Thanksgiving and Black Friday are in the rear view mirror, with pockets empty and belts straining. Let's be honest, you said you would go for a guilt shaking run Thursday morning but that never happened. A full schedule of NHL games on Friday means that teams will need to shake off their Tryptophan hangovers and push away from the mashed potatoes and stuffing. It also means that there could be some shuffling at the top of the NHL standings.

Thanksgiving Thursday also marked the first day if Hanukah, an eight day and night celebration of the rededication of the Holy Temple during the Maccabean Revolt. It occurred during Teemu Selanne’s first season with the original Winnipeg Jets, and long before Gary Bettman was unleashed upon the National Hockey League. To celebrate the festival of lights, lets reflect on the previous seven days of hockey to see who climbed and who fell in the rankings.

Take a break from putting up your festive seasonal decorations and join me while I take you on a whirlwind tour of the NHL Power Rankings 7.0.Trust me, your inflatable nativity scene, dreidel or Kwanzaa decor will still be there when you are done.

30. Buffalo Sabres-They have the worst record in the NHL by far and have lost five games in a row. Anything else you need to know about Buffalo?

29. New York Islanders-I still can’t believe that I was that wrong about this team. I don’t take any comfort in knowing that everyone else was too. Lost four in a row and eight of ten. Don’t be surprised to see Jack Capuano out as coach within a week.

28. Calgary Flames-With Sean Monahan out, there isn’t much else to watch in Calgary. The Flames free fall will continue, and they will pretty much be racing Buffalo for the Connor McDavid sweepstakes.

27. Florida Panthers-New coach. Same results. Thanks to Buffalo, Florida won’t see last place though.

26. Edmonton Oilers-Signs of life on Edmonton with the Ilya Bryzgalov show beginning this past week. Oilers have won four of ten, which is actually a good sign for them. A shutout by Bryz is awesome, even if it a came against Nashville.

25. Columbus Blue Jackets-Marian Gaborik is out until who knows when? On October 25 the Blue Jackets were 5-5. Since then they are 4-8-3 and have played themselves into an afterthought in the Metropolitan Division.

24. Ottawa Senators-Just when you think the Senators are going to start winning they actually play worse. Wins over Washington and Detroit were impressive, but losses to Carolina and Columbus are troubling and could prove costly in the long run.

23. New Jersey Devils-An identity crisis is the diagnosis in New Jersey where the Devils can’t decide if they want to be a contender or not. Three straight wins last week put them in the playoff picture, and three straight losses took them right out. Good defense, bad offense.

22. Carolina Hurricanes-The Canes are another club that will surprise a top team, and then lay an egg against a doormat. Eric Staal has yet to play well and goaltending continues to be an issue.

21. Winnipeg Jets-The Jets have five wins in ten games and that’s about where you can expect to see them the rest of the season. Word on the street is that Evander Kane could be on the trade market. If he goes, so go the playoff ambitions in Winnipeg.

20. Nashville Predators-Pekka Rinne hasn’t been replaced in Nashville by Marek Mazanec, but the Preds can thank their back up goaltender for keeping Nashville competitive. Unfortunately they can’t score consistently enough to be relevant in the brutal Central Division.

19. Philadelphia Flyers-The Flyers have enough talent to go on a winning streak and put themselves back in the thick of the Metro Division, but can’t seem to sustain their goal scoring touch.

18. Washington Capitals-Overshadowing the slumping Caps’ losing streak is Martin Erat saying that he wants to be traded. Nobody wants him though so he gets to stay and Washington and gets overpaid to suck.

17. Dallas Stars-The Stars look like a team that can get to the playoffs, but need some consistent performances against top teams. An impressive 6-3 rout of Anaheim came on the heels of two bad losses to St. Louis and New York (Rangers).

16. New York Rangers-No shame in the Rangers’ loss to Boston on Black Friday, but it’s about time for the blue shirts to put on some big boy pants with a statement game. They are hovering around .500 on the year and I speak for everyone when I say that it’s getting a little tiring to say that the “Rangers are on the rise!”

15. Detroit Red Wings-Who are the Detroit Red Wings? I don’t think anyone believes they are as bad as the seven game losing streak. I also don’t think anyone believes they are the team that dominated Boston 6-1. Somewhere in the middle isn’t a bad place to be, and if they can win two out of every three games, Detroit will be just fine.

14. Toronto Maple Leafs-Their loss on Wednesday night to Pittsburgh was brutal and exposed the Leafs defense again as being soft. Surrendering a big lead is bad, to Pittsburgh, not so bad, but completely blowing the game is tough to swallow.

13. Montreal Canadiens-The streaking Habs are on the rise and finally getting some goals to support their top five defense. If Montreal can keep putting pucks in the net, they can push Boston in the Atlantic. Carey Price has been the real deal so far this year.

12. Vancouver Canucks-The Canucks found their winning ways at Ottawa’s expense on Thursday night. Vancouver is better than they had been playing, but the record suffered and so did their place in the tough Pacific Division.

11. Colorado Avalanche-The Avalanche and Patrick Roy are clawing and scratching to keep the Avs on pace with the rest of the Central Division. After their improbable start, Colorado was bound to cool off. How far they will fall is open for debate, but they have been about .500 since Semyon Varlamov’s legal troubles began.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning-The defense in Tampa is keeping them relevant, but they’ll need to score some goals to keep from falling too far in the standings. Ben Bishop is still playing out of his mind, but he’ll need some help to keep the playoff dream alive.

9. Minnesota Wild-The Wild had lost two in a row before their game against Colorado Friday night, but still hold a 6-3-1 record in their last ten games. The Central Division will become cannibalistic, as Colorado, Chicago, St. Louis and the Wild will all start beating the hell out of one another down the stretch. Minnesota looks well equipped to survive with a young and underrated defense and excellent goaltending.

8. Phoenix Coyotes-The Coyotes stumbled a little bit over the last week but still are a top team in the Pacific Division. Goaltender Mike Smith will play better and the Coyotes could be a dark horse to contend for the division crown.

7. Los Angeles Kings-No Jonathan Quick, no problem. That has been the case so far for the Kings as Ben Scrivens has filled in admirably while Quick has been out. The Kings don’t have a regulation loss in their last 10 games, but have won only six of those contests.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins-Sidney Crosby and company have started to stockpile wins and that could be bad news for the Eastern Conference. Evgeni Malkin has also started to play well, which is a matchup nightmare for every opponent. If they can get solid goaltending, Pittsburgh is a top five team.

5. Anaheim Ducks-The Ducks are tied at the top of the Pacific Division with San Jose, but have three games in hand so far. The Ducks have cooled off lately with a 4-4-2 record over the last ten contests but will have a chance to impress with games against Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles and San Jose in the next four.

4. Boston Bruins-The Bruins are one of two Eastern Conference teams in the top ten overall in the NHL. They look much more like the team that took the Rangers out Friday than the team that knelt down for Detroit Wednesday night. The Bruins and Penguins look to be head and shoulders above the rest of the east, with the edge to Boston for now.

3. St. Louis Blues-Technically if St. Louis wins their next game they’ll have the best record in the league. The Blues had a chance to take a big game at San Jose, but the Sharks drew blood on home ice. (Shark pun) I still like St. Louis in a series against just about anyone, but at this moment, the Blues sit in the 3rd spot.

2. San Jose Sharks-If the Sharks can continue to get production from all four lines than they will be tough to beat at home or on the road. They looked dominant against an elite St. Louis team at HP Pavilion, though the Blues nearly came back on them.

1. Chicago Blackhawks-They are the owners of the top record in the NHL and seem to be playing some solid team defense. Chicago keeps winning, which forces the rest of the Western Conference to try and keep up with the defending champs. Chicago scores more than any team in the NHL, and if they can keep the puck out of their own net, they’ll be tough to beat.