| Team |
Average Ranking |
#1 Rankings |
Highest Ranking |
Lowest Ranking |
Standard Deviation |
Commentary |
| The Favourites |
| Boston Bruins | 3.12 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 2.18 | The Bruins take the place of last year's Habs atop the rankings, and with the smallest standard deviation, you have to consider them favoured fairly heavily... |
| San Jose Sharks | 3.15 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 2.21 | Like last year, the Sharks garnered the most #1 rankings and yet didn't get the highest average ranking... |
| Detroit Red Wings | 4.18 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 2.98 | Despite winning it all last year and four of the last twelve years, and being the last team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, the Wings only stand third in average ranking and number of #1 rankings... |
| The Dark Horses |
| Washington Capitals | 4.88 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 2.76 | Ovechkin and company did impress this season, but many remain skeptical that the Caps can overcome their history of playoff disappointments... |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 5.36 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 2.53 | The Pens may still have a few holes, but I was surprised that their average ranking actually worsened despite a maturing roster and making last year's finals... |
| Vancouver Canucks | 5.94 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 3.74 | The Canucks are a popular sentimental favourite, and given their strong second half, acquisition of Sundin, and strong goaltender, probably this year's best chance to bring the Cup back to Canada...with the largest standard deviation this year, a lot of entries will likely live or die based on their performance... |
| The Longshots |
| New Jersey Devils | 7.97 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3.37 | With the second-largest standard deviation (they've had the largest the last two years) there again appears to be little consensus on the Devils... |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 8.52 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 3.16 | The 'Canes strong finish to the season has given them the closest average ranking to their first-round opponents, making this a series to watch... |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 8.70 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.33 | It's been a long walk in the wilderness, but the Hawks have finally returned to the postseason with gusto, much to Jon's delight... |
| Calgary Flames | 9.58 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3.25 | Much has been made of the Flames' injury problems and disappointing finish of the season, but Kipper and Iggy and company have a history of overachieving in the playoffs, so there are some entries picking them to last a round or two (or even three)... |
| The Faint Hopes |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 10.94 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 2.41 | This year's Flyer stats are remarkably similar to last year's, seeing the majority of entries again hedging with them in the third quartile... |
| St. Louis Blues | 11.52 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 3.07 | The Blues storm into the playoffs with the league's strongest second half, climbing from last place in the West to claim the sixth seed, but apparently everyone thinks they'll run out of gas, with no one giving them credit for anything more than a first-round win... |
| New York Rangers | 12.39 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 2.71 | Even those who ranked the Rangers in the top half hedged by ranking the Caps very close behind (except for Erin, whose Ranger-fan cred is solid)... |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 13.06 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 3.00 | It appears that few people think Columbus can overcome the defending champ Wings in their first-ever postseason series... |
| Anaheim Ducks | 13.09 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 2.54 | Despite having won the Cup just two years ago, the Ducks have been given little chance of smiting the President's trophy-winning Sharks in the first round... |
| Montreal Canadiens | 13.61 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.35 | More than half of the entries have Montreal ranked either 15 or 16, so aside from Suzanne's brave contrarian (and probably homer) entry, there is little faith in this year's Habs...then again, they haven't won yet this decade, so they are due... |
