| Team |
Average Ranking |
#1 Rankings |
Highest Ranking |
Lowest Ranking |
Standard Deviation |
Commentary |
| The Favourites |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 3.49 | 24 | 1 | 12 | 3.11 | The Penguins get a remarkable amount of respect for a fourth seed (matching Vancouver's tally of 24 top rankings from last year) but given that they finished fourth in the league overall without even having Crosby in the lineup for most of the year, perhaps it's not all that surprising... |
| Vancouver Canucks | 3.53 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 2.63 | The Canucks couldn't close the deal last year and are now without Daniel Sedin (I'm gonna predict for the duration of the playoffs) which blunts the esteem a President's Trophy winner and Canadian team would normally rate in the pool, but they clearly do still stand as a favourite, almost matching Pittsburgh's average ranking... |
| The Dark Horses |
| Boston Bruins | 4.24 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2.45 | The defending Cup champions again claim the second-highest number of #1 rankings, but this year they have the second-lowest standard deviation, meaning their impact on the pool may be signicantly less than last year, unless they can actually repeat... |
| New York Rangers | 4.57 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 3.00 | The Rangers topped the Eastern conference this year and were second in the league overall, but only come out fourth in average ranking, perhaps because of the fact they face the Senators in the first round and get a corresponding homer downgrade... |
| St. Louis Blues | 4.92 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 2.61 | The Blues seemed to me to come out of nowhere this year to finish third in the NHL, but they only get the fifth-highest average ranking, perhaps due to the lack of playoff experience... |
| The Longshots |
| Nashville Predators | 6.65 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3.24 | The Predators finally manage to get home ice in the first round, and are finally being taken seriously in the pool, with the sixth-highest average ranking... |
| New Jersey Devils | 8.18 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 2.57 | The Devils return to the playoffs as an enviable sixth seed facing a team that actually got fewer points during the season, and are correspondingly favoured to win in the first round, but with the third-lowest standard deviation and second-lowest highest ranking, clearly nobody expects them to go any farther than that... |
| Detroit Red Wings | 8.45 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3.48 | The Wings have the second-highest standard deviation this year, suggesting they will likely have an impact on the outcome of the pool one way or another... |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 8.57 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 3.35 | The Hawks are a difficult team to place this year (as indicated by the third-highest standard deviation) with key injuries and question marks yet a first-round opponent they actually finished ahead of, and of course plenty of recent playoff experience and success... |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 8.96 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 2.98 | Facing the pool-favourite Pens in the first round, most entries have the Flyers ranked in the bottom half, but a relatively small standard deviation (particularly given that they're one of only two teams to appear both at the top and bottom of entries) implies that most entries are hedging with them near the middle... |
| The Faint Hopes |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 10.53 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 3.17 | The Coyotes have yet to win a playoff series, so even though they are the third seed in the west, most entries have them ranked lower than their first-round opponent, Chicago... |
| Ottawa Senators | 12.02 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.28 | The Senators almost backed their way out of the playoffs, and finished last among playoff-bound teams, but get a healthy fan boost (including an explicit homeboy #1 ranking) to save them from the pool basement... |
| San Jose Sharks | 12.63 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 2.91 | The Sharks come into this year's playoffs as underdogs, so it'll be interesting to see whether that loosens them up and provides more playoff success than they're used to as favourites... |
| Florida Panthers | 12.65 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3.58 | The Panthers earn the distinction of this year's highest standard deviation, with plenty of very low rankings and a few high ones, which I tend to interpret as some people judging them on having earned the third seed in the east, and others judging them on having finished only 14th overall... |
| Washington Capitals | 13.10 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3.30 | After barely making it into the playoffs, and facing the defending champs in the opening round, combined with their history of playoff failures, Washington isn't getting much respect this year... |
| Los Angeles Kings | 13.53 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 2.22 | The Kings have the lowest average ranking and lowest standard deviation, implying very little faith in them making it past the Canucks... |
