The St. Louis Blues' injury-driven five-game losing streak has been bad news in the real NHL, and it turns out it's also bad news for their perches in our weekly look at the power rankings. Having fallen behind the Detroit Red Wings in the Central Division, they now find themselves far off those number-one spots they'd corralled one week ago.
↵On ESPN the Blues have fallen all the way from first to eighth, which says something, as always, about the validity of these early power rankings. Among the teams that have leap-frogged them are the Detroit Red Wings (sixth last week, second this week), the Montreal Canadiens (14th), and the San Jose Sharks, who were ranked 17th after week six. Pierre LeBrun suggests that, as the injuries pile up, the Blues would do well just to "survive."
↵Fox Sports, a little more conservative, have dropped them to fifth from first, sparing them the indignity of the passes by the Canadiens (seventh) and the Sharks (tenth.) Yahoo!, who had the Blues at third last week, is the big winner—they only need drop them three spots, to sixth.