Monday, October 1, 2012
Each and every Monday this season we will once again be releasing the top 10 team rankings. With just the Alberta bantam league underway, the rankings are still very much pre-season in nature.
Western Canada Top 10 Team Rankings
1. Edmonton SSAC 3-0-1 - An influx of talented '99 born forwards from the peewee provincial champion Edmonton Oil Kings peewee squad has added to an already talented group. This week the Lions tied a very strong Lloydminster team 5-5.
2. Burnaby Winter Club Bruins - They didn't win the recent super series which included a few other top BC teams such as POE, OHA and NSWC but they were without Jaeger White and Owen Seidel and were still finalizing the roster. BWC is loaded from top to bottom and are one of, if not the top team still.
3. Calgary Bisons 4-0-0 - Each year, the Bisons are one of the top offensive teams in western Canada and this year looks no different with 26 goals in their first 2 games. They have been led by some talented forwards and balanced scoring and feature one of the top defenceman in western Canada in Ryley Mckinstry. lone win in the past week was a 3-2 victory over Airdrie.
4. Pursuit of Excellence - The winners of the super series and not losing a game at the event. POE doesn't have the defence it had last year but the offence more than makes up for that.
5. Okanagan Hockey Academy - Also went undefeated at the super series. OHA has a well rounded squad with some stead dmen and some solid scoring throughout the line-up.
6. Notre Dame Hounds - The Hounds have yet to play a game this season but have added many of the top players from Saskatoon and the Balgonie Prairie Storm. The Hounds have the potential this year to win some major tournaments.
7. Winnipeg Hawks - The Hawks are without their top player in Nolan Patrick, who continues to heal from an injury. They also lost a very good dman in Liam Schioler to Shattuck St. Mary's. The Hawks though still have more than enough to be considered a top team from Manitoba in the new bantam league.
8. Lloydminster Heat 2-0-1 - The Heat served notice they are going to be an elite team once again, scoring 21 goals in their first 2 games this season. Kale Clague leads the team in his 3rd year of bantam hockey. Mason Shaw looks poised for a break-out season and '99 born Zane Franklin is the real deal.This week they tied SSAC which proves they are a team that has to be considered a favorite.
9. North Shore Winter Club - Still a solid team but likely will take a slight step back this year down the rankings. NSWC still have a plethora of top forwards, especially in the '99 age group but are led by Dante Hannoun and Quinn Benjafield. The defence should be pretty solid as well.
10. Sherwood Park Flyers 2-1-1 - Led by one of the top players in western Canada in Sam Steel, the Flyers are a dangerous team. The goaltending is steady and they also feature a more than adequate defence. A win vs. Edm KC and a tie vs. Leduc leave the Flyers in the top 10.
Honorable Mentions
Winnipeg Monarchs, Calgary Flames, Calgary Northeast Sabres, Langley Eagles,
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3 comments:
Won't be surprised to see POE and BWC swap places on this list. With Jost, MacDonald and Ayre up front, POE's offence is potent and the rest of the squad is solid. BWC will be relying heavily on White for scoring and he really won't have much help. Plus he seems to be too susceptible to injury. Their top two d-men are absolute studs, but goaltending is spotty. Not a huge difference between these two squads, but I think the edge goes to POE. (And no, I'm not from Kelowna :-)
Obviously the BC teams are gearing up for this weekend to see who will end up with the early season bragging rights.
Should be very interesting.
OHA deserves full credit for their victory over BWC, but the Bruins just aren't the team they were last season.
They are magic against weak teams, only competitive with other top teams. Offence struggles at even strength, and goaltending is questionable. Their top two d-men are the only consistently strong components.
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