WHL Power Rankings – Week 13: Contenders and Pretenders

We are pretty much at the halfway point of the season. In my opinion, I believe there are three sets of teams: the contenders, the middlemen, and the bottom dwellers. I believe the top eight teams in my rankings are the contenders. Expect them to stay in the top eight and continue winning. If I was going to put money on it, I believe the WHL champion would come out of that group.

The middlemen are 9-20 on these rankings. These teams have shown signs of brilliance at times and shown signs of pure incompetence at times. I expect them to jockey around for position to try and scrape into the playoffs but I do not see them actually being successful in the playoffs. That leaves the last two teams, the Blades and the Hurricanes, who would be even lower on the list if there were more teams in the WHL.

The Winterhawks had another successful week going 2-1. It is a tad disappointing that they lost to Spokane at the start of the week, but every team at the top lost at least once this weekend. The Winterhawks have come a long ways since only having one win in the first ten games. That means they have won 18 times out of the last 26 games, which is a torrent pace. While it is hard for any team to keep that up throughout the year, I do expect them to continue winning on a regular basis. If they go 2-1 every week until the end of the year, they will win their division easily and most likely the conference.

With a 13-day stretch between games, lets just hope the winter break doesn’t cool the momentum. I think Adin Hill has a real chance to win goaltender of the year in the WHL. He currently leads the league in save percentage and looks extremely good. Any hockey fan knows, that good goaltending can be the great equalizer. It seems to be working so far with Portland, who has not been able to score a lot of goals as of late, but it doesn’t matter if they keep tallying up wins.

Checkout where the Winterhawks fell in Week 13’s WHL Power Rankings:

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RANK,TEAM,REC,TREND,PREV,COMMENTS

1,,23-8-2,—,1,”Medicine Hat Tigers~~It’s a real toss up between the top three teams and they all are well deserving of the top spot. The Tigers remain there this week after a 2-1 week with the loss coming to the rockets. With one more home game before the break against the Blazers, this team will likely be in the top spot next rankings as well.”
2,,26-5-3,—,2,”Kelowna Rockets~~The Rockets were on a three game winning streak until the Hitmen knocked them off on Sunday. I am still impressed with the fact that they have claimed at least one point in 29 out of the 34 games they have played this year. That is a recipe for a conference title. ”
3,,24-8-3,—,3,”Brandon Wheat Kings~~Just like the rest of the top teams in this league, the Wheat Kings couldn’t get out of the week unblemished. This team is still scoring at a rampant pace right now leading the league with 155 goals. For all you math nerds out there, that is over 4.5 goals a game. ”
4,,19-14-3,—,4,”Portland Winterhawks~~This team continues to stay hot as they finished 2-1 last week. It has been a long time since they had a losing week. With a big break coming up, lets just hope this hot play isn’t cooled off. ”
5,,19-8-4,—,5,”Everett Silvertips~~Everett finished the week at 2-1 as well. I wouldn’t classify the loss to the Cougars as a good loss but every team has off nights. The Silvertips are one of only four teams with less than ten regulation losses, which is a very remarkable feat at the halfway mark. ”
6,,18-12-4,—,6,”Red Deer Rebels~~I bet not many people would have seen the Rebels climb into “contender” category but that is just what they have done. Before falling to Brandon on Sunday, they had won four straight. They are one of the few teams firmly above the .500 line and I expect them to stay well above it.”
7,,19-11-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,8,”Calgary Hitmen~~Like I said, this team is one of the teams I see as a contender. I was a little hesitant on the Hitmen at the start of the season, but they are proving me wrong. Calgary is currently riding a five game winning streak including dominating the rockets. I expect them to continue the good play.”
8,,19-11-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,9,”Regina Pats~~Usually going 1-1 during a week wouldn’t constitute moving up in the rankings, but with the Royals poor play, that’s exactly what the Pats did. They have still won five out of the last six and seem to have some momentum. ”
9,,17-16-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,7,”Victoria Royals~~If I could think of one word to describe the Royal’s week, it would be horrendous. They lost back-to-back games to the Giants, who are one of the leagues worst. This team is not in the contender category and will continue to be mediocre. ”
10,,15-13-5,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,11,”Edmonton Oil Kings~~It wasn’t a good or bad week for the Oil Kings. With only two games, they managed to win one of them. This team seems to be content with not defending their title, as they never can string any wins together. ”
11,,16-14-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,12,”Swift Current Broncos~~I remember when I had this team in the top 4. Things sure have changed since then. The Broncos seem to be in a rut and losing just as many games as they win. The last 11 games, they are 5-6 and have not been able to win more than two in a row. This is another middleman and will not compete for the title this year. ”
12,,17-17,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,13,”Kootenay Ice~~If there is one team that could escape from the middle of the pack and surprise in the playoffs, it’s the Ice. This team got off to an abysmal start and has finally climbed back to .500. They have talent, and could challenge at the end but it is still a long shot. ”
13,,16-12-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,14,”Spokane Chiefs~~Spokane fell victim to the Winterhawks like most of the league has as of late. They bounced beack nicely though with a win against the Cougars. This is another on of those teams that has talent but cannot seem to string wins together. ”
14,,17-15-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -4,10,”Tri-City Americans~~The Americans lost three out of four games last week with the sole win against the lowly Thunderbirds. I’ll take it with a grain of salt though as the three losses were against the Silvertips and the Winterhawks. ”
15,,17-16,—,15,”Prince George Cougars~~Prince George was looking to gain momentum with a four game winning streak before losing to the chiefs on Saturday. This team has been grinding hard to try and get some consistency, and until that loss it looked like it was on the right track. ”
16,,15-15-3,—,16,”Moose Jaw Warriors~~I seem to be saying this about all these “middle of the pack” teams but I’ll say it again about the Warriors. They win one or two games in a row, and then they lose one or two games in a row. Lack of consistency will keep them around .500.”
17,,15-18,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +2,19,”Vancouver Giants~~I kind of discounted this team a couple weeks ago and I might have jumped the gun. Yeah, they are still at the bottom of the standings in the west but are riding a current six-game winning streak. That shows how bad they must have been if they are still in last after winning six in a row.”
18,,13-15-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,17,”Seattle Thunderbirds~~Seattle finally lost to the Winterhawks on Saturday. They were undefeated against Portland up to that point. The Thunderbirds also lost the other game they played in last week. Scoring one goal in two combined games could be to blame for the two losses.”
19,,15-18-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,18,”Prince Albert Raiders~~The Raiders were able to get off the scoreless schnide this week after going over 12 periods without a goal. That didn’t help them much though as they still lost including giving up seven to the Tigers. ”
20,,13-18-5,—,20,”Kamloops Blazers~~Just because the Blazers won two games next week doesn’t mean they are good. This team is struggling to find an identity right now and I don’t expect them to find it any time soon.”
21,,6-20-5,—,21,”Lethbridge Hurricanes~~One of the two WHL “bottom dwellers” is these Hurricanes. They are not very good at the moment, and I don’t anticipate them being good for a long time. Riding a six-game losing streak into a road trip is never a recipe for success.”
22,,7-24-3,—,22,”Saskatoon Blades~~The losing streak for the Blades has reached double digits. Ten straight losses is an impressive feat which should not end any time soon.”

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