Professional Standings as of 1/4

As we head into the New Year, New Jersey and Chicago are leading the Western & Eastern Conferences as the Chicago Blackahawks have the slight edge for the best record in the NHL. As for the Divisions them self, the Northwest once again is going to be the best race as the Colorado Avalanche have just a one point lead over the Calgary Flames and 3 points ahead of Vancouver who's been one of the longest road trips in team history as Arena Staff get ready for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics next month.

In the East, the 3 division leaders in the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals all have strong leads with Washington having a 12 point lead over the Atlanta Thrashers. Currently, the Washington Capitals would be the only team in the Southeast that would make the playoffs.

Dallas is 4 points out of a playoff spot currently in 10th place just 1 point behind Detroit who's in 9th where injury problems have just wrecked their season. The other big surprise in the Pacific Division is Phoenix where they currently sit in 4th and would have home ice advantage in the 1st round playoffs, while on the other end of the Division is Anaheim where they are in 13th place right now only ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets who also have been very disappointing this season.

In the AHL right now, the Texas Stars have seen their Division Lead shrink to just 4 points where it looked like a win on Saturday against Manitoba before giving up a game tieing goal to former Dallas Star Mike Keane to get the game to a SO where the Moose would win it. The rest of the division is also starting tighten up where improved play from San Antonio and hot runs by several teams have the gap between 2nd and 6th at just 4 points.

Elsewhere, Hershey is widening its gap in the East Division with a 15 point gap between them and the 2nd place River Rats. Keith Aucoin is leading the lead in goals with 19 and is 2nd overall in league scoring with 43 points in 30 games played this season. The Atlantic division is the Manchester Monarchs who are up 4 points over the Worcester Sharks and 5 points over the Lowell Devils as the rest of the division is starting to tighten up with the exception of the Springfield Falcons and the Providence Bruins.

Up North is the Hamilton Bulldogs where a 5 point lead over both the Rochester Americans who were leading the Division for the last several weeks along with the Manitoba Moose who had a strong weekend by beating the Texas Stars in both games. Abbotsford with a pair of wins on the road against Houston and San Antonio has them in the 4th and final playoff spot up north where they are just 2 points up on the Grand Rapids Griffins. However, both the Toronto Marlies and Lake Erie Monsters have won 6 of their last 7 to get them out of the North Division Basement.

The Central League has the Odessa Jackalopes and the Allen Americans on top of the Southern Conference while up north, the Rapid City Rush have caught the Colorado Eagles which included a huge road win back on December 27 with a 5-2 win in Colorado has the Rush just one point back of the Conference Champion Eagles.

However, in both conferences, it gets very murky after the top 2 in the South as the gap from 3rd to 6th is just 5 points with the Texas Brahmas leading this group. Up north, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs lead a pack that is separates 3rd-6th that is also just 5 points right now as reach the half way point of the season. Getting the 3rd spot is huge because they would avoid playing in the Play In Round and having to play the top seed in the playoffs in the Conference Semifinals if they win.

Finally for the Wichita Thunder, it's a case of how low can they go as through 31 games. Just 3 wins and have scored just 57 goals this season as they look to avoid being one of the worst teams in league history. For the teams in the North, especially Bossier-Shreveport, Mississippi, Tulsa and Missouri. Any points loosed would be a huge opportunity to catch up in the conference standings.

National Hockey League

Eastern Conference

1. New Jersey 40 GP 29-10-1 59 PTS 118-89

2. Buffalo 41 GP 26-11-4 56 PTS 112-93

3. Washington 41 GP 24-11-6 54 PTS 145-116

4. Pittsburgh 43 GP 26-16-1 53 PTS 133-116

5. Boston 40 GP 21-12-7 49 PTS 105-95

6. Ottawa 42 GP 22-16-4 48 PTS 122-125

7. Montreal 44 GP 21-20-3 45 PTS 114-120

8. NY Rangers 41 GP 19-17-5 43 PTS 108-115

9. Atlanta 41 GP 18-17-6 42 PTS 132-135

10. Tampa Bay 41 GP 16-15-10 42 PTS 103-121

11. NY Islanders 43 GP 17-18-8 42 PTS 107-134

12. Philadelphia 41 GP 19-19-3 41 PTS 117-118

13. Florida 42 GP 17-18-7 41 PTS 123-135

14. Toronto 42 GP 14-19-9 37 PTS 115-145

15. Carolina 41 GP 11-23-7 29 PTS 102-146


Western Conference

1. Chicago 42 GP 29-10-3 61 PTS 137-90

2. San Jose 42 GP 27-8-7 61 PTS 142-106

3. Colorado 43 GP 24-13-6 54 PTS 128-124

4. Phoenix 43 GP 25-14-4 54 PTS 111-99

5. Calgary 41 GP 24-12-5 53 PTS 114-98

6. Nashville 42 GP 25-14-3 53 PTS 121-119

7. Vancouver 42 GP 25-16-1 51 PTS 132-103

8. Los Angeles 42 GP 24-15-3 51 PTS 124-120

9. Detroit 41 GP 21-14-6 48 PTS 108-104

10. Dallas 41 GP 18-12-11 47 PTS 122-127

11. Minnesota 42 GP 20-19-3 43 PTS 111-124

12. St. Louis 41 GP 17-18-6 40 PTS 108-121

13. Anaheim 42 GP 16-19-7 39 PTS 115-137

14. Columbus 43 GP 15-19-9 39 PTS 112-143

15. Edmonton 42 GP 16-22-4 36 PTS 115-138


American Hockey League

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. Manchester 38 GP 23-11-4 50 PTS 106-85

2. Worcester 36 GP 22-12-2 46 PTS 111-104

3. Lowell 38 GP 21-14-3 45 PTS 126-107

4. Hartford 37 GP 19-13-5 43 PTS 108-107

5. Portland 37 GP 18-13-6 42 PTS 108-104

6. Bridgeport 39 GP 19-17-3 41 PTS 97-101

7. Providence 38 GP 18-19-1 37 PTS 94-105

8. Springfield 39 GP 11-19-9 31 PTS 93-140


East Division

1. Hershey 37 GP 27-8-2 56 PTS 144-81

2. Albany 37 GP 19-15-3 41 PTS 99-94

3. W-B/Scranton 36 GP 19-15-2 40 PTS 104-93

4. Adirondack 34 GP 16-16-2 34 PTS 79-102

5. Binghamton 34 GP 15-15-4 34 PTS 112-104

6. Norfolk 36 GP 15-19-2 32 PTS 91-101

7. Syracuse 37 GP 12-19-6 30 PTS 93-141


Western Conference

North Division

1. Hamilton 37 GP 23-9-5 51 PTS 118-81

2. Rochester 37 GP 22-13-2 46 PTS 118-111

3. Manitoba 39 GP 21-14-4 46 PTS 94-102

4. Abbotsford 39 GP 18-16-5 41 PTS 103-111

5. Grand Rapids 37 GP 19-17-1 39 PTS 119-125

6. Toronto 35 GP 15-15-5 35 PTS 91-121

7. Lake Erie 37 GP 16-18-3 35 PTS 107-111


West Division

1. Texas 37 GP 20-11-6 46 PTS 103-87

2. Peoria 36 GP 19-13-4 42 PTS 110-108

3. Milwaukee 36 GP 18-12-6 42 PTS 102-105

4. Rockford 39 GP 19-16-4 42 PTS 108-111

5. Houston 38 GP 18-15-5 41 PTS 100-96

6. Chicago 35 GP 18-15-2 38 PTS 108-100

7. San Antonio 35 GP 15-15-5 35 PTS 95-103


Central Hockey League

Northern Conference

1. Colorado 29 GP 21-6-2 44 PTS 127-85

2. Rapid City 30 GP 21-8-1 43 PTS 121-87

3. Bossier-Shreveport 30 GP 17-12-1 35 PTS 90-90

4. Mississippi 32 GP 16-13-3 35 PTS 102-104

5. Tulsa 31 GP 16-14-1 33 PTS 105-110

6. Missouri 31 GP 14-15-2 30 PTS 93-111

7. Wichita 31 GP 3-25-3 9 PTS 57-123


Southern Conference

1. Odessa 33 GP 25-5-3 53 PTS 141-89

2. Allen 31 GP 22-7-2 46 PTS 101-81

3. Texas 33 GP 16-12-5 37 PTS 97-99

4. Laredo 31 GP 14-10-7 35 PTS 100-104

5. Rio Grande Valley 31 GP 15-12-4 34 PTS 97-101

6. Amarillo 34 GP 13-15-6 32 PTS 105-126

7. Corpus Christi 32 GP 12-15-5 29 PTS 97-106

8. Arizona 31 GP 10-18-3 23 PTS 92-109