K-Mart's NHL Top 5, Bottom 5

Top Five, Bottom Five

So this is something new I'm trying since football is done for the year. Each week I will break down the five NHL teams that had the best week and the five that had the worst. I'm not going to focus on record alone here, injuries and suspensions factor in too. So here are my top five, bottom five for the week of January 28^th to February 3^rd.

Top Five (Weekly record in parentheses):

1. New York Rangers (3-1)- The Rangers started off the week in last place in the Atlantic, but following a loss to Carolina on Tuesday, they reeled off three straight wins to put themselves back in the thick of things in their division. The fact that two of the wins were against division rivals Philadelphia and New Jersey helped them be the top team of the week.

2. Detroit Redwings (3-0)- The Redwings are winning at an amazing pace this year. Their three wins this week has them sitting pretty atop the Central with a 40-10-4 record. They have an amazing 25 point lead in the division over Nashville and it is just a matter of weeks before the Wings wrap up another division title.

3. Dallas Stars (3-0)-The Stars won all three games this week and finished two points ahead of San Jose for the division lead.

4. Atlanta Thrashers (3-0)- The Thrashers showed that they don't need Ilya Kovalchuk to win games as they managed to win all three games, despite losing him during the game against Pittsburgh last weekend. Their three wins also moved them into a tie for first in the Southeast division.

5. Philadelphia Flyers (2-1)- It would be out of character for me to leave the Flyers off the list this week. The Flyers only went 2-1, but they gained ground on every team in the Atlantic division except the N.Y. Rangers and they have at least a game in hand on every team in the league except Buffalo and St. Louis. They are in prime position to win the division after their horrible year last year. There are also strong rumors that Peter Forsberg will return to the Flyers soon.

Bottom Five:

5. New Jersey Devils (1-2)- The Devils saved a lost week with a victory against Los Angeles on Saturday, but they lost both games they had against division foes. In the league's best division, every point is important, and the Devils came out flat in both games. They dropped from a tie for first, to third place in the division, but have a chance to redeem themselves against Pittsburgh tonight.

4. Anaheim Ducks (0-3)- The Ducks managed just one goal this week in three games and haven't scored in 150 minutes and 20 seconds. They suffered back to back shutouts to St. Louis and Philadelphia despite the fact that Teemu Selanne has returned to the ice, giving the Ducks essentially the same roster they had last year when they won the Stanley Cup.

3. Vancouver Canucks (0-3)- The Canucks managed to go winless this past week, despite playing two games against two of the worst teams in the league. They lost all three games by a score of 4-3 and the loss to Florida was in a shootout so they managed to salvage one point out of the week. Despite their futility, the Canucks are only five points out of first place in the Northwest division .

2. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2)- In the midst of yet another disappointing week, the Leafs also lost impact center Nik Antropov for three games because he threw his stick at a referee in frustration. I would be frustrated too, after all, it was his penalty that gave Carolina an overtime power play goal.

1. New York Islanders (0-3)- An 0-3 week after the All Star break dropped the Islanders 9 points behind division leading Philadelphia and has them on the outside looking in for the playoff race which is good enough to give them the nod for worst team of the week. They've also played more games than every team but the N.Y. Rangers in the Atlantic division. They can't have too many more weeks like this if they want to return to the playoffs again this year.