#31 Philadelphia Flyers (17-23-6, -34, LW: 30)
#30 Chicago Blackhawks (16-23-9, -37, LW: 25)
A month ago the Blackhawks were dead last in the rankings. While they haven’t exactly shot up to the top, they have shown vast improvement. A series of moves have made the Blackhawks younger and the early results have been positive, despite tonight’s result. They won’t be in the playoffs this season, but they won’t be out for too long, even if the stars of their run of Cups will be gone.
#29 Detroit Red Wings (17-23-7, -27, LW: 29)
#28 Anaheim Ducks (19-18-9, -28, LW: 28)
#27 Ottawa Senators (17-24-5, -35, LW: 31)
#26 Florida Panthers (17-19-8, -22, LW: 20)
#25 New York Rangers (18-20-7, -31, LW: 26)
#24 Los Angeles Kings (18-25-3, -31, LW: 27)
#23 Buffalo Sabres (23-17-6, -4, LW: 18)
#22 Edmonton Oilers (22-21-3, -13, LW: 22)
#21 Colorado Avalanche (21-17-8, +10, LW: 17)
#20 New Jersey Devils (18-20-7, -17, LW: 19)
#19 Arizona Coyotes (20-22-3, -14, LW: 24)
#18 Vancouver Canucks (21-21-5, -12, LW: 23)
#17 Minnesota Wild (22-20-3, -4, LW: 13)
#16 Dallas Stars (23-19-4, -1, LW: 14)
#15 St. Louis Blues (20-20-4, -10, LW: 21)
#14 Montreal Canadiens (25-17-5, 0, LW: 16)
#13 Carolina Hurricanes (22-18-5, -7, LW: 15)
#12 Toronto Maple Leafs (28-15-2, +33, LW: 7)
#11 Nashville Predators (27-16-4, +23, LW: 9)
#10 Washington Capitals (27-13-5, +23, LW: 12)
Normally a channel flipper, I was glued to Tuesday night’s Flyers/Capitals game. The Flyers outplayed the defending Cup champs for the first 25 minutes of the game. Then, with the score tied at 1-1, the Capitals showed why they are as dangerous as any team in the league. First, T.J. Oshie deflected a Lars Eller shot into the net with 10:41 left to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. Just two minutes later a bad turnover at the blue line by the Flyers led to 22-year old Jakub Vrana scoring on a breakaway and suddenly it was 3-1. Then with just over four minutes left in the period and about 20 seconds left on the power play Vrana got his second goal as his pass attempt to Ovechkin hit the Flyers net minder’s pad and slid into the net. Game over, thanks for coming, be sure to tip your waiter. In hockey and basketball it is very tough to keep a good offense down for long.
#9 Boston Bruins (26-15-5, +14, LW: 6)
#8 Columbus Blue Jackets (27-15-3, +9, LW: 11)
I know I just wrote about them last week, but a couple of players made news this week. At the beginning of the week Artemi Panarin was offered a lifetime supply of vodkaby High Bank Distillery to re-sign with the Blue Jackets. Then on Thursday Sergei Bobrovsky was suspended one gamefor an “internal matter”. Now, that matter came after he was pulled Tuesday night during a 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay. To be honest, losing to Tampa Bay is just routine at this point (they have lost just 10 times all season), but for a team that is begging for success beyond a playoff berth, they need the head of their two-time Vezina Trophy winner screwed on right. Both of the aforementioned players are free agents at season’s end and for someone who despises the business end of sports when the games are going on I hope the Jackets get this all behind them in time for April. Somehow I think Tortorella will take care of things.
#7 New York Islanders (25-15-4, +17, LW: 5)
#6 Pittsburgh Penguins (25-14-6, +29, LW: 3)
#5 Winnipeg Jets (29-14-2, +28, LW: 10)
#4 Vegas Golden Knights (28-16-4, +19, LW: 2)
#3 San Jose Sharks (27-13-7, +26, LW: 8)
#2 Calgary Flames (30-13-4, +40, LW: 4)
#1 Tampa Bay Lightning (35-9-2, +56, LW: 1)
The Blue Jackets came into NHL existence in 2000 as the league was rapidly expanding*. Two years later in the Entry Draft they took a teenager from Brampton, Ontario named Rick Nash. It didn’t take long for him to have an impact as he scored 27:35 into his debut as the Blue Jackets won their 2002 opener 2-1 over the Blackhawks. That season he finished third in the Calder Trophy voting (Rookie of the Year). The next season he made his first All-Star team. It took a few seasons, but in 2009 the Blue Jackets finally reached the playoffs. It would be the only time they reached the postseason with him as he was traded after the 2012 season to the New York Rangers. In 2014 he helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years. But injuries – most notably concussions – started to mount up. On St. Patrick’s Day of last year he took a shot to the head and his regular season was done. He came back in the playoffs but registered just five points in 12 games for the Bruins. He hadn’t played at all this season, citing lingering concussion symptoms. On Thursday Nash retired, deciding not to risk further injury or brain damage.
*-Just 10 years earlier the league was at 21 teams; by 2020 they will be at 32 teams.
This has been a Columbus-centric column this week, but in a way it needs to be. With two current players holding a bulk of the team’s postseason hopes in their hands, it’s important to remember that Rick Nash was the Blue Jackets first star, the guy who gave the franchise credibility. He hasn’t played for the Blue Jackets in seven years, but remains the franchise’s all-time leader in Games, Goals (Total, Even Strength, Power Play, and Short Handed for that matter), Assists, Points, Goals Created, Game Winners, and is second in Point Shares*. After he was traded it took three years to replacehim as captain.
*-I had a formula to create a different version of Point Shares several years ago and plan to recreate it again, based on the better information we have. Stay tuned.
The Blue Jackets are only 19 years old with future playoff success hopefully on the horizon. But a moment like this needs to be remembered. It’s a safe bet that Rick Nash’s #61 will be the first hanging for a Blue Jackets’ player at Nationwide Arena. He was the stability the fledgling franchise needed in its early years and it’s a shame to see the young man leaving the sport at the age of 34.