With the holidays just around the corner, I examine the Six Pack for the ninth time this season. While the Canucks find a 6-5 Swede under their tree, the Oilers and Sens continue to find coal in their stockings. Here is my latest take on Canada's six teams. 1. Montreal (18-9-5) The Habs capped off another winning week with an OT win over Buffalo Saturday night, and they should keep it going with a home-date versus Carolina on Sunday. Montreal has hit their fair share of rough spots early on,...

1. Montreal (13-6-4) After being out of the top spot for one measly week, the Habs reclaim their rightful spot as the top team in Canada. They hit a bit of a bump in the road, and still aren't completely out of the woods, but a big win over the champs and a character win last night over Buffalo will hide that blemish against the lowly Islanders earlier in the week. 2. Calgary (14-9-1) They're knocking on the door of the spot we all though they would be at some point or another, no.1 in the...

A month and a half into the season and we now have a pretty good perception of all six Canadian teams' identities. Here is how the Six Pack stacks up as of November 16: 1. Montreal (9-4-2) It's hard to keep the Habs in the no.1 spot after a couple of poor weeks that have seen them lose four of five. Their only win this week was against the listless bottom-dwellers of this list, but the fact remains that if all six Canadian teams battled it out, Les Canadiens would emerge victorious. 2. Vancouver...

Another week of hockey has come and gone in the marathon known as the N.H.L. regular season. Here is how the six Canadian teams stack up so far, in the third edition of the Six Pack rankings: 1. Montreal (8-1-1) This is a recording, the Montreal Canadiens are the best of Canada's six N.H.L. teams. But seriously, after another perfect week (3-0-0) the Habs are in a class of their own through 10 games of the season. What a way to top off the week too, with a thrilling come from behind win over...

Five games into the NHL preseason, and Darryl Sutter looks like he finally might have grasped the concept of this whole "new NHL" thingie. Since the rule changes were implemented a few years back, Sutter continued to pursue the same type of players that took him to the Finals in 2004 - clearly the wrong approach. This past off-season, his entire approach seemed to change. Bringing in guys like Cammalleri, Glencross, and Bourque has not only improved the team's overall speed, but also...