(3)
(last month's ranking in parenthesis)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Boston (7) Surprise of the NHL season
2. Pittsburgh (4) Starting to roll despite uncertainty in goal
3. N.Y. Rangers (8) Just fine without Jagr, Shanahan
4. Washington (6) Slowed slightly by Ovechkin personal woes
5. Montreal (1) Something missing in early going
6. New Jersey (3) Fighting for .500 without Brodeur
7. Philadelphia (2) Surging before dropping weekend pair
8. Carolina (10) Tough team to figure out
9. Buffalo (6) Some big scorers not scoring
10. N.Y. Islanders (15) Staying competitive without DiPietro
11. Ottawa (9) Auld has been excellent, team has not
12. Toronto (14) Burke era begins with home win over Flyers
13. Atlanta (11) No Boudreau Effect for rookie coach Anderson
14. Florida (13) Bouwmeester sweepstakes starting to heat up
15. Tampa Bay (12) Won 3-of-12 at home
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. San Jose (4) Seamless transition to McLellan as coach
2. Detroit (1) A little leakier on defence than expected
3. Vancouver (13) Yet to falter with Luongo sidelined
4. Minnesota (5) Gaborik's value starting to fade
5. Anaheim (2) Already less newsy with Burke gone
6. Calgary (6) Still strong at home, puzzling on road
7. Chicago (8) Probably the most entertaining team in NHL
8. L.A. (15) Vast improvement under Terry Murray
9. Edmonton (7) MacTavish watch is officially on
10. Nashville (9) League's most anonymous team
11. Columbus (12) Bumping along despite awful power play
12. Colorado (11) Lowest-scoring team in conference
13. St. Louis (14) Fourth-ranked power play in the NHL
14. Phoenix (10) Loss of Jokinen hurts
15. Dallas (3) No one saw this disaster coming
