Power Rankings. Caps at #1

Now that the Olympics are over the participants have returned to their respective teams and it's time to go back and look at where the teams stand going into the final stretch.

 Washington Capitals-The Caps won 14 games in a row looking to tie the most ever with 17 before the Olympic break. However they instead lost 3 straight, but an angry Alex Ovechkin can get this team going again. 

Chicago Blackhawks-  Kim Johnsson is a nice veteran pick-up for a very young team looking to go far in this year's playoffs. However is Cristobal Huet going to cut it in net for a long playoff run?

San Jose Sharks- The Sharks clearly have the talent to win it all with 4 players playing together on a line for Gold Medal winning team Canada, but is Nabokov going to be able to shake a poor Olympic showing?

Los Angles Kings- The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and may be looking to add the likes of Ray Whitney to their squad. 

Phoenix Coyotes- The Coyotes have been incredible this season and sit 4th in the overall standings. They may be looking to be buyers for the first time in a while at the trade deadline and will be aiming to add some scoring while Upshall is out. 

Vancouver Canucks- Vancouver has been impressive and now has a confident Roberto Luongo rejoining the team after winning a gold medal. Only issue may be the 6 game road trip to start after the 2 week break.

New Jersey Devils- New Jersey picked up Ilya Kovalchuk to try and separate themselves from the others in the Eastern Conference. Kovalchuk has only scored one goal as a Devil and the team has gone 3-5-2 in their last 10. We will see if the break helped this team at all. 

Pittsburgh Penguins- Sidney Crosby brings his swagger that will come with scoring the overtime game-winning goal for the Gold Medal in the Olympics. The Pens also just picked up Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a draft pick.

Colorado Avalanche- These youngsters are rolling and are are not looking to stop anytime soon. 

Buffalo Sabers- Ryan Miller was amazing in Vancouver, leaving with a silver medal and MVP honors. He looked dejected at first after the gold medal game was over been then looked very impressive for how well he was taking in the experience of what just happened during the closing ceremonies. 

Ottawa Senators- Ottawa started horribly this season but are 8-2-0 in their last 10 and can do some damage in the East for a solid playoff spot. 

Nashville Predators- The Preds have been solid this year with consistent play from various players and they continue to just swap goalies over the last few years and still win some games. This team gave Detroit a scare in the playoffs a bit ago then Jason Arnott went down with a concussion as did the teams hopes of winning that series. 

Detroit Redwings- The Wings are barely in the playoff picture but that should surely change as they become healthy. 

Philadelphia Flyers- The Flyers would be no where without Micheal Leighton who may see some playoff time if Emery can't stay healthy. Philly is 6-4 in their last 10 including winning 4 straight to go into the break.

Calgary Flames- Jarome Iginla was hitting his stride before the break and continued it in Vancouver with his gold medal while Kiprusoff comes home with a bronze. 

Dallas Stars- Everyone thought Marty Turco was out the door in Dallas and yet he has been impressive and Auld was the one moving on. 

Anaheim Ducks- The Ducks looked dead in the water at the beginning of the season but now with Jonas Hiller playing confident hockey, the Ducks are back in playoff contention. Look out if they once again find themselves as an 8 seed. 

Boston Bruins- The Bruins have won 4 in a row but are the lowest scoring team in the league. This team has battled injuries to Lucic and Savard and need more consistent play from Tim Thomas.    

Minnesota Wild- Looking forward to watching Cam Barker with the Wild and his increase in time and hopefully productivity. 

St. Louis Blues- The Blues have some good young American talent in David Backes and T.J Oshie but they will be watching the playoffs from home. 

Montreal Canadians- Montreal is just bad considering their roster. 

Tampa Bay Lightning- See Montreal. 

New York Rangers- Oli Jokinen has been good but New York could still find themselves watching the playoffs. However I can see them getting in with other names like Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist. 

Atlanta Thrashers- They are now the Thrashers and no longer the Atlanta Kovalchuks. It will be interesting to see how this team plays together now. 

Carolina Hurricanes- Looking to be sellers at the deadline. 

Florida Panthers- Looking to make some changes and not sure what this team will look like. 

Columbus Bluejackets- Raffi Torres will likely be dealt soon and Steve Mason has been dreadful. 

New York Islanders-  Last season's worst team is not far from it this year. 

Toronto Maple Leafs-  Have made big changes getting Dion Phaneuf and J.S Giguere and GM Brian Burke will look to continue to revamp the Leafs.
 

Edmonton Oilers- The Oilers lost Ales Hemsky, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sheldon Souray, and Sam Gagner making them easily the worst team in hockey. They will be deciding who to take with the number 1 pick this year. In other news G Nikolai Khabibulin was arrested in Scottsdale for an extreme DUI.