NHL Power Rankings, Week 3: Surprising Avs Aim For No. 1 - SB Nation

SB Nation has released power rankings for week three of the NHL season. It took the Sabres three weeks to crack the top 10 but here the are at number nine.

4 months ago David Oleksy 6 comments 0 recs |

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Hmmmmmmmmm

The Capitals have played two more games than the Sabres, were 0-1-1 in those games and get to be ranked two spots higher? How does having a worse record in more games make you better? Oh, yeah…you’re a media darling team.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Oct 20, 2009 12:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As much as I would like to agree with you, I don’t think the Sabres are better then the Capitals.

"We want to win immediately. To say you're building is an incomplete sentence. ... You're building for a future coach and general manager."
-Marv Levy

by TEMSON on Oct 20, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think Vanek is as good as Alexander the Terrible...

…but I’ll take the rest of the Sabres over the rest of the Caps any day.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Oct 20, 2009 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even if I were to agree with that – you can’t just subtract the best player from a team and act as though it’s the same team. The Capitals are good because they have Ovechkin, and guys like Semin and Green help him out.

"We want to win immediately. To say you're building is an incomplete sentence. ... You're building for a future coach and general manager."
-Marv Levy

by TEMSON on Oct 20, 2009 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think you misunderstand me...

…I think the Capitals without Ovechkin are a worse team than the Sabres without Vanek. Take away the “best” players from both teams and the Sabres have not only an advantage but, in my opinion, an overwhelming advantage. The Sabres can win without Vanek. I don’t think the Caps can win anything without AO.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Oct 20, 2009 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I understand – but you admitted yourself that Vanek and Ovechkin are on different planets. Vanek is good, might be great. Ovechkin is probably the best player in the game.

In the end we’re not even really arguing over much – other then that I think you might be underestimating Ovechkin’s help a bit. The Capitals are a decent team even without AO. I think the only place where we have a clear advantage is in net. Everything else is kind of a wash – even if you take out Vanek and AO.

Roy, Connolly, Pominville, and Clark v. Backstrom, Knuble, Semin, and Morrison – neither side is overwhelmingly better than the other.

"We want to win immediately. To say you're building is an incomplete sentence. ... You're building for a future coach and general manager."
-Marv Levy

by TEMSON on Oct 21, 2009 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs