For my Deep Dives this season, I will be looking towards special teams, and will highlight three facets in each conference that interested me so far this season.

1. Battle For The Top Dictated By Special Teams

We've seen it going on since the start of the season - the Anchorage Armada and Vancouver Whalers are duking it out for supremacy, not only in the Northwest Division, but the entire Western Conference, and the margin for error is small. Though it only takes one glance at the special teams' record for each team to see why the Alaskan franchise has taken the edge in the standings. Anchorage is just only edging Vancouver on the powerplay, due to the sheer volume of powerplay markers they share throughout the team (49 goals in 56 games, as of the time of writing this article), boasting an otherworldly conversion rate of 29.3%, as opposed to the Whalers' 27.2% - still good enough for 2nd in the league, even with a lot fewer opportunities on the powerplay than the teams surrounding them towards the top (114 powerplay chances, opposed to Anchorage's 167 and Newfoundland's 174.)

But where the teams are set apart is on the penalty kill. Anchorage is once again showing their superiority relative to the rest of the league, positioning themselves as the top penalty killing unit in the league as well with an impressive 85.7% conversion rate - whereas Vancouver is showing their shortcomings in their own end while a man short, with a conversion rate on the penalty kill sinking just below the 80% mark, at 79.1%. All in all, we can say for certain that Anchorage's special teams are what are giving them an edge in the Western Conference this season, with a combined efficiency of 115% on special teams, a whole 6% ahead of the second place team in the league, the Newfoundland Berserkers, and almost 10% ahead of the Whalers' 106.3% combined efficiency. However, this also shows that Vancouver's 5-on-5 play is on par with the Armada, so that is good news heading into the playoffs for the BC franchise.

2. Growing Pains For Youthful Battleborn

It's no surprise to anyone analyzing the league - this Nevada Battleborn squad has all the makings of a contender in the SMJHL... in two seasons. In the meantime, the Nevada franchise is hurting for veteran leadership on the ice - and it really shows on the scorecard. On average, the Battleborn take a little over five minor penalties per game (an impressive 10.53 PIM/G), overly taxing the youth movement of the team... which inevitably bends on the penalty kill, which is able to convert their shorthanded chances only 75.4% of the time. And to add insult to injury, their powerplay is converting at an abysmal rate, pointing at a 10.4% (although, on the other side of the coin, they also have had the least amount of powerplay chances in the league, at 96 - 14 less than the Detroit Falcons.) The good news? The team is showing their feistiness and the spring in their step, tallying a league-leading 8 goals in short-handed situations. Even better - we frankly didn't expect their special teams' play to be much different from what has happened this season. We're simply awaiting to see the growth of their core next season, and take the high pick to add another key piece. Such is the ebb and flow of the SMJHL, and I think Nevada is due for a big wave soon.

3. The Best Of The Rest

The Colorado Raptors don't have the pomp and circumstance that the teams highlighted in my first point have, but they are low-key having a very decent season, both at 5-on-5 and on the powerplay, which is currently pointing in fourth position in the league with 26.4%. Their only blemish is a fairly weak penalty kill, only converting on 76.3% of their penalty kill duties.
Which is where the Anaheim Outlaws enter the conversation. They're also having a decent season at 5-on-5, but for their special units, the roles are reversed. Anaheim has placed themselves as the league's fourth best penalty kill unit, at an 81.3% conversion rate - tallied on the most short-handed situations out of the top 6 teams. Their powerplay, however, has been sputtering at an 18.4% conversion rate, which throws them in the bottom half of the league in that regard.
As for the Kelowna Knights, we knew this was also a team in transition, as is the Nevada Battleborn. However, their powerplay is surprisingly lethal, with a 19.7% conversion rate, which puts them squarely in the middle of the pack. If only I could say the same about their penalty kill... a 74.1% conversion rate ranks them dead last in the league.

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@KlusteR GRADED! +5 TPE