NHL Power Rankings 2011, Week 1: Rangers, Islanders, Devils Bottom Dwellers

The NHL season is just over a week old. Some teams, like the Penguins, have played five games, while one, like the Sharks, have played in just one. But that hasn't prevented the most popular sports sites from releasing their NHL Power Rankings, however useful -- or unuseful -- they may be.

In this week's aggregated NHL Power Rankings from Real Clear Sports, all three NY-area hockey teams -- the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils -- are ranked in the bottom third of the league. It's worth pointing out that this aggregate ranking, comprised of the rankings from eight sites: CBS, Sporting News, The Hockey News, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News (Canada), Sportsnet. ca, and FOX Sports, was put together on Wednesday, Oct. 12.

The Rangers were No. 21, the Islanders 23 and the Devils ranked 24. However, being that this is written a game-day late, these numbers might be slightly skewed as both the Islanders and Devils played well in wins on Thursday. The Isles beat up the Lightning, 5-1, while New Jersey defeated a talented Kings squad, 2-1 in the shootout. The Blueshirts have not played since Oct. 8, thus if we were to update these 'standings,' they'd probably be below the other two.

Out of all three of these teams, the Rangers' No. 17 spot from ESPN and SI.com was the lowest of any of the three area teams. They'll have two more chances to improve their standing by the next Real Clear Sports release.