After a rough week in which the Caps won a game they should have won (Philly at home), lost a game they should have lost (Tampa on the road) and got killed in a game in which they should have at least been competetive (Florida on the road), it's no real surprise that their Respect Ranking stayed pretty much the same (I'm still waiting for SI to update their power rankings for the week). With a loss to Ottawa already on the ledger for this week, the Caps will have to do better against Carolina and Florida (their two remaining games this week) if they don't want to see their Respect Ranking - and more importantly their positioning in the standings - drop even further.A couple of brief housekeeping notes: there are two new additions to the Respect Ranking (CBC and The Hockey News) and I decided after all to move the formula-based ratings to the bottom of the chart, as they reflect more than just some pundit's gut feeling on a team. Oh, and I have also decided not to include standard deviation because you can pretty much tell from a glance who's way out in left field and who's within the range of conventional wisdom (translation: I don't know how to do standard deviation).
As always, if you know of other power rankings, let me know about 'em.
| Source | Current | Previous | Change |
| CBC.ca (1/13) | 21 | 21 | NC |
| CBS Sportsline.com (1/16) | 25 | 25 |
NC |
| CP (1/16) | 24 | 23 | -1 |
| ESPN.com (1/15) | 20 | 19 | -1 |
| FOX Sports.com (1/16) | 21 | 19 | -2 |
| The Hockey News (1/15) | 22 | 27 | +5 |
| SI.com (1/8) | - | 22 | - |
| TSN.ca (1/15) | 22 | 22 | NC |
| AVERAGE | 22.1 | 22.4 | +0.3 |
| NHL Standings (Points/Games Played) | 23 | 20 | -3 |
| DeGroat.net (1/14) | 22 | 26 | -4 |
| Massey Rating (1/16) | 25 | 25 | NC |
| Sagarin Rating (1/16) | 26 | 23 | -3 |