Chicago Blackhawks Power Rankings - 2012-13
| Power Ranking | ||||
| WEEK | RECORD | RANK | COMMENT | |
| Week 15 | 36-7-5 | 1 | The Presidents' Trophy winners kept their focus from beginning to end and closed the season with just seven regulation losses. | |
| Week 14 | 34-5-5 | 1 | The Blackhawks have not been beaten in regulation in 11 games (9-0-2), although a recent injury to Ray Emery, who has been terrific as a counterpoint to Corey Crawford, is mildly troubling. Big game with Vancouver on Monday night: possible Western Conference finals matchup? | |
| Week 13 | 32-5-4 | 1 | What's impressive about the way the Blackhawks are playing is that there really isn't that much on the line, but they're keeping the foot on the gas, winning six of seven in April and showing no signs of slowing down. | |
| Week 12 | 29-5-4 | 1 | The Blackhawks shut out Nashville 1-0 Saturday and then beat the Preds 5-3 in a return engagement Sunday to clinch a playoff spot. And while there has been a stretch of ordinary since their record 24-game point streak ended, ordinary is a relative term. And for the best team in hockey, ordinary is still pretty darned good. | |
| Week 11 | 26-5-3 | 2 | The Blackhawks still have the top winning percentage in the NHL and buried Detroit with three goals in the first five minutes of the game Sunday en route to a 7-1 pasting of the Red Wings in another statement game for the Hawks. All this without Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Impressive. | |
| Week 10 | 24-3-3 | 1 | The Blackhawks finally get back to work Monday night after not playing since last Wednesday's loss at Anaheim. And it's a heck of tilt at the UC versus the reigning Cup champs from L.A. | |
| Week 9 | 23-2-3 | 1 | The Blackhawks are back on track after a minor wobble following the end of their record points streak last week. They pounded Dallas 8-1 Saturday, as if to remind everyone they were back. No reminder required. Blackhawks are still the creme de la creme. | |
| Week 8 | 21-2-3 | 1 | The Blackhawks have lost two straight after a record 24-game season-opening points streak. Playing seven games in 11 days might have something to do with it. | |
| Week 7 | 19-0-3 | 1 | The Blackhawks flirted with their first regulation loss of the season but scored with 2:02 left in regulation to tie Detroit and then won in a shootout to run their NHL record streak to 22 games. Corey Crawford was again excellent for Chicago. | |
| Week 6 | 15-0-3 | 1 | Corey Crawford? Ray Emery? Doesn't seem to matter for the record-breaking Blackhawks, who can do no wrong. Make it 18 games (15-0-3) and counting. | |
| Week 5 | 12-0-3 | 1 | The Blackhawks withstood a furious challenge from the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday afternoon to move their record to an astounding 12-0-3. Patrick Sharp ended up with the game winner, just his third tally of the season. | |
| Week 4 | 10-0-2 | 1 | Top-five in goals for and goals against per game, plus riding the best penalty kill in the NHL. As one NHL GM told me last week, "Those guys are playing a different game right now than anybody else." | |
| Week 3 | 7-0-2 | 2 | The Blackhawks are still undefeated in regulation; five of their past six games have gone to extra time. Goalie Ray Emery came up huge in relief of Corey Crawford in the shootout win against Calgary on Saturday. | |
| Week 2 | 6-0-0 | 1 | Is this 2009-10 all over again? I know this: Corey Crawford has made an early statement to his doubters. He is 5-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. | |
| Week 1 | 0-0-0 | 11 | Netminder Corey Crawford has to prove he is better than he showed in the playoffs against Phoenix, but the Hawks remain blessed with talent up and down the lineup and a core that knows how to win. A slow start will not, however, do much for Joel Quenneville's job security. | |
| Preseason | 0-0-0 | 8 | Hard to ever bet against any team led by Jonathan Toews. But the team's defensive play, as well as its goaltending, certainly wasn't up to par last season. Rebound year for Corey Crawford? Better hope so. | |
| Spring Training | 0-0-0 | 9 | Lots of Hawks fans are waiting for GM Stan Bowman to make a move to shore up goaltending, and, let's be honest, if not for Mike Smith outplaying Corey Crawford by a country mile, the Hawks beat the Yotes in the first round. Still, the Hawks have loads of top-end talent, and it's time for some of the young assets stockpiled by Bowman after their 2010 Cup win to take a step forward. | |
