Power Rankings?

So Nick Carroll, who appears to be a relatively young sports writer, with limited hockey knowledge, posted his power rankings on philly.com today.  

His assessment of the Flyers is predictable and obviously gleaned from common grumblings of sports writers in this town.  It completely ignores Mason's save percentage (see my earlier post) and the fact that Jake Voracek (as of this moment) is tied for the most points in the league (64) and is in second place for assists (45).  Not sure how you can call the Flyers a below-average team with those stats.  

And the line about the 2010 Flyers?  Pretty much parrots the thinking of most naysayers regarding this  team.  

Again, a non-hockey fan toeing the party line would, of course, hate on the Flyers this season.  I know the team is still four points out, but that's a hell of a lot closer than anyone pegged the Flyers a few weeks ago.  If Nick knew a bit more about hockey, and was a bit more of a Flyers fan - heck, a Philadelphia sports fan - I think he may have spun this in a better light.  This team is the best this city has right now.  We might as well get on board.

We've got Mason back (albeit backing up tonight) and a team leader, Kimmo, poised to skate on Saturday night.  Anything, anything can happen.

I'm ignoring Nick's power rankings, posted and linked below.  Any true Flyers fans should, too.  

21. Flyers (LW: 22; 26-24-11, 63 points) – The Flyers have the eighth-worst goal differential (minus-16), the 10th-worst shot attempt and unblocked shot-attempt percentages, and ninth fewest points. Sure, the Flyers might have left some points on the table against Buffalo and Columbus (Carolina is probably the better team in its building), but there’s no disconnect between their performance and record – they’re just a below-average team. Even if they do sneak into the playoffs, this isn’t the 2010 Flyers. There’s no Chris Pronger or any semblance of a loaded roster that underperformed throughout the season. With a collection of expendable veteran defensemen, the trade deadline Monday should be interesting as the Flyers continue to rebuild and add depth.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/Predators_first_team_to_40_wins_move_to_top_of_power_rankings.html