Over the course of my writing career, I’ve been known to produce the occasional ranking or two or several dozen, and I can tell you from experience that there’s a weird thing that happens when you put together any kind of top five or top 10: People get mad.
OK, that’s not the weird part, because these days you lose your internet account if you go a full day without being furious at some random opinion you were exposed to just because you went specifically looking for it. But it’s the way people get mad: They’ll swear a certain player or team or whatever absolutely deserves to be on the list, without making any kind of case for which spot it should take.
So if you say that the five best players in NHL history are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe and Rocket Richard, somebody will show up and be furious that your list doesn’t include Jaromir Jagr or Sidney Crosby or Nicklas Lidstrom. They don’t seem to want you to take anyone off of your list, mind you, they just want their guy there, too.
And I get it. When you hear terms like “top five” or “top 10,” they feel more like labels or tiers, a badge that can be earned for being near the top of the mountain. But the obvious problem here is that’s not how numbers work. There might be eight or nine players who could have a top five case, but the number five doesn’t care. There are five spots, you get five names, and that’s just how it works, even if it means seemingly deserving candidates have to be left off.
All of which is to say this week’s top five was an ordeal because it feels like there are more than five teams in the league that deserve a spot right now. This has been an ongoing theme this year, one that has as many as 14 teams looking like genuine contenders. I’ve only got five spots to work with, and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for subtlety. Your favorite team is either in and you’re happy or they’re out and I’m an idiot.
I am an idiot, for the record, but today seemed like a good time to expand the field a bit. Let’s use our bonus five to list teams that are on the outside of this week’s real list but shouldn’t be, because they’re clearly top five teams, you dummy.
Bonus five: Teams that should probably be in the top five but somehow aren’t
5. Carolina Hurricanes — Keep sleeping on them just because it took them a while to get going, since apparently all you do is look at the overall standings and go by that. They’ve only beaten the Bruins, Golden Knights and Avalanche over the last few games, I’m sure they’re not very good.
4. Vegas Golden Knights — A standings check shows they’re ahead of your precious Oilers, who by the way they just beat to end their historic win streak. I’m sure they’re shaking in their boots about running into Edmonton or Vancouver in the Pacific, since those teams are known for their postseason success and the Knights haven’t had a dominant playoff run in almost a whole year.
3. Winnipeg Jets — They’ve got the best goalie in the league and have already moved past an uncharacteristic losing streak. They’re so good at keeping the puck out of their own net that it’s headline news when they give up more than three in a game, but sure, defense isn’t that important once the playoffs arrive.
2. New York Rangers — So let’s get this straight, the Rangers are in the top five pretty much all through the first half, they get bumped once they hit a mild slump, and now they’re still locked out even though they’ve won seven straight, including yesterday’s thrilling outdoor comeback? This dude clearly has a bias against big-market Original Six teams.
1. Vancouver Canucks — (Prints out a copy of the NHL standings.) (Has that printout tastefully framed.) (Puts a little bow on the top corner of the frame.) (Travels to Ottawa, knocks on Sean’s door.) (Smashes framed standings over this idiot’s head then drives away blaring “No Friends In…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .