For most the past half-decade, the Vancouver Canucks have been one of the NHL’s most talented clubs. But in every season prior to this one, they relied upon inadequate netminder Dan Cloutier to handle the bulk of the workload. And predictably, the Canucks consistently fell short of expectations.

Last summer, GM Dave Nonis decided to take radical measures to fix the problem. He dealt a package of players (featuring All-Star power forward Todd Bertuzzi) to the Florida Panthers in exchange for talented netminder Roberto Luongo. Though Luongo hadn’t yet played in a single playoff game over the course of his six-season NHL career, Nonis bestowed upon him a hefty four-year, $27 million contract.

Luongo got off to a rough start in Vancouver, appearing to be chafing under the pressure of playing in Vancouver — a hockey hotbed — after spending years in the comparably low-pressure tranquility of South Florida. British Columbia’s hockey fans were very worried, at least up until December.

Since Christmas, Luongo has gone on a torrid run that has erased any cause for concern about his ability to lead the Canucks to glory. Entering last night’s late game against the Predators, Luongo was in the midst of a 25–5–4 roll. Perhaps most impressive of all, Luongo has accomplished this during a season in which captain Markus Naslund has struggled mightily (54 points in 73 games).

In nearly every one of the Canucks’ victories this season, Luongo has been by far their best player. If he continues his strong play through the conclusion of the regular season and leads the Canucks to the Northwest Division title, it should be a fait accompli that he receives the Hart Trophy (league MVP) as well as the Vezina Trophy (NHL’s best netminder) in his first season in Vancouver.

So here’s how the teams line up this week. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right by games played, W–L–OTL, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success. Please note that the data are up to and including games played on Tuesday night, and that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 BUFFALO SABRES (3): The Sabres have risen back to the top, and though their goals-against total is fairly high for a Cup contender, it’s worth noting that last year’s champs, the Carolina Hurricanes, gave up the most regular season goals among all 2006 playoff teams.
72 46–19–7 99 271 214 13.6%82.6%

2 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (2): Hard-nosed winger Jordin Tootoo was suspended five games for punching onrushing Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas in the head, yet another example of the league’s ongoing struggle to maintain both physicality and order.
73 47–20–6 100 249 192 17.3% 87.3%

3 DETROIT RED WINGS (1): Playing alongside veteran Robert Lang, trade deadline acquisition Kyle Calder has been rejuvenated in Detroit and has emerged as a legitimate top-line forward.
73 45–19–9 99 229 183 14.4% 86.1%

4 ANAHEIM DUCKS (4): Underrated checking center Samuel Pahlsson will likely prove critical to the Ducks’ Cup hopes. Called upon to match up against the opposition’s top forwards every night, he has been particularly effective against the Sharks’ Joe Thornton.
73 43–18–12 98 236 190 20.6%85.3%

5 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (7): Rearguard Sami Salo leads the Canucks with a strong plus-18 rating, but is currently out of the lineup with a groin strain. As a result, trade deadline acquisition Brent Sopel has become a critical component of Vancouver’s blue line.
73 44–23–6 94 197 180 14.8%88.8%

6 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (5): Three key players — captain Patrik Elias, sniper Brian Gionta, and checking center John Madden — all remain sidelined with groin injuries, which goes a long way toward explaining their ongoing skid.
73 43–22–8 94 192 181 13.7% 85.8%

7 OTTAWA SENATORS (10): The Sens have gotten points in nine straight games, and while they aren’t likely to catch the first-place Sabres during the regular season, they just might have what it takes to prevail in the postseason.
74 43–23–8 94 256 203 14.8%89.5%

8 DALLAS STARS (6): Mike Modano scored the 502nd and 503rd goals of his career on Saturday night, to become the NHL’s alltime leading American-born scorer. It’s been a remarkable career for the Stars’ captain.
72 43–24–5 91 194 175 17.1% 84.7%

9 SAN JOSE SHARKS (9): The Sharks closely resemble last year’s Cup-winning Hurricanes, from their goaltending platoon (Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov) to their no-name defense to their devastating one-two punch at center (Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau).
73 44–25–4 92 222 177 20.9%85.9%

10 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (8): Just two points behind the Devils, the Atlantic Division race is a critical one for both teams, not only because it secures home-ice advantage in the first round, but it also means avoiding a first-round date with the powerful Senators.
73 41–22–10 92 251 225 16.9% 84.7%

11 MINNESOTA WILD (11): The Wild are somehow managing to keep pace with the white-hot Canucks and will return to the postseason for the first time since 2003. But starting netminder Manny Fernandez’s ailing knee is cause for serious concern in St. Paul.
74 43–24–7 93 212 181 15.7% 88.9%

12 ATLANTA THRASHERS (13): Keith Tkachuk has tallied nine points and a very solid plus-7 rating in 10 games for the Thrashers. But the true measure of his value won’t be known until the postseason, when they will make their first-ever appearance this spring.
74 39–25–10 88 227 225 14.3% 81.4%

13 CALGARY FLAMES (12): After squandering a huge lead over the ninth-place Avs, speculation began that head coach Jim Playfair’s job was in jeopardy. But GM Darryl Sutter squashed those rumors, and the Flames rebounded with a big 2–1 win over Detroit.
73 38–25–10 86 233 201 17.6%83.9%

14 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (14): The convoluted goaltending saga took another turn for the bizarre when Karri Ramo was recalled from the AHL; head coach John Tortorella’s lack of confidence in his netminders will once again be the Lightning’s downfall.
74 40–30–4 84 230 232 16.0%82.9%

15 COLORADO AVALANCHE (19): Given up for dead just two weeks ago, the Avs have been one of the NHL’s hottest teams in March and are now only six points behind the faltering Flames with a game in hand.
72 37–29–6 80 238 224 19.1% 82.1%

16 NEW YORK RANGERS (18): Of all the teams in the densely-packed race for the sixth, seventh, and eighth playoff spots in the East, the Rangers are the only ones on an upward trajectory. Unlike last year, they have gotten hot at exactly the right time.
73 36–28–9 81 210 196 17.2% 86.7%

17 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (15): Whether it was the injury to Rick DiPietro (he returned and looked a bit shaky on Tuesday in a 4–3 loss to the Lightning) or the Chris Simon suspension, it’s clear that the Isles have lost their momentum.
72 34–27–11 79 217 212 15.6%83.2%

18 CAROLINA HURRICANES (17): Center Rod Brind’Amour wins 58% of the faceoff draws he takes when the Hurricanes are short-handed, contributing mightily to their penalty-killing effectiveness; his 219 shorthanded faceoff wins are most in the NHL.
73 36–29–8 80 215 217 13.0% 87.5%

19 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (16): Andrew Raycroft demonstrated on Tuesday night against Martin Brodeur and the Devils that he has the skills to match up against the league’s best. But if he fails to be consistent, the Leafs won’t reach the postseason.
73 35–28–10 80 224 236 14.5% 79.6%

20 MONTREAL CANADIENS (20): Rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak has delivered strong performances in two straight games (stopping 67 of 69 shots), but it’s far too early to anoint him as the secondcoming of Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy, as the overzealous Montreal press are wont to do.
74 37–31–6 80 215 231 20.4%87.6%

21 FLORIDA PANTHERS (22): Tied for second in the NHL with 313 shots on goal, Olli Jokinen has blossomed into a bona-fide topline center. But given the Panthers’ struggles, it’s clear that a lot more offensive support is needed in South Florida.
73 31–29–13 75 217 231 16.2%83.6%

22 BOSTON BRUINS (21): In what has by and large been a season to forget for the Bruins, a bright spot has been the inspired play of pre-deadline acquisition Brandon Bochenski (18 points in 21 games with the B’s, team-leading plus-5 rating).
72 34–33–5 73 202 252 13.4% 84.1%

23 ST. LOUIS BLUES (23): Top prospect Erik Johnson and the Minnesota Golden Gophers are heavy favorites to win the 2007 NCAA championship. The tournament begins this week and ends with the Frozen Four in St. Louis’s Scottrade Center.
72 30–30–12 72 190 221 9.9% 83.5%

24 EDMONTON OILERS (24): Entering last night’s game against the Avalanche, the Oilers were 2–12–2 in their previous 16 games and hadn’t won since February 23rd; a serious off-season talent influx will be required if the Oilers are to reemerge as Cup contenders.
73 30–36–7 67 181 217 13.7%86.0%

25 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (25): Star center Sergei Fedorov was recently moved to the blue line by head coach Ken Hitchcock. One of the game’s best two-way players, it will be very interesting to see whether this move becomes a permanent one.
73 29–37–7 65 182 226 13.7%82.4%

26 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (27): In the span of four days, both Chris Clark and Alexander Semin tallied natural hat tricks for the Capitals. Not surprisingly, the Caps’ play has improved dramatically following Olaf Kolzig’s return to the lineup last Thursday.
73 26–34–13 65 218 257 13.8%84.3%

27 LOS ANGELES KINGS (29): Young forward Mike Cammalleri has been a revelation this season, tallying 71 points in 72 games (with a plus-8 rating) while tallying a team-leading 14 power play goals.
73 25–34–14 64 210 252 16.3% 79.8%

28 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (26): Blackhawks forward prospect Jonathan Toews helped Canada win a gold medal at the WJC’s, and now he’ll be looking to lead the red-hot University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux to victory at the Frozen Four.
72 27–36–9 63 181 230 10.6%85.2%

29 PHOENIX COYOTES (28): It will be tempting to import more high-priced talent this summer, but a better bet would be to accumulate some more valuable prospects to restock an organizational cupboard that is surprisingly bare.
73 28–41–4 60 196 254 12.9%79.5%

30 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (30): Gritty center Mike Richards’ season got off to a horrendous start, but his play has improved dramatically of late; he’s tallied 19 points in his last 23 games and is once again considered a critical component of the Flyers’ future.
73 20–42–11 51 191 271 10.4%89.4%

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.