WHL Power Rankings – Week 12: Portland Continues to Climb

The Winterhawks continue to win games and climb the standings. I am not sure what happened last week when they played the Giants, but erase that game from your memory as they beat three WHL giants as well. Being winners of eight of the last nine, Portland has a full head of steam and seems to be heading to the top of the Western Conference. Only one point out of second place before the second week in December is something we all thought was impossible in October.

I am very impressed with how this team can gut out wins against tough opponents and I think if it keeps up, we could be talking “coach of the year.” There has been one team that has given the Winterhawks fits all year, Seattle, and Portland heads to their place on Saturday. I would like to believe that those three losses to Seattle was the team that is long in the past but we will see. With only two games on the schedule for the next two weeks, let’s hope the momentum does not cool off.

With a very favorable schedule going into the New Year, I would guess this team wins 14 or 15 of the next 17 games. They got their brutal early season matchups out of the way and will be the superior team in each of the next 17 games before taking on a good-looking Victoria squad at the end of January. If they win 14 out of the next 17, you better believe I will have this team in the top spot. See ya next week Hawk fans.

Checkout where the Winterhawks fell in Week 12’s WHL Power Rankings:

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RANK,TEAM,REC,TREND,PREV,COMMENTS

1,,21-7-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,2,”Medicine Hat Tigers~~The Tigers are playing good right now. Even with a loss to Portland on Sunday, they have won five of the last six and look to be in perfect stride heading into the new year. With games against inferior competition coming up, I think they will have less than ten losses heading into 2015. ”
2,,24-4-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,3,”Kelowna Rockets~~This team won two out of three last week but is still not playing the same hockey they were playing at the start of the season. Over the last nine games, they are 4-5. All that being said, this team is 20 games over .500, which is pretty good. ”
3,,22-7-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,1,”Brandon Wheat Kings~~It was a week to forget for the Wheat Kings as they lost two of three. This team can score in bunches, but it seems that if they aren’t scoring six goals, they are scoring two or fewer and that seems to have led to some losses that shouldn’t happen. While I believe this team is one of the best teams in the WHL, if they can’t get more consistency, I can’t see them winning the title. ”
4,,17-13-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,5,”Portland Winterhawks~~Even though they have won eight of the last nine and are hot right now, I am sure most Winterhawk fans are left wondering how they lost to the Giants last week. Other than that though, they easily beat the Royals, Silvertips, and Tigers all in the same week. I don’t know about you, but that impresses me. ”
5,,17-7-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,4,”Everett Silvertips~~The Silvertips won on Wednesday before facing a gauntlet of a weekend. They had to host the Tigers before traveling to Portland the next night. Both of those resulting in losses meaning as of late, the Silvertips have lost four straight to teams inside this top ten. This team beats whom they should beat and struggles against the top teams. Could it be a sign of things to come?”
6,,16-11-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +2,8,”Red Deer Rebels~~With a 2-1 week, the Rebels jump up two spots. We can only assume giving up nine goals to the Hitmen was a fluke as they came back the next two games and allowed three goals total. This team has slowly been climbing and could be a scary matchup in the playoffs. ”
7,,16-14-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,6,”Victoria Royals~~I wouldn’t say the week for the Royals was good or bad. A loss to the Winterhawks followed up by a win against the Blades. I think the one thing holding Victoria back is their defense. I think they can compete for a title if they tighten that up. ”
8,,17-11-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +3,11,”Calgary Hitmen~~It was a memorable week for the Hitmen. Not only did they win all three of their games, but also made headlines with the amount of teddy bears tossed onto the ice. They scored 23 games over the three games won all three comfortably. ”
9,,18-10-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,10,”Regina Pats~~I am second guessing this ranking as I believe it is too low, but there is not many spaces above them to go. They are eight games above .500 and seem to be clicking right now having won five straight. If they win both games this week, you better believe I’ll have them higher. ”
10,,16-13,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -3,7,”Tri-City Americans~~This team cannot make up their mind on whether they want to be good or not. They seem to win games against good teams, and lose games against bad teams. With a bunch of games coming up against good teams, the Americans might be in a good spot. ”
11,,14-12-5,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,9,”Edmonton Oil Kings~~Another rough weekend for the Oil Kings as they drop both games they played in. The good news for the Oil Kings though is that they didn’t have a third game during the week, because that probably would have been a loss too. They conceded 13 goals over the two games and looked outmatched in both. I do not believe they have what it takes to win the title again this year. ”
12,,15-13-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,13,”Swift Current Broncos~~The Broncos went 1-1 last week but seem to have one glaring problem as of late. Over the last seven games, they have given up 37 goals. Giving up more than five goals a game is sure to see your team never make it into the top ten. ”
13,,15-16,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,14,”Kootenay Ice~~Ever since I wrote this team off, they have been winning. After going 2-1 this weekend, they are now one game away from getting back to .500. I think they just got off to a rough start this season; expect them to keep climbing. ”
14,,14-12-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,12,”Spokane Chiefs~~It has been a nightmare eight days for the Chiefs. Since last Sunday, they have lost five straight games. Once holding a spot in the top ten, they continue to slip this week because they cannot put the puck in the net. The Chiefs have not scored more than two goals a game in the last six, and that won’t win you many games in the WHL. ”
15,,15-15,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,16,”Prince George Cougars~~It was a successful week for the Cougars who won two games including a road win at Kelowna. This team seems to play better on the road, so I expect them to keep moving up as they have seven of the next ten away from home. ”
16,,13-14-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,15,”Moose Jaw Warriors~~The Warriors slip back below .500. This team seems perfectly content with staying around that, so I don’t expect too much movement in upcoming weeks from Moose Jaw. ”
17,,13-13-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,18,”Seattle Thunderbirds~~It was a surprisingly impressive performance last week for the Thunderbirds. Winning two out of three with the only loss coming at the hands of the powerhouse Tigers. I still do not think the Thunderbirds can sustain any sort of momentum and for that, they stay near the bottom. ”
18,,15-15,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,19,”Prince Albert Raiders~~The week started out extremely well for the Raiders winning two road games against the Cougars and Blazers. Things went wrong during the third game though as they failed to score a goal against the Rockets.”
19,,12-18,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,20,”Vancouver Giants~~For a team that has been struggling to win games, they sure had a good week and have now won three straight. I’m still questioning how they beat Portland last week. Look for this mini winning streak to end next week against Victoria. ”
20,,12-15-5,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -3,17,”Kamloops Blazers~~Not only have the Blazers lost seven straight, the last five were on home ice. I think we can all predict what will happen on their eight game road trip coming up. ”
21,,6-19-4,—,21,”Lethbridge Hurricanes~~Same story, different weekend for the Hurricanes. Six wins in 29 games is not something to write home to mom about. I have zero faith in this team climbing into the top 20 this year. ”
22,,7-21-3,—,22,”Saskatoon Blades~~I am sure no one outside of Saskatoon is counting, but that is seven straight losses and 10 out of the last 11 for the Blades. This team stinks and that’s all I can say at this time. ”

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