NHL Weekly Top 5's From the Sports Mac

Five Stories Making News The Past Week

1. The 2010 Hockey Hall of Fame class is inducted and it includes women, as Angela James and Cammi Granato are the first female inductees.

2. The Flyers lock up one of their young starts by signing Claude Giroux to a three-year contract extension worth over $11 million.

3. Blows to the head are a major topic of discussion at the league’s general manager meetings in Toronto.

4. There are changes to this year’s NHL All-Star Game as there will be a “pick-up” style of selecting the two All-Star teams by two captains.

5. An idea to give coaches a “challenge” to use during the games is shelved by the league’s GMs at the meeting in Toronto.

Best Five Teams Right Now

1. Washington Capitals (11-4-0, 22 points): The President’s Trophy winners from last season have picked up right where they left off; top of the heap after winning five in a row.

2. St. Louis Blues (9-1-2, 20 points): The hottest team in the league right now having won seven straight; getting it done with defense as well, allowing only 18 goals in 12 games so far.

3. Los Angeles Kings (10-3-0, 20 points): The young Kings have continued to play well winning four in a row, but we’ll have to see if they can keep it up after having some injuries.

4. Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-2, 20 points): The funny thing about Philadelphia is that three of their four regulation losses this year have come at home; this team is 3-1-2 on the road so far.

5. Detroit Red Wings (9-3-1, 19 points): They’ve very quietly climbed up the ladder in the league and here they are on the top teams list for the first time this year.

Worst Five Teams Right Now

1. New Jersey Devils (4-10-1, 9 points): The first team in the league with 10 losses; they’re actually getting close to giving up less than three goals a game, however.

2. Buffalo Sabres (4-9-2, 10 points): Not having Ryan Miller in goal is really having an effect on this club; not having a win at home this year doesn’t help, either (0-6-1).

3. New York Islanders (4-7-2, 10 points): Signs of progress at the beginning of the season have faded quickly with seven losses in a row; giving up more than three goals a game is another problem.

4. Edmonton Oilers (4-7-2, 10 points): The positive start of the first week is gone; these are the growing pains we expected with such a young team like this.

5. Florida Panthers (5-7-0, 10 points): They’ve been playing better (5-5 in the last 10), but they can’t seem to get themselves off this list; maybe at some point they will.

Five League Leaders To Keep Track Of

1. Steven Stamkos, Lightning C: He continues to thrive in new coach Guy Boucher’s system as his 13 goals and 24 points are tops in both categories.

2. Henrik Sedin, Canucks C: He seems content to be the distributor on Vancouver’s top line with 14 assists leading the league.

3. Brooks Laich, Capitals C: Another Washington youngster coming into his own as the +13 that he owns is helped by the Capitals high powered offense.

4. Tim Thomas, Bruins G: Still the goalie of the 2010-2011 season so far as he leads the league in Save Percentage (.967), Goals Against Average (1.05) and Shutouts (three).

5. Michal Neuvirth, Capitals G: The Czech Republic net minder has benefited from Washington’s offense as he now has nine wins to his credit this year.

Five Games To Watch Over The Next Week

1. Stars at Kings, Thursday, 10:30 PM: The two big surprises in the Western Conference meet for a late night showdown in Los Angeles.

2. Lightning at Penguins, Friday, 7:00 PM: Tampa Bay brings its unique style to the Steel City to face Sidney and the Penguins.

3. Avalanche at Red Wings, Saturday, 7:00 PM: The rivalry adds its latest chapter with Colorado trying to get revenge for a shootout loss in the first meeting this season.

4. Senators at Flyers, Monday, 7:00 PM: Ottawa’s tough road trip continues as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Atlantic Division leaders.

5. Flyers at Canadiens, Tuesday, 7:30 PM, Versus: Philadelphia has a short turnaround after playing at home the previous night.