2013 NHL Progress Report – Through the 1st Third of the Season
For most teams in the NHL, they have completed about a third of their NHL season. The Hockey Fanatic takes a look at top team in the NHL through the first 25-30 games of the NHL season. Before we look at the top teams, lets take a look at which teams have been the most disappointing thus far.
Top 5 Disappointing NHL Teams in 2013-14
#5. Buffalo Sabres – currently sitting with the worst record in the entire league. The Sabres cleaned house from a management perspective bringing in former Sabre Pat LaFontaine, but the team continues to struggle. Will Ryan Miller continue to be a Sabre beyond the trade deadline? Only time will tell.
#4. New York Islanders – after a surprising season last year, the Isles have a lot of young talent but have not had the start their fans hoped for. The Islanders currently sit in second last position overall and have but nine wins thus far.
#3. New York Rangers – the other team from New York has not fared much better with 15 wins 15 losses and one shoot out loss at the time of this writing the Rangers were expected to be much better with the addition of coach AV. Goaltending has been an issue early on yet the Rangers just signed Henrik Lundqvist to a long term deal.
#2. Philadelphia Flyers – how is goaltending still an issue for these guys? Claude Giroux have a horrible start and this team is just not living up to expectations. We thought that they would have been much better at this point of the season. The inability to score with consistency has hurt this franchise.
#1. Edmonton Oilers – a horrendous start, goaltending issues, defensive issues, inconsistency with scoring. Dallas Eakins systems are just not working as the Oilers are worse than previous years if you can believe that. Having missed the playoffs for a franchise record seven straight seasons, the Oilers were out of the playoffs five weeks into this NHL season. Management needs to go if this team is to turn it around. Fans are starting to vacate and are tired of this losing ways. To boot GM Craig McTavish goes and trades the teams best defenseman Laddy Smid to provincial rivals Calgary Flames. WTF?
Best of the NHL – Top NHL Teams Through December
Here is a look at the top teams 1 through 30 in the NHL thus far. Surprises include the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning.
| Rank | Team | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| 1 | Chicago | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 51 | 129 | 93 |
| 2 | Anaheim | 34 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 49 | 108 | 87 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 33 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 93 | 65 |
| 4 | Boston | 32 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 46 | 90 | 64 |
| 5 | San Jose | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 46 | 106 | 79 |
| 6 | St. Louis | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 45 | 106 | 70 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh | 33 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 45 | 101 | 73 |
| 8 | Vancouver | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 43 | 92 | 81 |
| 9 | Colorado | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 42 | 87 | 71 |
| 10 | Phoenix | 31 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 41 | 103 | 97 |
| 11 | Montreal | 33 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 41 | 86 | 73 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 34 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 41 | 79 | 80 |
| 13 | Tampa Bay | 31 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 39 | 87 | 77 |
| 14 | Detroit | 33 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 39 | 88 | 87 |
| 15 | Washington | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 37 | 100 | 93 |
| 16 | Dallas | 31 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 35 | 90 | 93 |
| 17 | Toronto | 33 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 35 | 90 | 96 |
| 18 | Nashville | 32 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 33 | 74 | 90 |
| 19 | Carolina | 33 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 33 | 76 | 93 |
| 20 | Winnipeg | 34 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 33 | 90 | 100 |
| 21 | Ottawa | 34 | 13 | 15 | 6 | 32 | 96 | 111 |
| 22 | Columbus | 32 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 31 | 82 | 88 |
| 23 | Philadelphia | 32 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 31 | 72 | 86 |
| 24 | NY Rangers | 33 | 15 | 17 | 1 | 31 | 72 | 88 |
| 25 | Calgary | 32 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 30 | 83 | 102 |
| 26 | New Jersey | 33 | 12 | 15 | 6 | 30 | 75 | 85 |
| 27 | Florida | 33 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 27 | 76 | 108 |
| 28 | Edmonton | 34 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 25 | 91 | 117 |
| 29 | NY Islanders | 33 | 9 | 19 | 5 | 23 | 83 | 117 |
| 30 | Buffalo | 33 | 7 | 23 | 3 | 17 | 55 | 96 |
