Philadelphia takes flight

The new-look Flyers are off to a fast start with two early wins. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Adam Proteau
2011-10-11 13:30:00

After a summertime break, THN.com’s Power Rankings are back – and the drastically revamped Philadelphia Flyers are at the top of the first week's list.

The unbeaten Flyers, who take on the Canucks and Kings this week, traded cornerstone forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, but didn't miss a beat in season-opening wins over New Jersey and Boston, outscoring their opponents 5-1. Young star Claude Giroux is leading the team with two goals, while new starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has a 0.50 goals-against average and .977 save percentage.

Here is our ranking of the 30 NHL teams thus far. Be sure to check back here every Monday for the newest list!

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS
RK.	TEAM	OVERALL	THE SCOOP
1		2-0-0	New additions Ilya Bryzgalov, Wayne Simmonds fitting in nicely
2		2-0-0	Pavel Datsyuk, Jiri Hudler leading way for typically stellar Wings
3		2-0-1	Evgeni Malkin poised to have a monster season
4		2-0-0	Christian Ehrhoff leads scary Sabres in ice time (24:16)
5		1-0-1	Western Conference champs have Flyers, Wings on back-to-back nights
6		2-0-0	Jason Chimera leads unbeaten Caps with three goals; Ovechkin has just one assist
7		1-1-0	Hawks home to Jets, Bruins this week
8		1-0-0	Deep Sharks have played just once, but dominated Yotes
9		1-1-0	Ex-Flyers captain Mike Richards returns to Philadelphia Saturday
10		1-1-1	Bolts allowed 10 goals in their past two games (both losses), but that should change for the better with this week’s tilts against Isles, Panthers
11		2-0-0	Preds home to face Phoenix, New Jersey before Western Canadian road swing next week
12		1-1-0	Ducks do battle with division rival Sharks twice over next three games
13		2-0-0	Unbeaten Maple Leafs looked like two different teams against Sens, but defense seems much improved
14		1-2-0	Defending champs have one goal-for in their two losses; Thomas looking just as dangerous as he did last season
15		1-1-0	Veteran Jason Arnott making notable impact in first week with new team, leading Blues scorers with two goals and three points
16		1-1-0	Carey Price looking phenomenal? Injuries to key players? A little bit of history repeating in la belle province
17		2-1-0	Surprising Stars split home-and-home with Hawks, then defeated Coyotes, but tough road trip is looming next week
18		1-1-0	Smoked by Flyers in home opener, Devils rebounded strongly by beating Canes
19		1-0-0	Panthers shut out lowly Islanders on the road in sole game so far, but looked good in doing so
20		1-0-0	Still some tough times ahead, but win over Penguins will give confidence to a team in desperate need of it
21		1-1-0	Pierre-Marc Bouchard two-game suspension not what offense-challenged Wild needed
22		1-1-0	Al Montoya’s strong play cements him as Isles starter for time being
23		0-0-2	Blueshirts’ blueline and left side a growing concern in Manhattan
24		1-1-0	Semyon Varlamov shutout (of Bruins) will have to be repeated often for this team to be successful
25		0-2-1	Winless Canes have three tough games ahead – two against Bruins, one against Sabres
26		0-3-0	Still looking for their first victory after three games, Jackets have still had some decent stretches of play
27		0-2-0	Flames averaging league-worst 18.5 shots per game
28		0-1-0	Return of Jets overshadows how many holes relocated franchise has in the lineup
29		0-1-1	Yotes allowing nearly 39 shots per game; only Tampa is worse in that department, but Bolts have Dwayne Roloson and lots of offensive firepower
30		0-2-0	Only Sergei Gonchar (22:07) and Erik Karlsson (22:36) averaging more minutes than Jason Spezza (21:05) for sad-sack Sens