It’s an Election Day edition of Waldo’s Power Rankings. Not much for thoughts this week; it’s been busy.

1.            San Jose            10-2-0 (3-0-0)            Beat Pittsburgh and Detroit.

2.            Detroit            8-2-2 (1-1-1)                        Three road games, two losses.

3.            Montreal            8-1-1 (3-0-0)                        Continue to take care of business.

4.            Buffalo            8-2-2 (2-1-0)                        Both wins were shutouts.

5.            Minnesota            7-2-1 (1-2-0)                        Injuries are mounting.

6.            NY Rangers            10-3-1 (1-1-0)            Beat Atlanta, Lost to Toronto.

7.            New Jersey            6-3-2 (1-1-1)                        Brodeur’s out 3-4 months. Ouch!

8.            Anaheim            7-5-1 (2-0-1)                        Split two OT games, plus a win against Calgary.

9.            Carolina            6-3-2 (2-1-1)                        Wins against the Blues and Leafs.

10.            Boston                        6-3-3 (2-1-0)                        Lost to a surging Flames team.

11.            Edmonton            6-4-1 (2-1-0)                        Starting to turn things around on a 7 game road trip.

12.            Pittsburgh            6-4-2 (1-2-0)                        Lost to San Jose and Phoenix.

13.            Calgary            7-4-1 (2-1-0)                        All three games decided by a 3-2 score.

14.            Chicago            6-3-3 (3-0-0)                        Starting to look like the team some expected them to be.

15.            Toronto            5-4-3 (2-2-0)                        Beat NJ and the Rangers, but lost at home to TB.

16.            Vancouver            6-6-0 (2-2-0)                        Win in Anaheim before a loss to Detroit.

17.            Colorado            5-7-0 (0-4-0)                        Lost 3, Won 5, Lost 4.

18.            St Louis            5-5-0 (0-2-0)                        Losses to good teams in Pitt and Carolina.

19.            Washington            5-4-1 (1-1-0)                        Split games between Nashville and Buffalo.

20.            Florida            4-6-1 (0-2-1)                        Lost to two teams that aren’t very good.

21.            Nashville            6-4-1 (2-0-1)                        Two respectable wins and a shootout loss.

22.            Philadelphia            4-4-3 (2-1-0)                        Beat teams 29 and 30 in this weeks rankings.

23.            Tampa Bay            4-3-3 (3-0-0)                        The lightning are suddenly winning.

24.            Phoenix            4-5-0 (1-1-0)                        Beat the penguins, lost to the Wild.

25.            Los Angeles            3-6-1 (0-2-0)                        Two losses to the NW Division.

26.            Ottawa            4-5-2 (1-0-1)                        Win against the Panthers, Lose to the Lightning.

27.            Columbus            4-6-2 (1-0-2)                        Dropped two games in OT.

28.            Dallas                        4-6-2 (1-2-0)                        Beat a good Wild team, then lost twice on the road.

29.            Atlanta            3-7-2 (1-3-0)                        A win against Florida keeps them out of the basement.

30.            NY Islanders            3-7-1 (1-1-1)                        The Isles still only have one regulation win.

Waldo’s Power Rankings return with the Wild holding position at number two. I’ve added each teams record with their record since the last ranking in parentheses.

1.         Detroit             7-1-1 (4-0-0)    Took care of business by winning all four games. Averaging almost 40 shots a game.

2.         Minnesota       6-0-1 (2-0-1)    The only team yet to give up a PP goal and the only team yet to lose in regulation.

3.         San Jose          7-2-0 (2-1-0)    Prior to a shutout of Tampa Bay, they had given up at least four goals in four straight games.

4.         Buffalo            6-1-2 (2-1-1)    Played three overtime games (winning two) before getting blown out by Ottawa.

5.         Montreal          5-1-1 (0-1-0)    Lost their only game to a red hot Anaheim team by giving up six goals on only 25 shots.

6.         NY Rangers    9-2-1 (3-0-0)    Twelve games already, two more than any other team, but they keep winning.

7.         New Jersey      5-2-1 (1-1-1)    Martin Brodeur added another shutout to his total against Dallas (98), but two losses to the previously winless Flyers is just not good.

8.         Colorado         5-3-0 (2-0-0)    Lost three to start the season. Since then they’ve been on fire.

9.         Pittsburgh        5-2-2 (1-0-1)    Gave up the tying goal to the Rangers with nine seconds left and lost in a shootout.

10.       St Louis           5-3-0 (1-2-0)    The Blues have played their last five at home. The schedule opened the season with eight at home and only two on the road.

11.       Edmonton       4-3-1 (0-3-0)    Won four. Lost four. Now heading out on a seven game road trip.

12.       Carolina           4-2-1 (1-1-0)    Gave up four third period goals to Pittsburgh and then gave up 60 shots to the Islanders. Still managed to win one of them.

13.       Boston             4-2-3 (2-1-1)    Barely squeezed out a win against Atlanta and Edmonton, a shootout loss to Buffalo, and coughed up an early two goal lead to Toronto.

14.       Toronto           3-2-3 (2-0-1)    Back to back wins, including over the rival Senators has this team over .500 (sort of).

15.       Florida             4-4-0 (2-1-0)    Beat a very good San Jose team. Then recorded only 17 shots in a shutout loss to the Blues.

16.       Vancouver       4-4-0 (1-1-0)    Came back home to beat Edmonton after a six game road trip.

17.       Calgary            5-3-1 (3-0-0)    One all three games, including a comeback from down three to Nashville.

18.       Washington     4-3-1 (1-2-0)    A pair of 2-1 losses on the road, followed by an OT win in Dallas.

19.       Anaheim          5-5-0 (4-0-0)    After a rough start to the season, the Ducks are heating up with four road wins including handing the Canadiens their first loss.

20.       Los Angeles    3-4-1 (1-1-1)    Hadn’t allowed 30 shots in a game since their first game of the year, until they ran up against Detroit.

21.       Chicago           3-3-3 (1-1-1)    Shutout Edmonton before losing in a shootout to Detroit and a close one to the Wild.

22.       Philadelphia    2-3-3 (2-0-1)    The Flyers won their first two games, and the fans threw a smoke bomb on the ice. What will happen in that city if they win a World Series.

23.       Nashville         4-4-0 (1-1-0)    Gave up four third period goals in a loss to Calgary. Came back with a win against LA.

24.       Phoenix           3-4-0 (1-1-0)    The Coyotes are the only team that still hasn’t had a game go to OT.

25.       Ottawa                        3-5-1 (1-3-0)    A rough week with three straight losses, but finished with a strong win over a very good Sabres team.

26.       Dallas              3-4-2 (1-1-1)    Blown out by the Devil’s and dropped in OT by the Capitals. Beating the Islanders is nothing special.

27.       Atlanta                        2-4-2 (0-2-1)    Gave TB their only win of the year, dropped to Detroit, and gave up the winning goal to Boston with less than two minutes in regulation.

28.       Columbus        3-6-0 (1-3-0)    Lost three games to three good teams. If you want to be one of the good ones, you’ve got to beat the good ones.

29.       Tampa Bay      1-3-3 (1-1-0)    Finally won a game against Atlanta, but they still haven’t won in regulation. Only one game was decided by more than one goal.

30.       NY Islanders   2-6-0 (0-3-0)    Eight power plays and 60 shots on goal. Had to be a win, right? Not if you’re the Islanders.

      The Wild have now played six games on the year. In five games they have held a lead by early in the third period. In four of those they have given up late goals. Boston got two back and made us sweat a little but we pulled through. The Thrashers briefly pulled within one goal with less than five minutes left. We all know the debacle that was the Buffalo game. And now Columbus, who arguably should have had a goal to tie the game with eleven seconds left to tie the game. The one truly strong team (Buffalo) came all the way back and we've let several weaker teams come close.

     Early indications are that this Wild team is having trouble closing the door on teams and if this trend continues it will come back to bite them. Is this a sign of a weakness we should be concerned about, or is it just an anomaly of small sample size?

Welcome to Waldo's inaugural power rankings. Hopefully I can update my rankings every week. Thoughts, discussion, and debate are encouraged. The Wild are off to a strong start, but I want to see how they handle the injury issues against a stronger opponent before they get to be number one. That being said I'm probably being optimistic anyway.

1. Canadiens
2. Wild
3. Sharks
4. Sabres
5. Oilers
6. Devils
7. Red Wings
8. Blues
9. Capitals
10. Rangers
11. Bruins
12. Penguins
13. Thrashers
14. Hurricanes
15. Canucks
16. Panthers
17. Senators
18. Avalanche
19. Islanders
20. Blackhawks
21. Predators
22. Maple Leafs
23. Kings
24. Stars
25. Blue Jackets
26. Coyotes
27. Flames
28. Ducks
29. Lightning
30. Flyers

Next week I'll add thoughts to go along with the rankings.

It has been talked about for several weeks now that Humber may be out of options and would have to stay in the majors. Someone posted a link on LaVelle E. Neal's site that includes the guidelines for counting option years and apparently Humber can be optioned for a fourth year because he has less than 5 years of pro experience.

Cot's Baseball Contracts