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Who's Hot & Who's Not

March 10, 2013, 2:52 PM ET [5 Comments]
Julie Robenhymer
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Now that we are officially half way through the season and have just 24 days until the trade deadline, Let's take a look at who's hot and who's not in the NHL.

We have several teams that have been rather dominate as of late. The Chicago Blackhawks, of course, who are 21-1-3 and host Edmonton later today. The Avalanche managed to had them their first loss of the season on Friday night, but I think it's highly doubtful they'd lose two in a row and think they could easily start a new streak tonight, especially since the Oilers are ice cold right now and are taking up residence in the Western Conference basement.

Anaheim continues to roll along as they have lost just three games all season. The Blackhawks are making so much noise in the West that it seems no one is even paying attention to the Ducks, but they currently lead the Pacific Division by nine points and have a firm grasp on that #2 spot in the Western Conference. Also flying under the radar are the Boston Bruins, who have played the fewest games in the league. They are one point behind the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens, but have three games in hand and have lost only three games so far this season. They are on fire.

The Penguins have also been able to create some separation in the Atlantic Division as they've gone 9-3 in their past 12 games. That said, they've also shown various areas of weakness as most of their games have been decided by one goal or one plus an empty netter. While their record says they've been dominating, their performance says they've been lucky.

In the plugging along category of hot NHL teams, we've got Ottawa and LA who have both just been super impressive as of late as they continue to work their way up the standings due in large part to outstanding performances on home ice. Ottawa continues to have the best defense in the league while LA is one of the best 5-on-5. Ottawa has an opportunity to make up even more ground as they play Montreal and Boston this week. LA has the same opportunity as they play the Coyotes and Sharks, who are tied at 27 and just one point behind the Kings, twice this week.

In the climbing out of the Conference Basement department we have several teams giving their best efforts as Winnipeg, Washington, Minnesota and Columbus have managed to put together impressive records the past two weeks. There is still a lot of work to be done in order to secure a playoff spot, but they've at least improved their chances and, if they can keep it going, they'll find themselves in a good position to do so.

There are a plethora of teams that are presently luke warm including Toronto, the Rangers, Vancouver, St Louis, San Jose, Detroit and Phoenix. They're just treading water. They win a couple then lose a couple They're still in the race, but they're not gaining any ground. They could all benefit by stringing a few Ws together.

Now for the sad part of this blog, the teams that have put on their parkas and gotten their hand warmers out. New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Nashville and Philadelphia are slowly seeing their hopes for the playoffs slip away. They have three weeks to turn it around. If things don't change by then, these teams that all had playoffs written all over them at the start of the season will find themselves scooping up draft picks and prospects Come April 3rd.

Buffalo, Florida and Edmonton are official frontrunners for the Seth Jones Sweepstakes. All three teams started the season with much higher expectations, but injuries and poor play have proven to be a deadly combination in this shortened season as there's just not enough time or games to recover from them. They're technically not out of the race just yet, but it would require a heroic effort and I'm just don't think they've got it in them.

Lots of good games on the schedule today and lots of opportunity for teams to leapfrog up the standings. It's crazy to think that with a win today against Detroit, the Blue Jackets who have spent the past month as the worst team in the NHL could be just three points out of a playoff spot! This is why they play the games…enjoy!!

Julie
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