Week 10: Power Poll

Last Wednesday night in St. Paul the two best teams in the Western Conference faced off in a nationally televised contest.

You had the Chicago Blackhawks, who were second in the West with 40 points taking on the Minnesota Wild who leads the NHL with 43 points.

Chicago being near the top of the standings is a surprise to no one. They are only one season removed from being Stanley Cup champions have one of the best duos in the NHL in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. 

Minnesota on the other hand has been the surprise team of the NHL this season. Having changed coaches in the off season and trading away two of their better players in Brent Burns and Martin Havlat, most people thought at best the Wild would be a fringe playoff team on the outside looking in. Instead the Wild came into the game as the top team in the NHL.

While Minnesota came into the game with the best point total in the NHL, I was curious to see how they matched up against one of the elite teams. So far this season the Wild have gotten where they are by beating the teams they need to beat.

That's not a knock on what they have accomplished, two points is two points and they are a lot easier to get in October and November than they are in March or April.

But if you are going to be taken seriously as a Stanley Cup contender you need to be able to beat the teams like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Boston all who have recently won the Stanley Cup and figure to be in the mix this spring.

After watching the game on Wednesday I still don't know what kind of team Minnesota is.

Yes they lost to the Blackhawks in a shootout 3-2 and yes they got a point in the contest. The Wild were also held without a shot for the first seventeen minutes of the contest. It's hard to score goals when you don't have a shot on net.

But I have to give Minnesota credit as well. When they fell behind 2-0 in the second period they could have mailed it in. Instead the Wild fought back and scored two goals in two and a half minutes to tie the game. When Toews scored in the 3rd period Minnesota kept pressing until Mikko Koivu tied it with five minutes to play.

A few weeks ago a reader asked me how many teams did I think the Wild had a legit shot at beating in the playoffs. If you go by the top five teams in the West according to my Power Poll (Which you can read every Monday afternoon) I think the Wild would beat St. Louis and Dallas in a best of seven series.

Against Vancouver it depends whether it's Good Luongo or Bad Luongo in net. As for Detroit or Chicago, well let's just say Minnesota has a ways to go before being in their class.

Speaking of the Canucks, the Wild will get another shot at them tonight in Vancouver. In the meantime here is the Week 10 Power Poll with a little Christmas twist of what every NHL team wants for the holidays. 

1. Chicago                21-8-4     46 points
Christmas Wish: To stay on top as the best team in the NHL.

2. Boston                  21-9-1     43 points
Christmas Wish: To have more months like November where they went 12-0-1.

3. Detroit                  20-10-1     41 points
Christmas Wish: That Nicklas Lidstrom returns to play another season.

4. Minnesota            20-8-5     45 points
Christmas Wish: That the Wild can overcome their injuries and stay on top in the Northwest Division.

5. Philadelphia          20-8-3    43 points
Christmas Wish: A defenseman to join the team and pick up the minutes usually played by Chris Pronger.

6. Vancouver           19-11-2     40 points
Christmas Wish: That Roberto Luongo starts playing like he did in the 2010 Olympics for Team Canada.

7. St. Louis               19-9-4     42 points
Christmas Wish: That Matthew Hulsizer's purchase of the franchise goes through before the trade deadline.

8. Pittsburgh            18-11-4     40 points
Christmas Wish: That Sidney Crosby returns to full health and is free of concussion symptoms.

9. N.Y. Rangers       18-8-4     40 points
Christmas Wish: That they can take advantage of Pronger and Crosby being out with injuries and become the top team in the Atlantic Division.

10. New Jersey          18-13-1     37 points
Christmas Wish: That Zach Parise signs an extension and stays a Devil for many years to come.

11. Dallas                   18-12-1     37 points 
Christmas Wish: That their start to this season leads to a playoff berth instead of stumbling down the stretch last year and missing the playoffs. 

12. Florida                 18-9-6     42 points
Christmas Wish: That the new players on the Panthers roster can keep up this pace and end the longest playoff drought in the NHL. (11 seasons)

13. San Jose              17-10-3     37 points
Christmas Wish: That the Sharks can get over the hump and finally reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

14. Nashville               17-11-4     38 points
Christmas Wish: Contract extensions for Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.

15. Buffalo                 16-13-3     35 points
Christmas Wish: That Ville Leino starts playing like he did in the 2010 and 2011 playoffs for Philadelphia.

16. Toronto               16-13-3     35 points
Christmas Wish: That Phil Kessel can continue to lead the NHL in scoring (39 points) and leads the Maple Leafs to their first playoff berth in six seasons.

17. Washington          16-14-1     33 points
Christmas Wish: That they could go back to October when they started 7-0-0.

18. Phoenix                16-13-3     35 points
Christmas Wish: Somebody to buy the franchise and end the speculation of will they stay in the desert or will they move.

19. Winnipeg             15-13-4     34 points
Christmas Wish: You have the NHL back in Winnipeg, you don't need to make a wish.

20. Ottawa                 15-14-4     34 points
Christmas Wish: That Kyle Turris can reach his potential as the 3rd pick overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. A change of scenery can only help.

21. Colorado              15-17-1     31 points
Christmas Wish: That Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog can be to this generation of Avalanche fans what Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg was to the previous generation.

22. Los Angeles          14-14-4     32 points
Christmas Wish: That Darryl Sutter being hired as head coach gives the Kings the swift kick in the ass that this team needs.

23. Tampa Bay           14-16-2     30 points
Christmas Wish: A goaltender to come in and do what Dwayne Roloson did last year for the Lightning.

24. Edmonton             14-15-3     31 points
Christmas Wish: A number one defenseman so this team can take the next step.

25. Calgary                 14-15-4     32 points  
Christmas Wish: An NHL team to make an offer they can't refuse for Jarome Iginla so they can start rebuilding.

26. Montreal              13-13-7     33 points
Christmas Wish: A coach that can come in to restore the tradition of the Canadiens and lead them to their 25th Stanley Cup title. Bonus points if he can also speak French.

27. N.Y. Islanders       10-14-6     26 points
Christmas Wish: Some help for John Tavares, preferably a wing who can score.

28. Carolina        10-18-6    26 points
Christmas Wish: That they can turn things around without having to trade Eric Staal or Cam Ward.

29. Anaheim        9-18-5     23 points
Christmas Wish: That somebody other than the first line can start scoring goals for the Ducks.

30. Columbus        9-20-4    22 points
Christmas Wish: A reset to the 2011-2012 NHL season.