National Hockey League
Team rankings
Through 2008 regular season
             Basic ratings          Specific ratings
Rank Team Conference / Division W L   Net Score Win   StrOpp Road Recent   OpR Var
1 Detroit Red Wings Western - Central 54 28 1.12 0.71 0.41 0.28 0.12 (0.10) 0.17 1.65
2 San Jose Sharks Western - Pacific 49 33 0.97 0.74 0.23 (0.02) 0.21 0.07 0.23 1.48
3 Anaheim Ducks Western - Pacific 47 35 0.82 0.75 0.07 0.05 (0.05) 0.08 0.23 1.70
4 Dallas Stars Western - Pacific 45 37 0.70 0.70 0.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 0.23 1.91
5 Montreal Canadiens Eastern - Northeast 47 35 0.56 0.63 (0.07) (0.02) 0.09 0.10 (0.08) 1.88
6 Pittsburgh Penguins Eastern - Atlantic 47 35 0.56 0.56 0.00 0.05 (0.18) 0.08 (0.07) 1.86
7 Colorado Avalanche Western - Northwest 44 38 0.55 0.52 0.03 (0.06) (0.10) 0.10 0.22 1.68
8 Minnesota Wild Western - Northwest 44 38 0.54 0.47 0.07 (0.11) (0.12) 0.12 0.22 1.51
9 Calgary Flames Western - Northwest 42 40 0.37 0.37 0.00 (0.02) (0.04) 0.03 0.23 1.73
10 Edmonton Oilers Western - Northwest 41 41 0.28 0.26 0.02 (0.08) (0.06) 0.10 0.24 1.56
11 Washington Capitals Eastern - Southeast 43 39 0.25 0.66 (0.41) 0.08 (0.01) 0.27 (0.13) 1.57
12 New Jersey Devils Eastern - Atlantic 46 36 0.24 (0.23) 0.47 (0.03) 0.02 (0.19) 0.01 1.78
13 Chicago Blackhawks Western - Central 40 42 0.23 0.43 (0.20) 0.11 (0.15) 0.06 0.20 1.85
14 Nashville Predators Western - Central 41 41 0.22 0.20 0.02 0.09 0.06 (0.06) 0.22 1.97
15 New York Rangers Eastern - Atlantic 42 40 0.15 0.31 (0.16) 0.31 0.05 0.00 (0.04) 1.78
16 Carolina Hurricanes Eastern - Southeast 43 39 0.11 0.23 (0.12) 0.07 (0.09) 0.20 (0.08) 2.13
17 Philadelphia Flyers Eastern - Atlantic 42 40 0.06 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.03 (0.02) 1.77
18 Ottawa Senators Eastern - Northeast 43 39 0.02 (0.20) 0.22 0.13 0.14 (0.04) 0.00 1.98
19 Vancouver Canucks Western - Northwest 39 43 0.00 (0.17) 0.17 0.11 (0.03) (0.23) 0.28 1.67
20 Phoenix Coyotes Western - Pacific 38 44 (0.06) (0.21) 0.15 0.04 0.17 (0.16) 0.32 1.90
21 Boston Bruins Eastern - Northeast 41 41 (0.10) (0.17) 0.07 0.10 0.04 0.03 0.00 1.70
22 Buffalo Sabres Eastern - Northeast 39 43 (0.11) 0.17 (0.28) 0.02 0.01 0.02 (0.03) 2.08
23 Florida Panthers Eastern - Southeast 38 44 (0.33) (0.14) (0.19) 0.01 0.08 (0.04) (0.05) 1.31
24 Los Angeles Kings Western - Pacific 32 50 (0.37) 0.02 (0.39) 0.00 (0.03) 0.05 0.30 2.03
25 St. Louis Blues Western - Central 33 49 (0.41) (0.14) (0.27) (0.06) (0.20) 0.08 0.25 1.70
26 Columbus Blue Jackets Western - Central 34 48 (0.43) (0.39) (0.04) 0.18 (0.01) (0.16) 0.28 1.80
27 Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern - Northeast 36 46 (0.51) (0.45) (0.06) 0.21 0.28 (0.11) 0.03 2.05
28 New York Islanders Eastern - Atlantic 35 47 (0.68) (0.82) 0.14 0.15 0.08 (0.09) 0.07 1.58
29 Atlanta Thrashers Eastern - Southeast 34 48 (0.80) (0.79) (0.01) 0.12 (0.09) (0.02) 0.02 2.01
30 Tampa Bay Lightning Eastern - Southeast 31 51 (0.99) (0.78) (0.21) 0.11 (0.17) (0.15) 0.01 1.88
Basic rating system  
A Somis Sports team Net rating is typically the sum of the Score rating and the Win 
rating.  The score rating is based on the final score (margin of victory) and the strength of the 
team's opposition.  The score rating does not give extra weight to whether or not the
team won or lost the game.  The win rating is based on the team's won-lost record
relative to the strength of its schedule and relative to its score rating.
Specific ratings
StrOpp - results vs. stronger opposition (a positive number means the team tends to play better vs. stronger opposition).
Road - results in road games.
Recent - results in more recent games.
ND - results vs. non-divisional opposition.
Other ratings
OpR - average opponent rating (i.e., schedule difficulty).
Var - average variance per game - average variance from the expected result. A higher number means the team tends to be more inconsistent.
  The average variance is based on the margin of victory or loss (final score) and does not relate directly to wins and losses.