Pack mentality

Pick by most to miss the playoff this season, the Phoenix Coyotes are tied for top spot in the Western Conference with 97 points. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Ryan Dixon
2010-03-22 13:40:00

It’s come to this.

The Hockey News picked the Phoenix Coyotes to finish 15th in the Western Conference, but we’re certain any excess egg on our face could quickly find a home elsewhere thanks to the Coyotes’ shocking rise to first place in the Pacific Division.

Their nine-game winning streak also has them atop this week’s Power Rankings.

Better late than never.

Phoenix’s leading scorer, Wojtek Wolski, is on pace for a whopping 60 points and has played just nine games with the team. Adrian Aucoin is 5-for-5 in the shootout with five game-deciding goals. Ilya Bryzgalov could end up the league leader in both wins and shutouts. If the team wins Tuesday in Chicago, it will have set a new record for consecutive victories with 10.

There’s a lot of numbers to mull in there, but what all those digits add up to is some new language – as in it might be time to consider changing the hardware handed out for coach of the year from the Jack Adams Award to the Dave Tippett Trophy.

What a season in the desert.

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS
RK.	TEAM	LW	OVERALL	L10	THE SCOOP
1		3	46-22-5	9-1-0	So what if five wins on their current nine-game victory stretch came via shootout; this is just one awesome story
2		1	48-14-10	7-1-2	Cruising toward first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history
3		2	44-24-4	6-2-2	Becoming a fashionable playoff pick in the West thanks to the fact they don't have a throbbing tragic flaw like other "contenders.
4		11	42-26-5	7-3-0	Pekka Rinne grabs goalie reins with three shutouts on Preds' current six-game winning streak
5		5	42-24-6	6-2-2	Max Talbot, last year's Game 7 hero in the Cup final, has felt the sting of being a healthy scratch lately
6		10	35-23-13	7-2-1	Seven of remaining 11 games are at home and Detroit only plays five games against teams that currently hold playoff positions
7		6	45-19-7	4-4-2	Brent Seabrook has practised with the Hawks, but it's unclear when he'll return after being on the receiving end of a dirty hit that landed Anaheim's James Wisniewski an eight-game suspension
8		13	39-22-10	6-3-1	Taking seven of 10 points on a five-game road trip indicates Buffalo is getting it back together
9		4	43-19-10	3-6-1	Maybe they're just getting the losses out of their system before the playoffs this year
10		9	42-25-4	5-4-1	Are they lurking in the weeds or headed toward another early playoff flame out?
11		7	41-24-5	5-4-1	Kings are still trying to figure out where deadline acquisition Jeff Halpern fits in
12		8	40-25-6	5-5-0	Have three games left versus Los Angeles, the team directly ahead of them for sixth place in the West
13		14	36-29-7	7-2-1	Leading goal-scorer Mike Cammalleri will return to the lineup this week after being out since late January with a knee injury
14		12	36-27-9	6-4-0	Daymond Langkow was said to be in good shape in a Minnesota hospital after taking a puck in the back of the neck during Sunday's loss to the Wild
15		15	37-30-5	4-4-2	Increasingly tenuous post-season hopes rest on Brian Boucher's shoulders now
16		18	32-27-12	5-4-1	After posting 73 points last year, David Krejci is on pace for 46 this season
17		17	34-29-9	6-4-0	Allowing two late goals in Sunday's loss to the Preds was likely the final nail in the Blues' coffin
18		29	32-29-11	4-5-1	Back-to-back wins over Philly – and four victories in a row – put Thrashers right back in the playoff hunt
19		16	37-30-5	2-7-1	Alex Kovalev has exactly zero points in nine post-Olympic Games after not playing for Russia
20		26	34-29-8	5-4-1	Few guys in the league are easier to like than Teemu Selanne, who popped career goal No. 600 on the weekend
21		22	35-31-6	4-4-2	Niklas Backstrom's groin injury opened the door for Josh Harding to prove he deserves a new contract this summer as an RFA
22		19	31-32-9	3-5-2	Looking more and more like they'll miss the playoffs for the first time since Henrik Lundqvist became a Ranger
23		24	31-27-14	3-5-2	Stars entered the season 32-14 all-time in shootouts, but are 5-10 this year
24		20	30-34-8	5-4-1	Jamie McBain, 22, starts life as an NHL blueliner with points in his first four games, including an OT-winner
25		27	26-34-12	7-2-1	At some point this season, Nikolai Kulemin decided he wanted to be a quality NHLer and he's well on his way to achieving that
26		25	29-31-12	4-3-3	Saturday's loss to the Preds marked the 14th straight setback in Nashville for the Jackets, dating back to April 2006
27		21	29-31-11	5-4-1	Banger Byron Bitz has two points in four games as a Panther
28		28	29-33-10	4-4-2	Little late-season rattle from John Tavares, who has three goals and seven points in his past three games
29		23	28-32-12	2-7-1	Will miss the playoffs thanks to the fact they've won twice in their past 14 outings
30		30	23-42-7	4-5-1	Pounding San Jose 5-1 Sunday night had to be one of the highlights of a lost season