WHL Power Rankings – Week 3: New Winners and Losers

The Winterhawks managed to salvage a weekend that was starting to look like a continuing trend.

They blew a lead against Seattle and had a tough game against Everett coming up the next night. They were facing another winless weekend and another spot in the basement of the power rankings. Portland decided to play like we all expected them to play and beat the Silvertips in OT. It doesn’t look like they solved all their defensive woes, but allowing only 3.5 goals a game for the weekend is a step in the right direction.

They have a chance to continue the momentum with games against Everett and Seattle this week. Portland will look for serious revenge against Seattle next Saturday as the Thunderbirds visit the Moda Center for the third time this season.

Checkout where the Winterhawks fell in Week 3’s WHL Power Rankings:

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RANK,TEAM,REC,TREND,PREV,COMMENTS

1,,6-0,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,2,”Kelowna Rockets~~This should not be a surprise as they are the only undefeated team left in the WHL. They scored on close to 50% of their power plays this weekend which will likely keep them near the top of this list all year long. ”
2,,5-0-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,1,”Brandon Wheat Kings~~Still have yet to lose in regulation and followed up that overtime defeat with a 7-1 demolition of Tri-City. Ivan Provorov is the front runner for rookie of the year and looks to be blossoming into a superstar. Look for him to keep up the scoring and keep the Wheat Kings winning.”
3,,6-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +6,9,”Medicine Hat Tigers~~The Tigers went 3-0 this weekend including outscoring their opponents 13-2 in the two games they played at home. Marek Langhamer looked like one of the best goalies in the league this weekend and looks to keep the Tigers up near the top of the standings.”
4,,3-0-2,—,4,”Everett Silvertips~~Have claimed at least one point in every game this season leaving them in the four spot. This team seems to have a lot of grit coming back in both games to salvage a point. Also extremely disciplined averaging only 10 penalty minutes a game. ”
5,,4-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +3,8,”Swift Current Broncos~~Had lost four straight games before righting the ship and winning the last two games of the weekend. They seem to be heading in the right direction again after an early season slump. ”
6,,3-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,7,”Prince Albert Raiders~~Won their home game before dropping a road game to Regina on Saturday. Other than the opener, they have yet to score more than three goals in a game, and in this league that could prove costly. ”
7,,5-2-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +7,14,”Kamloops Blazers~~Out of a possible eight points this weekend, they claimed six of them going 3-1. That solid weekend has them making a big jump into seventh. Getting points in 75% of your games is guaranteed to keep you competitive. They have the talent to keep it up too.”
8,,4-2,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,6,”Vancouver Giants~~Dropped a couple spots due to having a 1-2 record this week. They had lost two straight before getting back on track on Sunday. The Giants have yet to win on the road (1 game) so all these wins must be taken with a grain of salt. ”
9,,3-2-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +3,12,”Regina Pats~~Did not take a regulation loss this weekend. Beat Prince Albert handily before taking an overtime loss on Sunday. They have only played two games at home so far, so expect their record to improve even more once they get to play on home ice a little bit more. ”
10,,3-3-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +7,17,”Moose Jaw Warriors~~Played three games this weekend and didn’t suffer a regulation loss claiming 5/6 points. A successful weekend for a team that started the season 0-2 sees them now tied for fourth in points in the Eastern Conference. They have yet to claim a road victory though, so unless they fix the “away from home” jitters, they might not be in fourth for long. ”
11,,3-2-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +4,15,”Calgary Hitmen~~They also claimed five out of a six possible points this weekend. One thing that held them back from making a bigger jump in the standings was losing in a shootout to far inferior Lethbridge. Three of their next four games are against WHL powers, so we will be able to see if they can hang with the big boys. ”
12,,3-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,13,”Tri-City Americans~~Had a quality win against Brandon, but then got smothered by the Moose Jaw Warriors the next night. While they sit in the middle of the standings, they have four games this week that could see them dropping a bit. They play three of them against teams who have proven to be superior to them to start the season. ”
13,,3-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -10,3,”Edmonton Oil Kings~~It was a rough weekend for the defending champs dropping all three games they played. After playing their first home game in front of over 11,000 people, their three home games this weekend saw about that amount of fans combined. Coincidence? They might need big crowds to play good, which could be why they always play well in the playoffs. ”
14,,2-1-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -9,5,”Spokane Chiefs~~Only team to have played four games, they had a rough weekend losing in overtime on Friday, then getting smacked on Saturday. With their next three all coming against Seattle, they look to right this ship before things get worse. They are not scoring very many goals, and in the WHL it is never a good thing to rely on defense to keep you in games.”
15,,3-4,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +3,18,”Prince George Cougars~~This team has a little identity problem. In every loss they have given up six goals or more but every win has scored five or more. They win 6-2 on Saturday before losing 6-1 on Sunday. If they want to move up the standings, giving up six goals in a game has got to stop ASAP. ”
16,,3-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -6,10,”Red Deer Rebels~~A 1-2 road trip wont sit well with Rebel fans. The Rebels seem to inconsistent this year beating teams they shouldn’t beat and losing to teams they should beat. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for them going forward as next to games are against top WHL teams. ”
17,,2-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -3,14,”Seattle Thunderbirds~~The shining moment of the weekend was getting a come from behind shootout win against Portland. They went on to lose the next night to undefeated Kelowna, but everyone has lost to Kelowna so far this year. Moved down in the rankings because they have proven to be superior to Portland but needed a shootout to beat them. ”
18,,2-3,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,16,”Kootenay Ice~~They won their home opener before giving up six goals in a loss on the road. No need to panic yet as they have only played one home game. If they can manage this tough road schedule to start the season, they will have a huge home-stand to climb the standings at the end of the month. ”
19,,1-3-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +1,20,”Lethbridge Hurricanes~~Out of a possible four points this weekend, they claimed three of them. Still only have one win on the year though so find themselves at the bottom of the rankings. Three game road trip this upcoming weekend will be a true test of this team’s talent. ”
20,,1-5-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-up] +2,22,”Portland Winterhawks~~They finally claimed their first win. Had another one in the bag before surrendering a lead to Seattle at home. They are still last place in the west but have a chance to get another win this weekend against the hapless Royals.”
21,,1-4-1,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -2,19,”Victoria Royals~~Only played one game this week and lost in overtime. If this team wants to climb out of this hole, they are going to need to stop dropping games at home like this. ”
22,,0-5,[icon name=icon-arrow-down] -1,21,”Saskatoon Blades~~Not much I can say about the Blades, they are in last because they have yet to get a point this season. ”

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