Week three of our OTH power rankings features the same teams as last week. Well, at least they wear the same jerseys. Their play has been all over the place. Consistency has not been the friend (or foe) of several teams so far this season. Here are your Central Division Rankings:

Each team in the Central has only played a handful of games, but trends are already appearing. For some teams those trends are a pleasant surprise. For others COUGHTheBluesCOUGH uh… not so much. Here’s a little dose of what we’re serving up this week:

Cam Ward drama? We’ve got it! MacKinnon showstoppers? We’ve got it! Juicy Preds - Jets shenanigans? Oh you know we’ve got that! Plus, Mason just won’t let the banner thing die!!

Week two of our power rankings sees some big changes in momentum from a few teams and some depressing levels of stability from others. Here are your Central Division Rankings:

Aside from the awe-inspiring ascension of Gritty, God among mortals, the biggest story of the young NHL season has come at the Nashville Predators expense. Yes, I’m talking about the “Western Conference Regular Season Champion” Banners. No, not enough time has passed for you Music City Maniacs to avoid a few more chirps. It is the latest stupid thing in a long line of stupid things hung above hockey heads. So in the spirit of not letting things die, let’s take a walk down memory lane while gazing above at some wonderfully dumb memories.

Every Wednesday, we’re going to give you an update on the state of the Central Division and what you can expect from the week ahead. Here is your Week 2 forecast:

It can’t be overstated how big an effect being only 2 games away from the Stanley Cup in the summer of 2017 had on the Nashville Predators. The franchise finally had some swagger. They had arrived. They carried that momentum throughout the 2017-18 season, winning game after game. Nashville won their first division title and their first Presidents Trophy. Then it hit. The only thing that the depth, talent & charisma of this team couldn’t defend. Expectations.

The 2017-18 season was the most fun the city of Winnipeg has had since their first Pizza Hut opened. Everyone knew that the Jets had potential but even those of us who thought they would be good were surprised at just how good they were. There will be sky-high expectations awaiting the Jets this season.

We all have that coworker who can technically do their their job but goes about it the most painful, mind-numbing way possible. In hockey, that coworker is the Minnesota Wild.

Get to know young Minnesota Wild fan Zeke Boyat, who is living the “State of Hockey” dream.

The Colorado Avalanche could only muster 48 points in the 2016-17 season. Last season they nearly doubled that total. Then they had the stones to make a playoff run. That’s when it got interesting. 

Well… you can’t say it wasn’t exciting. The Blues started out the year on fire, winning 20 of their first 30 games. Then St. Louis angered a gypsy and every single man on the roster suddenly went down with an injury.

9-12-4. That’s how the Stars last 25 games went. They missed the playoffs by 3 points. Beyond that terrible stretch, Dallas was infuriatingly average, which spells doom in the Central Division. The talent inequality of the roster became an even bigger issue as the first line and bottom lines continued to grow farther apart in both consistency and production. So much talent. So little quality when it mattered.