THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

HELENE ELLIOTT’S NHL RANKINGS, COMMENTS:

*--* Rk Team (Rec) Comment 1 PHILADELPHIA (2-0-2-0) Roenick, Recchi awaken, Hackett solid in net. 2 ATLANTA (3-0-2-0) Team’s best start merits kudos all around. 3 TAMPA BAY (3-0-0-0) Stingy defense, goalie Khabibulin work wonders. 4 OTTAWA (3-1-0-1) Hossa has points in all five games. 5 BOSTON (3-1-2-0) Comeback kids score big against Kings, Mighty Ducks. 6 DALLAS (4-2-0-0) Barnes has five goals; had 13 last season. 7 EDMONTON (3-2-0-0) Three short-handed goals in last two games indicate speed. 8 DETROIT (3-2-0-0) Woolley must step in for injured Hatcher, no easy task. 9 NEW JERSEY (1-1-2-0) Defending champs finding stride offensively. 10 KINGS (3-2-0-0) From sublime -- win over Ottawa -- to stupid loss to Boston. 11 COLORADO (2-2-0-0) Goalie Sauve loses NHL debut to Edmonton. 12 N.Y. ISLANDERS (3-1-1-0) DiPietro backstops 2-0-1 streak. 13 TORONTO (1-2-2-0) Belfour shuts out Habs at Montreal. 14 COLUMBUS (3-2-0-0) Vyborny scores three goals in four games. 15 MONTREAL (4-2-0-0) Theodore holding up but offense is spotty. 16 NASHVILLE (3-2-0-0) Vokoun keeps them competitive. 17 VANCOUVER (3-2-1-0) Bertuzzi slow starter with one goal, three points. 18 BUFFALO (2-4-0-0) Offense slowly getting into gear. 19 PHOENIX (3-2-0-0) Ouch: gave up five to Tampa and five to Philly. 20 PITTSBURGH (1-2-1-0) Goalie Fleury beats Hasek, Wings in second NHL start. 21 ST. LOUIS (2-1-0-1) At least one power-play goal in every game. 22 CHICAGO (2-4-0-0) Zhamnov has back surgery, Daze has back spasms. 23 N.Y. RANGERS (1-2-2-0) Sather’s boys score only five goals in four games. 24 FLORIDA (1-3-2-0) Scored only one goal each of last two games. 25 SAN JOSE (1-3-1-0) Rookie Michalek lost indefinitely (knee injury). 26 CALGARY (2-2-0-0) One goal in last two games; Turek hurts knee. 27 MINNESOTA (1-4-1-0) No Gaborik, no hope of repeating last season’s success. 28 WASHINGTON (1-4-1-0) On 0-4-1 skid since opener. 29 CAROLINA (0-2-2-0) Power play is one-for-four games. 30 MIGHTY DUCKS (0-4-0-1) Haven’t put offense, defense together yet.

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