It’s the Power Rankings as we look at the teams who are well and truly going well and the ones perhaps not so well as we creep into December.
1. Belfast Giants (NON-MOVER) – Finally tasted defeated after 11 straight league games, but only after they got to 11 the night before. Is it a small glitch or the start of some adverse form? Who knows, but they’re still here on merit before they head to Dundee on Wednesday.
2. Cardiff Devils (NON-MOVER) – It was a narrowest of narrow loses on Sunday, but still three points out of four from the weekend on top of their midweek Challenge Cup win. They may not be firing on all cylinders, but they’re still getting wins on the board and points.
3. Nottingham Panthers (UP from 5) – It’s not just six points, it’s six fantastic points courtesy of three victories, scoring 19 goals and going on a five-game winning streak, nestled nicely between Giants and Devils in the table and things are going well with Rich Chernomaz and his team. How long can they keep it going for?
4. Sheffield Steelers (NON-MOVER) – A shame they couldn’t move up and had they beaten Belfast on Saturday as well, it would have given us something of a headache here, but their weekend shows they are back on the right track. Two losses in ten and the confidence is back with them.
5. Guildford Flames (DOWN from 3) – It seems harsh to drop the Flames two places after the manner of their comeback on Sunday at Coventry, but they were losing heavily until they bucked up their ideas and along with Saturday’s heavy loss to Nottingham Panthers, they salvaged what could have been a disastrous weekend for them.
6. Fife Flyers (NON-MOVER) – They finally broke their losing run after six games and Sunday’s OT win over Manchester Storm has stopped the rot, but coach Todd Dutiaume says there is still work to do as he looks to improve performances. Saturday’s heavy home loss to Cardiff should serve as a massive reminder of that.
7. Glasgow Clan (NON-MOVER) – It seems to be one step forward and one back as Glasgow Clan started to see shoots of recovery in the last two periods of their game with Cardiff then against Coventry, only to suffer a heavy away loss to Nottingham Panthers and set them back to square one.
8. Dundee Stars (UP from 10) – They may not have made any progress in the Elite League standings, but taking that Challenge Cup game out of consideration, Omar Pacha is finally getting a tune out of his players in the league as they went four unbeaten with a come-from-behind win over Cardiff. That smile keeps getting wider.
9. Milton Keynes Lighting (UP from 11) – The resurgence of Lightning continues to gather and while they aren’t quite consistent, they’re getting victories, which is a far cry from where they were a few short weeks ago. Winning 5-2 over Manchester Storm made it another good night for MK as they look to finally climb off the bottom.
10. Coventry Blaze (DOWN from 8) – To describe Coventry’s weekend, it’s like they went away for a stag do, lost their wallet and keys and came home to find the house sold and your wife shacked up with someone else. Okay, maybe not quite as bad as that, but losing all three games after being ahead must feel like that a little.
11. Manchester Storm (DOWN from 9) – They got a point on Sunday, but it’s five straight losses for the Storm and only one success in their last seven before hosting in-form Nottingham Panthers on Tuesday. Testing times for Ryan Finnerty and his Storm team at this stage of the season.
