| Team (Current Period, Previous Period ) | Team Summary |
| 1. Boston (197), 1. (202) | Rask coming on before 6-0 win over Philly with Thomas leading the way. |
| 2. Detroit (183), 2. (182) | Surprisingly Wings are just fifth in West; 13-2-1 at home with Howard racking up the wins. |
| 3. Vancouver (175), 9. (149) | Canucks big jump in rankings. Luongo back in front of Schneider, D. Sedin dealing with back. |
| 4. Philadelphia (173), 4. (178) | Tied for first in East with Bruins but goaltending still not elite. Jagr's the healthy one? |
| 5. Pittsburgh (172), 3. (181) | Malkin giving Pens chance even without healthy defensemen, James Neal continuing strong play. |
| 6. San Jose (167), 5. (167) | Seven teams in West with more points, but Sharks lead weak Pacific with Dallas. |
| 7. Chicago (163), 7. (158) | 8-1--1 last 10; Amazing comeback by Ray Emery who has 6-0-1 record in December. |
| 8. NY Rangers (160), 6. (162) | King Henrik with 12 wins but backup Biron 6-1 mark with 1.82 GAA, Del Zotto with plus-15 rating. |
| 9. St. Louis (140), 8. (151) | Hitchcock using both goalies well, Blues deserve to be ranked higher than ninth. |
| 10. Minnesota (124), 15. (107) | Wild has already used 10 rookies and 33 players, can team hold off Canucks in long run? |
| 11. Edmonton (120), 10. (142) | Oil 2-7-1 last 10, young team struggling on road with 5-10-1 mark. Hemsky, Gagner on market? |
| 12. Phoenix (113), 11. (127) | Coyotes winner in Turris trade. Tough loss to Rangers with 0.1 tick remaining in regulation. |
| 13. Florida (111), 12. (125) | Southeast Division flipped with Panthers running away from second-place Winnipeg. |
| 14. Nashville (110), 24. (77) | Five-game win streak putting Pekka back on track. Weber, Suter rank first and third in points. |
| 15. Montreal (109), 14. (114) | Coaching change can't make Andrei Markov healthy, Kaberle a fantasy bright spot since trade. |
| 16. Toronto (100), 21. (86) | Kessel averaging "only point" per game since October, Leafs clinging to final playoff spot. |
| 17. Washington (99), 16. (101) | Hunter hasn't jumpstarted team or rankings, $1 million Vokoun playing like $1 million player. |
| 18. Buffalo (96), 13. (117) | Preseason sleeper hasn't yet emerged from slumber, Lindy Ruff reign could be in jeopardy. |
| 19. Ottawa (96), 18. (94) | Unpredictable team with killer backline, Karlsson leads all blueliners with 29 points. |
| 20. New Jersey (92), 27. (49) | Devils make big move in rankings, 6th in East, Soon-to-be free agent Zach Parise coming on. |
| 21. Winnipeg (90), 20. (91) | Second place Jets get Enstrom back over weekend, 6-2 in December with win over Boston. |
| 22. Colorado (82), 17. (95) | Stastny showing signs of awakening, Ryan O'Reilly surprisingly leading with 23 points. |
| 23. Calgary (81), 23. (81) | Not much changing in Calgary, same ranking (23) with same number of ranking points (81). |
| 24. Tampa Bay (80), 21. (86) | St. Louis out and Roloson's clock striking midnight has left Tampa Bay in need of goalie trade. |
| 25. Dallas (75), 19. (92) | Richard Backman 3-1 start gives Stars breath of fresh air after Lehtonen injury. |
| 26. Columbus (54), 26. (56) | Remember when Steve Mason had 10 shutouts as rookie in 08-9? Jackets need to forget that. |
| 27. Los Angeles (53), 25. (76) | Kings have extensive Christmas wish starting with a goal scorer or three. |
| 28. Carolina (41), 28. (39) | Would the Canes consider trading Eric Staal? Might need to rebuild in Raleigh. |
| 29. NY Islanders (29), 29. (24) | Isles at .500 without 0-4 mark against Pens, 5-3-2 in last 10, Tavares rotting away. |
| 30. Anaheim (21), 30. (23) | Coach Boudreau unable to get most out of talented offensive team. |
Teams are awarded points, with the top team receiving 30 points for a category and the bottom team getting one point. The seven categories used to determine rankings include team plus-minus, winning percentage when trailing after two periods, goals scored per game, 5-on-5 play, winning percentage in three-goal games, shots per game, and team goal differential.