THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

HELENE ELLIOTT’S NHL RANKINGS AND COMMENTS:

*--* Rk. Team (Rec.) Comment 1 DETROIT (26-12-4-1) Cujo, Legace sail through goaltending “crisis” with Hasek hurt. 2 PHILADELPHIA (20-7-9-4) Losing Primeau (broken thumb) will hurt offense, physical game. 3 TORONTO (22-8-8-3) Klee, a fine pickup, helping offense and defense. 4 VANCOUVER (22-11-6-2) Sedin twins revive, but Naslund, Bertuzzi still carry scoring load. 5 OTTAWA (19-10-5-3) Gradually improving, as the best teams do, and making 7-0-2 run. 6 COLORADO (20-10-7-1) Sakic (broken jaw), Kariya (wrist) expected back this week. 7 N.Y. ISLANDERS (19-16-2-1) No Snow job in 6-1-1 resurgence. 8 SAN JOSE (17-10-11-3) Sharks learned how to score during 7-1-1 surge. 9 NEW JERSEY (20-8-9-1) Worn down by road-heavy schedule, but fundamentally sound. 10 ST. LOUIS (22-9-5-1) Goaltending becomes iffy in 2-4-2 slide. Os not good enough? 11 CALGARY (20-12-3-3) McLennan must stand tall while Kiprusoff (sprained knee) heals. 12 BOSTON (15-11-9-4) Thornton-Knuble-Murray line separated, with mixed results. 13 PHOENIX (14-12-11-2) Boucher reborn as Georges Vezina: three consecutive shutouts. 14 MONTREAL (18-15-5-2) Souray, rookie Ryder provide surprising scoring punch. 15 N.Y. RANGERS (16-15-5-3) Markkanen, Dunham inconsistent and costing team points. 16 NASHVILLE (18-15-4-2) Legwand challenged by coach to step up, and does. 17 ATLANTA (19-16-3-2) Defense is Thrashers’ downfall in four-game winless skid. 18 DALLAS (17-17-8-0) Not generating much offense, but Turco steadier. 19 KINGS (16-13-6-4) Sliding out of playoffs (0-2-5-1). Need smart muscle on defense. 20 TAMPA BAY (16-14-6-1) Tortorella-Lecavalier feud one of many problems. 21 MINNESOTA (14-16-11-0) Defense is solid, but offense lagging badly in 0-4-3 slide. 22 BUFFALO (16-19-3-1) Satan (six goals in last five) picks up pace. 23 EDMONTON 15-17-7-1 Salo, Smyth keep Oilers in West scramble. 24 FLORIDA (13-17-9-2) Horton, Weiss lead corps of promising youngsters. 25 CHICAGO (10-20-7-4) Zhamnov’s return helps, but team is still a mess. 26 DUCKS (13-17-5-5) It’s officially time for concern. Where’d the playoff magic go? 27 CAROLINA (12-17-8-2) Laviolette needs miracles with low-scoring Hurricanes. 28 WASHINGTON (11-25-4-1) No offense, no one can afford to take on Jagr, no hope. 29 COLUMBUS (10-22-4-3) Gallant inherits 10% power play, feeble offense after Nash. Good luck. 30 PITTSBURGH (9-23-5-3) How many games until the lockout?

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