THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

HELENE ELLIOTT’S RANKINGS AND COMMENTS:

*--* Rk. Team (Rec.) Comment 1 TORONTO (19-6-6-3) Points in 14 straight, thanks to Belfour, Sundin’s 14 goals. 2 NEW JERSEY (18-6-8-0) Brodeur (1.61 goals-against, .938 save %) makes case for Vezina and MVP. 3 ST. LOUIS (20-7-3-1) Osgood, special teams shine in 9-2-3 surge. 4 CALGARY (17-9-2-3) Kiprusoff (1.48, .941) keeps Flames hot in 11-1-2-1 push. 5 DETROIT (22-11-3-1) Sergei who? Datsyuk fuels NHL’s top-scoring offense. 6 VANCOUVER (18-8-6-2) Solid defense, strong penalty killing bolster strong offense. 7 KINGS (16-11-4-3) If only they could hold those three-goal leads 8 PHILADELPHIA (18-5-8-3) Hackett, winless in seven starts, reignites trade rumors. 9 COLORADO (16-9-6-1) Seven goals in 0-2-3 slump. Kariya, Forsberg finally missed. 10 OTTAWA (16-10-3-3) Better lately, but still a sense Senators are underachieving. 11 NASHVILLE (15-12-3-2) Predators are 3-0 vs. Red Wings, including 1-0 Saturday. Go figure. 12 ATLANTA (18-14-3-1) Kovalchuk ends eight-game drought, scores three in two games. 13 MINNESOTA (14-14-6-0) Penalty killing (87.3%) keys 4-0-1 streak in which Wild has scored 17. 14 SAN JOSE (12-9-10-3) Power play becoming weapon in challenge for playoff spot. 15 MONTREAL (16-14-4-1) Defenseman Souray (12 goals) does Bobby Orr impersonation. 16 DALLAS (15-16-4-0) Turco steadier, but Modano’s awful and could cost Tippett his job. 17 N.Y. ISLANDERS (14-15-2-1) Rookie Trent Hunter (12 goals, 20 points) comes on strong. 18 BOSTON (13-9-8-4) Bruins not scoring, winning or drawing. Shake-up is due. 19 TAMPA BAY (14-11-4-1) Fast start a memory after 3-9-2 slide. Lecavalier must step up. 20 N.Y. RANGERS (13-13-5-2) Sather plays Messier too much, Lindros, Holik too little. 21 FLORIDA (11-15-7-2) Trading Jokinen would be a mistake but could happen. 22 CAROLINA (10-13-8-2) Laviolette wants to see more offense. Who doesn’t? 23 PHOENIX (10-11-11-1) Running in place. But Nagy, Doan provide scoring punch. 24 DUCKS (11-14-4-5) Consistently inconsistent. No cohesion or offensive sparks. 25 EDMONTON (12-15-6-0) Oilers could have used immediate help from Comrie trade. 26 WASHINGTON (10-20-3-1) New coach Hanlon has 2-2-2 start, with much work to do. 27 BUFFALO (12-18-2-1) Outscored, 26-11, in losing seven straight.... Drury separates shoulder. 28 PITTSBURGH (8-18-4-3) No sign when, or if, Lemieux will recover from hip injury. 29 COLUMBUS (8-17-4-3) Fan who starred in team’s TV ads wears paper bag on head. 30 CHICAGO (7-17-7-3) Death of Magnuson overshadows 1-13-3-3 spiral.

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*--* GAME OF THE WEEK

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