I know ratings and power rankings are often subjective and opinion based and aren’t worth the paper (or monitor) they are printed on.
However I happened to glance through a link of some sort and ended up on Adrian Dater’s NHL Power Rankings. He has the Pittsburgh Penguins at #1…fair enough, they have two of the game’s best players in Crosby and Malkin. Dater has the Rangers ranked #2, which sort of makes me shake my head a bit, but OK. Then the first shock with the unproven Edmonton Oilers at #3. Hey, they will be young and exciting, but will they really jump 22 spots in the rankings before the puck has dropped.
A couple of the members of the Sens “Aging” roster. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Which brings me to the point of this post. You have to scroll all the way down to #19 to find the Ottawa Senators. Really? I don’t want to sound like a homer, (but probably will) and I can understand Dater not believing that the Senators cannot surprise the doubters once again. What I don’t understand is one major line in his reasoning for ranking them so low.
But this team is aging somewhat, with five players 30 or older. In this league, it gets harder and harder to get by on veteran moxie.
| TEAM | FWD | DEF | GOALIES | TOTAL |
| PHOENIX | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| MONTREAL | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| NEW JERSEY | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| PHILADELPHIA** | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| NASHVILLE | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| VANCOUVER | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| FLORIDA | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| TAMPA BAY | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| CHICAGO | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| ANAHEIM | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| CALGARY | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| SAN JOSE | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| BOSTON* | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| BUFFALO | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| NY ISLANDERS | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| NY RANGERS | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| PITTSBURGH | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| DETROIT | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| EDMONTON | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| TORONTO | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| WASHINGTON | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| DALLAS | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| LOS ANGELES | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| MINNESOTA | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| WINNIPEG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| COLORADO | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| OTTAWA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| COLUMBUS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| ST. LOUIS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| CAROLINA | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Die hard Sens Fan, who prides himself on being relatively objective in most cases, but can sometimes get caught up in Fandom.
Jared Crozier
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
