NHL Power Rankings and bad times in Alberta

This week's edition of the NHL Power Rankings and neither Alberta team is having a fun time this season.

Hello and Happy Thursday. Here is what is on the agenda for today.

• First, my apologies for the sporadic posting here this week. It has been a hectic week with my many writing jobs and some things have just fallen through the cracks. I just needed to unplug and recharge at times. It is not intentional. Thank you for being patient.

• Second, the newest update of the NHL Power Rankings!

• Third, what the heck is going on with the hockey teams in Western Canada?

The NHL Power Rankings

1. Boston Bruins. I am still not sure how they are doing this, but I am going to give a ton of credit to the goalies for continuing to be stellar. Which leads me to another question: How in the hell can they keep doing what THEY are doing?

2. Vegas Golden Knights. Speaking of goalies, legitimately stunned that Adin Hill is off to the start he is off to. I figured Logan Thompson (who has been great) would take that job back immediately. Goalies, man

3. New York Rangers. The Rangers have one of the best records in hockey and Igor Shesterkin has been …. good. Not great. I like the way they are playing under Peter Laviolette. Still concerned about the young guys.

4. Los Angeles Kings. Speaking of young guys, Quinton Byfield is at nearly a point-per-game pace through 12 games. A breakout season for him is significant for the Kings.

5. Colorado Avalanche. No Gabriel Landeskog? Bad start for Alexander Georgiev? No problem. Still one of the best records in hockey. The ceiling for this team remains enormous when Georgiev gets back on track.

6. Vancouver Canucks. I do not trust them long-term and think a lot of this is a mirage, but there is something to be said for winning games early and banking points. They are winning games early and banking points.

7. Dallas Stars. The Jake Oettinger for Vezina campaign is off to a strong start.

8. New Jersey Devils. The only thing holding Jack Hughes back in his career is injuries.

9. Tampa Bay Lightning. They are old, they are missing their goalie, and they keep winning. I thought the negativity toward this team preseason was a bit much.

10. Carolina Hurricanes. All of the underlying numbers are great (again) and some key young players look to be having breakout years offensively. This is still one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference as long as they stay healthy and get reasonably good goaltending.