to take over. Jason LaBarbera is good in his role as the backup. |
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16. NASHVILLE PREDATORS Pekka Rinne was on fire after his contract extension but has been more inconsistent in part due to the play of his team. This is partially on him for allowing sharp-angle goals we don't expect him to let in. Anders Lindback can play, he's on the radar of several GMs but I don't expect Bud Poile to move him. |
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17. CALGARY FLAMES Kipper brings his best effort and gives this team a sense of hope going into EVERY game. Leland Irving will finally get his chance. |
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18. NEW JERSEY DEVILS Martin Brodeur has had some good ones and some not so good ones. Johan Hedberg has been really good for them. This team is money in the shootout. |
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19. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS Major injuries to major players. You guys watch the HBO 24/7? Ilya is ... well ... a beauty! But still searching for his comfort zone with his new team. Remember he played in the Western Conference his whole career and is still trying to adjust to arenas and teams in the East. Sergei Bobrovsky is capable, but still very young. |
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20. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Don't look now! Ray Emery has been amazing in his last four games. If not for the 9-2 beatdown by the Oilers, his numbers would be excellent. Cory Crawford has been inconsistent and he better get his game back soon or Quenneville will keep going to Emery. |
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21. COLORADO AVALANCHE Semyon Varlamov is young and talented, needs to keep working. J. S. Gigeure has been excellent this year, brings a nice positive influence on this young team, too. |
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22. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS James Reimer picked up his first win since his concussion, which should boost his confidence. Jonas Gustavsson has had some really good games, needs to keep that going. |
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23. WINNIPEG JETS Ondrej Pavlec will battle on every shot and has played well, especially against many of the best teams. Chris Mason has been very good, liked his performance in home win against Carolina. |
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24. NEW YORK ISLANDERS Al Montoya has been good, needs to keep progressing. Evgeni Nabokov, Rick DiPietro, now Kevin Poulin. |
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25. CAROLINA HURRICANES Cam Ward was outstanding this week against the Leafs, but he can go another two or three gears. He's good enough to steal games for this team, but he hasn't so far this year. The backup position hasn't been fully addressed and this put lots of pressure on Ward. This has and could play a role in the Canes' playoff chances. See the teams at the top of this list and check where they are in the standings. |
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26. WASHINGTON CAPITALS The Caps still haven't defined themselves as a team. Tomas Vokoun hasn't looked like himself this year. Michal Neuvirth has struggled but I really like him as a young goalie. |
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27. ANAHEIM DUCKS Jonas Hiller can and needs to pick his game way up. He's been hurting the Ducks, he's so much better than he's played this season. BTW ... can't call out your team when you are letting in a soft one or two per game. Dan Ellis has played well, maybe needs to play a bit more often. |
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28. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING Dwayne Roloson has struggled this year. Mathieu Garon has played fairly well. This team needs better goaltending! |
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29. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Curtis Sanford has been AWESOME! Brought NHL-calibre confidence to this team. Steve Mason played well in his last start; sky's the limit for him but how good does he want to be? |
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30. OTTAWA SENATORS Craig Anderson has been excellent in several games this year. I've seen him carry his team in Colorado, he needs that same formula in the nation's capital. Alex Auld can play when called upon. |
Niklas Backstrom #32 of the Minnesota Wild makes a glove save in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche on November 17, 2011 at Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Avalanche 1-0. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Kevin Weekes
Veteran goaltender Kevin Weekes brings a wealth of NHL experience to his role as an analyst on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.
