Power Rankings - Nov. 3

Todd Bertuzzi, Jarome Iginla, Michael Cammalleri and Rene Bourque line up for the ceremonies for their home opener against the Vancouver Canucks. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)

Ryan Dixon
2008-11-03 15:04:00

Hands up if you thought Todd Bertuzzi would have more goals than Jarome Iginla at any point this season.

Through 12 games with his new team, Bertuzzi had seven goals, one more than Iginla’s six.

Most importantly for Calgary, after years of being a one-line team the Flames seem to have struck a balance that allows the scoring to be spread out over the two top lines.

While combinations change, the top-six group of Bertuzzi, Iginla, Mike Cammalleri, Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy and Rene Bourque is forcing teams to worry about more than just one trio.

As a result, the Flames have been showing off a bit of their high-end potential, winning six of their past seven games and climbing up our power rankings.

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS

RK.	TEAM	LW	OVERALL	THE SCOOP
1		3	10-2-0	Dan Boyle and Christian Ehrhoff both kicking in points from the blueline
2		1	8-2-2	Lost an early season showdown to former assistant coach Todd McLellan and the Sharks
3		5	8-1-1	Don't be surprised when Andrei Markov is nominated for the Norris Trophy
4		2	10-3-1	Second-best team GAA, but 24th in goals per game with just 2.57
5		9	7-5-1	Have won six of seven, starting to look like contenders again
6		6	7-2-1	Gaborik suffered a setback last week and it's still unclear when he'll return
7		4	7-2-2	Tim Connolly picks up an assist in his return; here's hoping he actually stays healthy
8		19	7-4-1	Kipper looks like he's coming to the end of his traditional slow start
9		8	6-2-2	Life will be miserable if Marty is gone for any real stretch of time
10		18	6-3-3	How 'bout a 1.83 GAA, .944 save percentage and two shutouts for Tim Thomas?
11		7	6-4-2	Win against sinking St. Louis salvaged an otherwise forgettable four-game road trip
12		16	6-4-1	Pekka Rinne getting a chance to show he's an NHL-caliber goalie
13		15	4-4-3	Lots of scoring, lots of being scored on
14		14	5-3-3	Patrick Sharp is quietly going about showing he's the real deal
15		13	6-3-2	Injuries just seem to follow this team around
16		10	5-4-1	So the real rivalries are Ovi-Malkin and Semin-Sid
17		22	4-5-2	When Alfredsson joined Sens they were bad, then they became an elite team, now they just keep sliding back the other way
18		21	6-4-1	Nice 2-1-0 start to a seven-game road swing
19		20	6-6-0	Need to rack some points up after losing first game of a six-game homestand
20		24	5-4-3	Should Leafs Nation be pleasantly surprised by results, or depressed team could finish 10th again?
21		17	4-6-2	Go ahead and end that early-season funk any time, Mr. Turco
22		11	5-6-0	Team Yo-Yo ripped off five straight wins, then dropped three in a row
23		12	5-5-0	Fast start beginning to come to a crumbling halt
24		29	4-3-3	Stamkos gets on the board with two goals versus Buffalo, things looking up for Bolts
25		26	4-5-0	Simply not generating enough goals to win consistently
26		23	4-6-1	Cats crippled by a slew of injuries on the back end
27		27	4-6-1	You know watching Zherdev's Broadway play must be killing these guys
28		25	3-6-1	Lots of talk about Doughty, but fellow rookie Oscar Moller has four goals and is staying with the big club
29		28	3-7-2	Time to tear it down and start again
30		30	2-7-1	If Isles bought out DiPietro, they'd be paying him until 2032

The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.

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