Heading over to the main page today, you’ll find that our wonderful overlords have posted the SB Nation Hockey preseason power rankings. These rankings were compiled by a vote of SB Nation hockey writers from each conference (East voted for East, and West for West). Needless to say, I disagree with many of the fellows as to where Detroit belongs on this list. Here’s where I had them ranked (although Casey’s the one who did the voting):
15. Edmonton
14. Columbus
13. Dallas
12. Minnesota
11. Anaheim
10. Colorado
9. St. Louis
8. Calgary
7. Phoenix
6. Nashville
5. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
3. San Jose
2. Vancouver
1. Detroit
My rankings don’t differ too drastically, but here are the basics:
Detroit is obviously the best team in the league. This is fact, and it’s irrefutable. Trying to convince me that Detroit isn’t #1 is like trying to tell me gravity isn’t a thing.. I have Vancouver in front of San Jose because despite how much crap I give Luongo and how much I’m still not convinced Vancouver has a true top-pairing among their two dozen 2nd-pair caliber defensemen, they’re still better everywhere on the ice than San Jose. Chicago rides high on the “well they won the cup last year, so give them some credit” bandwagon, which is fitting for them, but I feel like I’m being generous even giving them fourth. Phoenix and St. Louis drop for basically the same reason, I’m just not convinced yet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more worried about the Blues now than I have been in a few seasons, but I need to see that all of their parts can work together before I start shaking in my boots. Colorado got a big boost from Craig Anderson last year, but I’m expecting a drop-off in his performance and not enough of an increase in their many, many young guys’ production to cover that. Nashville will always be a criminally underrated team. I’m not sure how well they’ll do now that they have more than two forwards who can score goals, but if Barry Trotz’s missing neck has anything to say about it, it will say that Nashville will be a better team. At least we can all agree that Edmonton, Columbus, and Dallas all suck.
So there’s my thoughts; let me know what you think. We’re opening up the voting to you, the Winging It In Motown crowd to tell us who your Western Conference #1-15 squads are. Check after the jump for the voting form. We’ll tally the votes and let them know what you, the fans think.
