NHL power rankings for start of December

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Rankings from start of season are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Tampa Bay (1)

2 Winnipeg (8)

3 Columbus (11)

4 Toronto (3)

5 New Jersey (5)

6 Pittsburgh (6)

7 Nashville (12)

8 St. Louis (2)

9 Vegas (7)

10 New York Islanders (16)

11 Washington (10)

12 New York Rangers (15)

13 LA Kings (4)

14 San Jose (13)

15 Calgary (14)

16 Dallas (24)

17 Minnesota (26)

18 Vancouver (17)

19 Carolina (18)

20 Montreal (19)

21 Chicago (21)

22 Boston (27)

23 Colorado (25)

24 Anaheim (23)

25 Detroit (22)

26 Ottawa (9)

27 Florida (30)

28 Edmonton (29)

29 Philadelphia (20)

SECOND TIER

30 Arizona (31)

31 Buffalo (28)

BIGGEST RISERS: Minnesota (9 spots), Columbus and Dallas (8 spots), New York Islanders and Winnipeg (6 spots), Boston and Nashville (5 spots), Florida and New York Rangers (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Ottawa (17 spots), LA Kings and Philadelphia (9 spots), St. Louis (6 spots), Buffalo and Detroit (3 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF TEAMS, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 METROPOLITAN 11.88

2 CENTRAL 13.43

3 PACIFIC 18.88

4 ATLANTIC 19.5

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 EAST 31.38

2 WEST 32.31