Preds on the prowl
The Hockey News
Lots will be made in the season’s final week about teams like St. Louis, Columbus and Florida trying to make either their first playoff appearance in a long time or, in the Jackets’ case, ever.
Given all the organization has endured, maybe more attention should be directed at the fact the Nashville Predators have a good chance to make their fifth consecutive post-season appearance.
Through unstable ownership, salary dumps and Alexander Radulov’s stunning jump to the Kontinental League last summer, coach Barry Trotz once again has his disciplined team steered toward the post-season.
Nashville has yet to win a playoff round and likely won’t do it this year, either, but still, on a team with no real stars, give Trotz and GM David Poile credit for finding a way to keep this thing consistently on the rails.
RK. | TEAM | LW | OVERALL | L10 | THE SCOOP |
1 | 5 | 51-17-10 | 8-1-1 | An emotional week for Tim Thomas, who signed a new deal and tried to seal Sean Avery's fate | |
2 | 1 | 44-28-7 | 8-1-1 | Eric Staal will be going head-to-head with brother Jordan if Canes play Pittsburgh in Round 1 | |
3 | 4 | 52-16-11 | 7-2-1 | Hoping a few of their foot soldiers will recover from injuries in time for the playoffs | |
4 | 2 | 42-28-9 | 6-2-2 | Sidney Crosby drops the gloves after Evgeni Malkin gets crunched; I'm sure Malkin would do the same for him | |
5 | 6 | 50-19-9 | 6-4-0 | Wings are the only team in the league that averages more than 35 shots per game | |
6 | 7 | 49-26-4 | 3-6-1 | Devils' 49 wins equals the all-time franchise mark | |
7 | 10 | 48-23-8 | 6-2-2 | Crazy how much of a forgotten man Michael Nylander has become | |
8 | 3 | 42-27-10 | 5-4-1 | Based on this week's schedule, Northwest is Vancouver's to lose | |
9 | 12 | 41-33-6 | 8-2-0 | Anaheim has four days off to rest up for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, when it will try to secure a playoff berth | |
10 | 15 | 43-24-11 | 6-2-2 | Nikolai Khabibulin has allowed just two goals in his past three games | |
11 | 11 | 44-28-6 | 4-6-0 | Blueline is very banged up right now | |
12 | 8 | 38-31-10 | 6-2-2 | What a finish for David Backes, who has 13 goals in his past 16 contests | |
13 | 14 | 42-25-11 | 5-4-1 | Scott Hartnell hits the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career and still hasn't cut his hair | |
14 | 9 | 39-32-8 | 5-2-3 | Could really use a power play boost over the last week | |
15 | 13 | 40-29-10 | 4-2-4 | Rick Nash doing his part with nine points in his past six games | |
16 | 21 | 41-27-10 | 5-3-2 | Uniting Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev just may save Montreal's season | |
17 | 17 | 39-29-11 | 5-4-1 | We find out this week whether keeping Jay Bouwmeester was worth it | |
18 | 20 | 37-33-9 | 5-4-1 | GM Doug Risebrough has one tough task figuring out what to do with Marian Gaborik, who's got 10 goals in 14 games | |
19 | 22 | 37-33-9 | 4-6-0 | Does anybody deserve a vacation more than Dwayne Roloson? | |
20 | 19 | 40-30-9 | 5-4-1 | Worst 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio of any team in the playoff hunt | |
21 | 18 | 38-31-9 | 4-4-2 | Looks like two straight years out of the playoffs | |
22 | 16 | 34-34-10 | 6-4-0 | Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson all on pace for their lowest point totals since the lockout | |
23 | 27 | 34-38-7 | 6-3-1 | It's a one-man show in Phoenix, where Shane Doan has 27 more points than the Coyotes' No. 2 scorer, Matthew Lombardi | |
24 | 23 | 34-39-6 | 6-4-0 | A recent run of 11 wins over 14 games marked the best stretch in franchise history | |
25 | 29 | 35-34-10 | 2-6-2 | Will miss the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. What a disaster 2008-09 has been in Dallas | |
26 | 25 | 32-35-11 | 3-6-1 | Team might not be winning much, but Jonathan Quick continues to make a pitch for the No. 1 job entering next year | |
27 | 24 | 32-34-13 | 5-5-0 | Martin Gerber's play of late won't help him land a contract for next year | |
28 | 26 | 26-43-9 | 3-6-1 | Unbelievable how many injuries this team has right now | |
29 | 30 | 32-44-2 | 2-7-1 | Sunday's 4-1 win over the Canucks marked the first time in 10 games Colorado scored more than two goals in a game | |
30 | 28 | 24-37-18 | 1-5-4 | Vinny officially shuts 'er down to repair his wrist |
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
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