With the season kicking into full gear, I’m dropping in with my first blog.  Glad to be here.  Let’s take a look at some rankings, two weeks into the season. 

Top NHL Head Coaches:

1. Jacques Lemaire, Minnasota Wild – Lemaire seems to have found himself a star goalie in Niklas Backstrom, who is leading the Wild to the hottest start in the league (5-0-1).

2. John Paddock, Ottawa Senators – After taking his team to the Stanley Cup finals last year, Paddock seems to have molded the Senators into the team to beat in the NHL this season.

3. Randy Carlyle, Anaheim Ducks – The Ducks have been extremely successful during Carlyle’s two-year reign, including last season’s Stanley Cup Finals victory.  Despite both Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne’s uncertain futures, two strong wins over Detroit and Nashville proved that the “mighty” Ducks remain one of the top teams in the NHL.

4. Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres – Ruff has brought the Sabres to two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances. In the off-season both captains, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, departed for more money. Despite losing two of the best players on their team, the Sabres are 3-2, after starting the season with two losses against the Islanders.  Since then, they have scored 18 goals while going 3-0.

5. John Stevens, Philadelphia Flyers – After a disastrous performance last year with 56 points, which included General Manager Bob Clarke resigning and head coach Ken Hitchcock being fired after only eight games (1-6-1), the Flyers seem to be back on track.  Newly acquired Daniel Briere seems to be worth his hefty price tag (8 years at $52 million) as the Flyers sit in first place in the Atlantic division.

Those are my top 5 coaches right now, feel free to disagree.  I’ll be back with more rankings soon.

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