Respect Ranking (1/17): Treading Water

After a rough week in which the Caps won a game they should have won (Philly at home), lost a game they should have lost (Tampa on the road) and got killed in a game in which they should have at least been competetive (Florida on the road), it's no real surprise that their Respect Ranking stayed pretty much the same (I'm still waiting for SI to update their power rankings for the week). With a loss to Ottawa already on the ledger for this week, the Caps will have to do better against Carolina and Florida (their two remaining games this week) if they don't want to see their Respect Ranking - and more importantly their positioning in the standings - drop even further.

A couple of brief housekeeping notes: there are two new additions to the Respect Ranking (CBC and The Hockey News) and I decided after all to move the formula-based ratings to the bottom of the chart, as they reflect more than just some pundit's gut feeling on a team. Oh, and I have also decided not to include standard deviation because you can pretty much tell from a glance who's way out in left field and who's within the range of conventional wisdom (translation: I don't know how to do standard deviation).

As always, if you know of other power rankings, let me know about 'em.

Source	Current	Previous	Change
CBC.ca (1/13)	21	21	NC
CBS Sportsline.com (1/16)	25	25	NC
CP (1/16)	24	23	-1
ESPN.com (1/15)	20	19	-1
FOX Sports.com (1/16)	21	19	-2
The Hockey News (1/15)	22	27	+5
SI.com (1/8)	-	22	-
TSN.ca (1/15)	22	22	NC
AVERAGE	22.1	22.4	+0.3
NHL Standings (Points/Games Played)	23	20	-3
DeGroat.net (1/14)	22	26	-4
Massey Rating (1/16)	25	25	NC
Sagarin Rating (1/16)	26	23	-3

Respect Ranking: Special Edition!

Do I owe Sean Roarke an apology? Just hours after taking him to task for his revisionist history, I stumble across his NHL Mid-Term Grades. Roarke's first grouping - "Head of the Class" (a tribute, no doubt, to Howard Hesseman) - contains the usual suspects: the Ducks, Sabres, Predators, Sharks and... the Capitals?! Sure enough. Quoth Roarke:

Yes, they have just 45 points; but that is still an impressive showing for a team that was left for dead by many before the season ever started. If the season ended Tuesday, the Capitals would make the playoffs for the first time since 2001 and that should be an accomplishment in anybody's book. Plus, they are one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the League today.

I know this is based largely upon dire preseason expectations, but it is still impressively high-praise. One wonders, however, how Roarke will remember this seven months from now...

UPDATE: More grades, these from Professor Cazeneuve at SI.com.

Respect Rankings (1/10): The Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With One Step

Home wins against the flu-riddled Habs and banged-up Thrashers have helped the Caps' Respect Ranking bounce back a little after a rough week. Kudos go out to the brain trust at ESPN for bucking conventional wisdom and bumping the Caps down six spots despite two wins against ESPN's own third- and ninth-rated teams.

As always, if you know of other power rankings, let me know about 'em.

Source	Current	Previous	Change
CBS Sportsline.com (1/9)	25	27	+2
CP (1/9)	23	27	+4
DeGroat.net (1/7)	22	24	+2
ESPN.com (1/8)	19	13	-6
FOX Sports.com (1/8)	21	22	+1
Massey Rating (1/9)	25	26	+1
Sagarin Rating (1/9)	23	26	+3
SI.com (1/8)	22	22	NC
TSN.ca (1/8)	22	25	+3
AVERAGE	22.4	23.5	+1.1
NHL Standings (Points/Games Played)	20	23	+3

Respect Ranking (1/3): Nowhere To Go But Up, Right? Right?!

I don't have to tell you that this past week-plus has been a tough stretch for the Caps. Poor health, poor luck and most of all poor play have added up to a five-game losing streak. Not surprisingly, the slide has been noticed and has caused a corresponding slide in the Caps' Respect Ranking (and were it not for the geniuses at ESPN, the Caps average ranking of 23.5 would be even lower).

Interestingly, for the second straight week, the Caps' average ranking is less than one spot off of their Standings-Points-per-Game. Maybe the "experts" aren't all that bright individually, but they're almost spot-on as a group.

Check out DCSportsChick for a lot more analysis and snark regarding these numbers and power rankings generally and, as always, if you know of other power rankings, let me know about 'em.

Source	Current	Previous	Change
CBS Sportsline.com (1/2)	27	14	-13
CP (1/2)	27	20	-7
DeGroat.net (12/31)	24	10	-14
ESPN.com (1/2)	13	9	-4
FOX Sports.com (1/2)	22	14	-8
Massey Rating (1/2)	26	23	-3
Sagarin Rating (1/2)	26	23	-3
SI.com (1/2)	22	16	-6
TSN.ca (1/2)	25	18	-7
AVERAGE	23.5	16.3	-7.2
NHL Standings (Points/Games Played)	23	16	-7

Respect Ranking (12/27)

Boredom has led me to compile a list of the so-called "Power Rankings" out there to figure out what the rest of the world thinks of the Caps. I'll update this "Respect Ranking" regularly, and the next update should be a little better as some folks haven't updated their rankings this week because of the holiday.

If you know of any other Power Rankings out there, let me know and I'll add 'em to the list.

Source	Current	Previous	Change
CBS Sportsline.com (12/26)	14	14	NC
CP (12/19)	20	19	-1
DeGroat.net (12/18)	10	18	+8
ESPN.com (12/18)	9	14	+5
FOX Sports.com (12/27)	14	12	-2
Massey Rating (12/27)	23	21	-2
Sagarin Rating (12/27)	23	-	-
SI.com (12/26)	16	16	NC
TSN.ca (12/18)	15	16	+1
AVERAGE	16	-	-
NHL Standings (Points/Games Played)	16	-	-