With the move of my column to Wednesday, there isn't much new news in the NHL. However, the Ice Vols had a big weekend and will be in action again this weekend.

Ice vols weekend wrap up

The seventh-ranked Ice Vols kicked off the second half of the season last weekend with a bang. Tennessee bullied the Georgia Bulldogs and played Division 2 Kennesaw State in a rivalry game.

On Friday night, the Ice Vols went to Georgia and repaid the ACHA South No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs for a loss earlier this year. In their first meeting, the Ice Vols blew a 3 - 2 lead in the final period to lose 4 - 3.

This time, the game was much different. After Georgia took a 1 - 0 lead midway through the first period, Tennessee responded with one first period goal and two second period goals, taking a 3 - 1 lead into the final period.

After the teams alternated goals twice in the first 10 minutes of the third period, bringing the score to 5 - 3, the Ice Vols' Joe Williams took away any chance of another Georgia comeback.

Williams scored a natural hat-trick, three goals in-a-row, adding to his two previous goals, to put the Ice Vols up for good.

Georgia added a late goal but that was not near enough as Tennessee won 8 - 4.

Saturday night, the Ice Vols played Kennesaw State for the second time as well.

Last year, the Ice Vols swept Kennesaw State but a Tennessee early round defeat in the National Championships allowed for Kennesaw State to swoop in and win the championship.

This year, Kennesaw moved up to Division 2, but in November they barely snuck by the Ice Vols in a 3 - 2 victory.

However, this game wasn't as close as in November. Jon Benner got the Ice Vols on the scoreboard first, but a very physical game ensued with many penalties.

Kennesaw State then scored three straight goals to take the lead for good, winning 8 - 2.

Hockey weekend in Knoxville

To most of the readers that might seem like a contradiction or bring about some question marks in your head, but take a gander.

Friday night there is no basketball, and on Saturday the Ohio State game is at 3:30. This means your nights are free and two of the best hockey teams in their respective leagues are playing both nights.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday the Knoxville Ice Bears play the Columbus Cottonmouths, and on Saturday the Ice Bears play the Twin City Cyclones at 7:30 p.m.

For those of you who haven't heard of the Knoxville Ice Bears, here is a little catch up.

They are currently sitting atop the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) with a 16 - 10 - 4 record and 36 points.

Columbus is second in the standings and Twin City is currently third.

Both games look to be good hockey games.

Here is the added bonus that makes the nights real hockey nights. After the Ice Bears games on both nights, the Ice Vols will play.

Friday night, the Ice Vols take on Vanderbilt at approximately 10:30 p.m. pending the finish of the Ice Bears game before hand. 

Then, on Saturday night, the Ice Vols take on Middle Tennessee State at 11:00 p.m.

Rankings

With just a few days between posts, there isn't much change in my rankings. However, there are two keep drops in my top five.

Top Five

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (26 - 16 - 3) - The Penguins did suffer a loss to Atlanta a few days ago but they got back to their winning ways against the Rangers. With several top teams starting to fall, they stay as my hottest team.

2. New Jersey Devils (26 - 15 - 3) - The Devils added another win as they beat Buffalo. They take advantage of the falls by Ottawa and Detroit to propel up the rankings.

3. Anaheim Ducks (25 - 17 - 6) - Anaheim has been moving up in the standings, and with wins against San Jose and Dallas they jump up to my number three spot.

4. Ottawa Senators (29 - 12 - 4) - Ottawa beat Detroit, but then lost to the Islanders and Washington. With Heatley out, this might be Ottawa's last week in the top five for a while. Their record is about the only thing keeping them in for the time being.

5. Detroit Red Wings (33 - 10 - 4) - The Red Wings have been pitiful lately, losing three straight. Similar to Ottawa, if it wasn't for their track record of winning this year and a drop by San Jose as well, they wouldn't be on the list.

Bottom Five

26. Toronto Maple Leafs (17 - 21 - 8) - Toronto got a one point win over Carolina, but winning over a Southeast Division (League worst) team isn't going to look too impressive.

27. Tampa Bay Lightning (17 - 24 - 5) - The Lightning went 1 - 1 over the past few days with a win over Florida. All that did was put Florida below them though.

28. Florida Panthers (20 - 22 - 4) - Add two more loses to the books for Florida. The sun is definitely not shining on the Panthers as they are 3 - 6 - 1 in their last 10.

29. Chicago Blackhawks (20 - 21 - 4) - The Blackhawks won a game, but a one point win over a struggling Nashville team isn't all to impressive.

30. Buffalo Sabres (19 - 18 - 5) - The Sabres are now at nine straight loses. They need a spark fast.

Shoulder injuries to sideline key players

Two key players to their teams will be sidelined with shoulder injuries.

Danny Heatley, of the Ottawa Senators, separated his shoulder in a victory against the Detroit Red Wings last week.

It didn't take long for his team to miss him as the Capitals finished up the season series sweep on the Senators.

The injury could sideline Heatley for about five more weeks. This is bad news for the Ottawa Senators.

It is bad enough when a team can beat the NHL's best team one night and then lose to one of the NHL's worst the next night.

Without one of their best players, and their main set up man for Daniel Alfredsson, I could see a big fall for Ottawa in the next few weeks.

The Washington Capitals also lost a key set up man for their team as well.

Michael Nylander will be out for the remainder of the season because of surgery needed to repair a torn rotator cuff. Nylander leads the team in assists and is second in goals.

Although Alex Ovechkin tends to make a lot of his goals out of his sheer ability, he is definitly going to miss the ability of Nylander to find the passing lane.