THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

HELENE ELLIOTT’S NHL RANKINGS AND COMMENTS:

*--* Rk. Team (Rec.) Comment 1 TORONTO (17-6-5-3) Veterans Renberg, Sundin fuel 10-0-0-1 surge. 2 NEW JERSEY (16-5-7-0) Brodeur (1.53, .933, 7 shutouts) shows how it’s done. 3 PHILADELPHIA (17-4-8-1) Fine defense in 13-2-5 run, but Flyers can’t beat Devils. 4 ST. LOUIS (18-6-2-1) Tkachuk, Demitra, Weight behind 7-1-2 push. 5 COLORADO (16-7-5-1) Forsberg (groin), Kariya (wrist) not missed in 4-0-4 streak. 6 DETROIT (19-10-3-1) Laughing off injuries and leading NHL with 116 goals. 7 VANCOUVER (16-7-5-2) Naslund scores seven in 4-1-3 surge. 8 CALGARY (14-9-2-3) Kiprusoff’s goaltending, Sutter’s coaching a good combo. 9 PHOENIX (10-11-8-1) Burke weathers barrages as Coyotes go 4-2-3. 10 ATLANTA (16-12-3-1) Dafoe wins three while Nurminen rests, Kovalchuk scores. 11 SAN JOSE (10-8-10-2) Nabokov, Toskala winning despite little offensive support. 12 KINGS (15-11-1-3) No fault of Huet (1.93, .919) they’ve won one of last four. 13 MONTREAL (14-13-3-1) Koivu, Zednik, Perreault lead feeble offense. 14 BOSTON (13-6-7-4) Thornton, Murray carrying offensive burden alone. 15 OTTAWA (13-10-3-3) Should be dominating but offense often sputters. 16 NASHVILLE (14-12-2-0) Success (10-4-1) result of tenacity and Vokoun’s acrobatics. 17 N.Y. ISLANDERS (12-13-2-1) Three wins and OT loss saved Milbury’s job. 18 MINNESOTA (12-14-5-0) Scoring spree: Eight goals in last two games. 19 N.Y. RANGERS (11-12-5-2) Offense sags in 2-5 skid. And still no Jagr deal in sight. 20 EDMONTON (12-13-5-0) Hoping 1-0-2 streak is start of something bigger. 21 FLORIDA (10-15-6-1) One win in last nine. Dudley makes little progress. 22 DALLAS (12-15-4-0) Held to one goal or shut out in each of last seven (1-5-1) 23 TAMPA BAY (13-9-4-1) Bubble bursting fast. Defense collapses in 2-7-2 skid. 24 BUFFALO (12-16-2-1) Satan rumored on trade block as slump hits 1-6. 25 CAROLINA (8-12-8-2) Scoring seven goals in last six gets Maurice fired. 26 DUCKS (10-12-4-5) Giguere winless since Nov. 16, but he gets little help. 27 PITTSBURGH (7-16-4-2) Sending Fleury to world juniors a smart move. 28 WASHINGTON (9-19-1-1) Hanlon takes on good-cop role after Cassidy’s firing. 29 CHICAGO (7-15-6-3) Glow from OT win over Red Wings fleeting. 30 COLUMBUS (8-15-4-2) Zherdev, Nash provide hope for distant future.

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