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SMJHL Power Rankings
#1
(This post was last modified: 10-15-2020, 08:37 PM by Arkz.)

Edit: "Small" goof on the original version of this regarding Nevada. Revised. 

Get that salt ready, its time to look at some power rankings! During the course of this (maybe) series, we'll be looking at the Power Rankings for the SMJHL and try and define whose hot and who is Detroit. While the ranking will be an attempt to be un-biased, be warned I'm going to try and have some fun with the write ups because, after all, this is a sim hockey league and we should all be out here trying to have fun. So, without further ado, let's get to the rankings: 

12. Detroit Falcons -  Falcons
6W - 23L - 3OTL - 15 Pts
Woof, rough season for Detroit. They are having trouble scoring goals (62 on the year) while letting in an absolute TON (122). I don't believe in punching down though, so let's talk about some bright spots for Detroit. For me, I feel like goalie Thor Odinson is being handed a tough bid. Poor dude is 5W-22L-3OTL and has a GAA of 3.77. However, the guy also has a .906 SV% and has started the most games out of any goaltender so far this season. In fact, if you look at Game Rating, Thor is actually 7th in the league. Poor dude is just getting absolutely shelled, facing close to 40 shots a game. On another team, this guy might be looking at some All-Star votes. Detroit also is coming off a 4-0 victory over Newfoundland. Look, given their record they have to be last, but there's still some bright spots on this team and they could surprise some folks down the stretch if they can limit the amount of shots that Odinson has to face each night. 

11. Kelowna Knights - Knights
11W - 19L - 4OTL - 26 Pts
If we were doing a Power Rankings for logos, honestly this list might look very different. Both Detroit and Kelowna have great logo designs, I'm a big fan. Unfortunately for them, this is a hockey play power rankings and Kelowna has had a difficult season thus far. While they don't have as-hideous of a goal differential as Detroit (73 goals for, 113 against), they've still struggled to keep the puck out of their own net. And unlike Detroit, I can't lay the blame at the feet of the skaters in front of the goaltenders. However, its difficult to tell exactly how Kelowna stacks up in the league. Against the top four teams in the league (in no particular order: Anaheim, Carolina, Nevada, Vancouver), Kelowna has played 15 games. In those games, they are 2-11-2. If you're curious where Kelowna is dropping a lot of games, its to those folks and a reason why they are at the bottom of the standings. Still its not all bad. They've got some talent out there and they can score some points, but there may not be relief in sight (other than they don't have to play Vancouver again). 

10. St. Louis Scarecrows - Scarecrows
14W - 16L - 2OTL - 30 Pts
What's that I hear coming over the hill? Is it some hot, fresh, controversy? You're damn right it is. I'm putting St. Louis here even thugh they are technically ahead of Quebec City in the standings (more on that in a moment). St. Louis is some bad overtime luck away from being .500, so why did I rank them here so low? Let's check out that goal differential. 78 goals for, 101 against. That is positively Kelowna-like. The Scarecrows can't help themselves, giving up a good amount of goals per game. Keeper Nicolae Antonescu is doing an admirable job with what he has, but he can only do so much when facing the shots against him. They've got some point getters on their team (shout outs to Young Logo, Grapefruit Lizard, and Pavel Kharlmarov on that top line), but it drops off in a hurry. The problem is that bottom of the Scarecrows' roster is deep in the red in +/-. I'm talking in the -18, -19, -20 range. Clearly this isn't a team all pulling in the same direction, and that's killing St. Louis. 

9. Quebec City Citadelles - Citadelles
12W - 17L - 4 OTL - 28 Pts
Now at first glance, you might be thinking that Quebec is having a similar season to Kelowna. Well you'd be wrong and that's a dumb conclusion to draw. For one thing, Kelowna has played an extra game over Quebec City. But the other thing is that their goal differential is much tighter. Right now they are only running a deficit of 7 goals (83 scored, 90 allowed). That is actually significantly better than the St. Louis Scarecrows as well. Honestly its fairly close between Quebec City and Colorado, but Quebec has struggled to build up any momentum in their last ten games (4W-4L-2OTL). On the plus side for them, both their goalies are having a decent season, with special shout out to rookie Tyler Ward, who is boasting a 7-2-1 record and 1.77 GA with .938% SV%. Their goalies will keep them in games, but its up to the skaters to score some goals and see if they can find a consistent footing. 

8. Colorado Raptors - Raptors 
15W - 16L - 2OTL - 32 Pts
Raptors are the last of the teams we're looking at who are negative in their goal differential (97 goals scored, 103 allowed), but its so close that it would only take a couple good games to swing them in the other direction. And that's really the story of Colorado's season so far. There's some good play, and there's some days when they take the night off. The season still has a ways to go, and there's nothing stopping Colorado from potentially catching a team like Anchorage in the West. Big shout out to true rookie Yanno Rosejac, whose has started 22 games for Colorado this season. This has truly been a trial by fire for the rookie, but he's kept Colorado in games which is about all you can ask from a rookie. They have four players that are over 25 points on the season. That puts them all in the top 25 of the league. The middle section of the Colorado will need a look, but Anchorage should watch their back if they are able to figure it out. 

7. Newfoundland Berserkers - Berserkers
16W - 13L - 4 OTL - 36 Pts
Its been one of those seasons for the defending champs. The Berserkers are having a bit of a post-championship hangover, but they are still able to compete and are dangerous on a night to night basis. They are holding on t a slim +3 in the goal differential statistic, and have been able to keep themselves in the point column with those overtime losses. Still, you're never quite sure what you're going to get with Newfoundland, as evidenced by their most recent game in which they lost 0-4 to the Detroit Falcons. Newfoundland has the experience to maybe make a run towards the end of the season, but its perhaps more likely some hungry teams who want their shot at glory are able to give just a little bit extra. Fortunately for the Berserkers, they might have the second-best goalie tandem in the league, and that always comes in handy when the chips are down and the season is on the line. 

6. Anchorage Armada -  Armada
17W - 13L - 3OTL - 37 Pts
Honestly I've gone back and forth on where to place the Armada that I felt like I had to give them the nod over Newfoundland. Yes, Newfoundland is a top three team in the East, but the East is an absolute bloodbath right now and its tough to gage how team actually performs, and I decided to give the tie to the better point differential (though I will say, NBB is leading the season series against Anchorage 2-1). The Armada here have scored 105 goals and let in 92, and have a better win% than the Berserkers as well. Did you know that the leading goal scorer, with 14, on the Armada's name is TURG TURG? Really wish I could hear an arena announcer make that call after every time he scores a goal. Still, as well as Anchorage is playing they are dealing with a top three in the West Division that will be tough to beat. Anaheim and Vancouver might be out of reach, but TURG TURG is going to be nipping at Nevada's heels till the end of the season. 

5. Maine Timber - Timber
16W - 11L - 5 OTL - 37 Pts
You know I should have ranked lower for getting that dumb Ke$ha song stuck in my head now. Its just so damn catchy. Yeah Maine is the #2 team in the East, but if you wanted to look at the standings you should have just gone there. Do you know what their goal differential is? 1. Their win percentage is lower than all the other folks on this list. Yeah they should be able to coast on into the playoffs after feasting on the bottom three of the east, but that's no fun! We should talk about those overtime losses though. At first I thought that maybe Maine was getting some bad luck, but I was wrong. The Timber have been part of 13 overtime games this season. THIRTEEN! They've been in more overtime games than Quebec City has wins. Of those games, 10 went to a shootout. Would love to see how many folks are getting admitted to hospitals in Maine right now with heart palpitations. Leo Bloomfield, goalie for Maine, has the third most minutes played in the league but is still performing at a high level. We'll see if he's able to keep it up as we get into the back portion of the schedule. 

4. Nevada Battleborn - Battleborn
20W - 10L - 2OTL - 42 Pts
Now there might have been a big huge paragraph here that talked about Newfoundland players instead of Nevada. But that would be crazy and anyone who says otherwise can meet me in the parking lot after this is over. So, without further ado, let's talk about the Battleborn. First, can I just say that I love that Nevada's border for their logo is an outline of the state of Nevada. Just clever as hell. Anyway, Nevada might be King of the East if they were in another conference, and their depth is a big reason why. Led by winger Zelma Zuntnere with 27 points, there's five Battleborn over 20 points so far this season, with a couple more knocking on the door. A special shout out to center Raivo Helminen, who has 8 goals and 16 assist so for this season. As well as an astounding 84 penalty minutes, good for second in the league. Not sure if Raivo is a goon in a playmaker's body or its the other way around, but he's had an interesting year so far to say the least. Nevada is also one of the few teams with a defensemen in the top five for total points, with Grand Master Funk currently at 23 points. Nevada will need players like Funk and Zuntnere to keep producing, as Anchorage tries to close the gap. And if that doesn't work, Helminen will probably just challenge them all to a fight.  

3. Carolina Kraken - Kraken
20W - 11L - 1OTL - 41 Pts
And now we're here, the top three. For the third spot, I'm actually going to put the top team in the East. Why? Because I can. Third in the league in points and with a positive differential of 13, Carolina is the team to beat in the east. That said, they're goals for and against are almost the exact same as Anchorage. That's the difference in the two conferences, at least so far this season. Still, you play your schedule and so far Carolina has done that expertly. There's a little luck in only have one loss in overtime despite playing four games past the third period, but not that much. And Carolina is incredibly deep, with seven players notching twenty or more points so far this season. They've got a pair of strong goalies, and the skaters to balance it out. They'll probably finish the season at the top of the East, but it will be interesting to see how the playoffs shake out. 

2. Anaheim Outlaws - Outlaws
22W - 7L - 3 OTL - 47 Pts
Who else is tired of seeing Boxman II and Donair at the top of the scoring sheet week-in and week-out? These two are blowing out the league in points, with James Boxman II having 48 and "Long" John Donair coming in with 45. Donair, for his part, leads the league with 25 goals and is shooting a very impressive 24% with 104 shots on goal. And on top of that, the rest of the team is pretty good too! Defenseman Arsene Leclerc is probably the front-runner for Rookie of the Year with 7 goals and 13 assists on the year. Both their goalies have roughly the same stats as well, around 2.65 GAA and .910% for both. So far Anaheim and Vancouver have only played each other once this season (a 4-2 Vancouver victory), but will play each other two more times over the course of the next few weeks. If Vancouver wishes to keep their place at the top of the West, they'll need to work hard as Boxman II and Donair show no signs of letting up. 

1. Vancouver Whalers - Whalers 
27W - 7L - 0OTL - 54 Pts
And boom goes the dynamite, we hit number one. Vancouver has been hot since the start of the season and leads the league in goal differential, a preposterous +47. They trail only Anaheim in terms of total goals (114 to 127), but have let in significantly less on their side (67 to 88). Six members on the team have 20 or more points, with three more knocking on the door. Center Daniil Kikiforov has put together an impressive season with 16 goals and 23 assist, and has a bonkers +/- of 20, which is the best in the league. In fact, among the leaders in +/-, the top three are all from Vancouver, with the top 25 containing 10 Whalers for the stat. While a lot of that is owed to the offensive prowess by Nikiforov, Bryce McMahon, Rotticus Scott, and others, a lot can be seen in the goaltenders as well. Name Redacted and Jon St. Ark are the toughest one-two punch in the league this season. The veteran Redacted boasts a 15-4 record with a 2.09 GAA and .911 SV%. The true rookie St. Ark is also coming in with a 12-3 record and a 1.66 GAA and .929%. Vancouver never seems to take a night off, and that's going to be crucial if they want to stay ahead of Anaheim as the season winds on. 

And that's the first edition of the SMJHL Power Rankings! We laughed, we cried, we poked a little fun at Detroit and Kelowna. We've got roughly 16 games to go for each team for the rest of the season (some more, some less). While teams like Carolina, Vancouver, and Anaheim have likely already started thinking about the playoffs and their championship chances, there's a number of teams that could make a run at it if they are able to put the pieces together towards the end of the season. Once more, teams like Kelowna, Quebec City, and even Detroit are capable of playing spoiler if teams overlook them. The rest of the season will be exciting, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out. If you have any comments, questions, or salt, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks for reading! 

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#2

I didn't get a shout-out  Dodgy
Nice article!

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#3

Thanks for pumping my tires God knows I need it.

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#4

Outlaws
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#5

think you got Nevada and Newfoundland confused

nice article though! i'm looking forward to those upcoming Anaheim-Vancouver clashes

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#6

TURG TURG

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#7

10-15-2020, 08:20 PMBDonini Wrote: think you got Nevada and Newfoundland confused

nice article though! i'm looking forward to those upcoming Anaheim-Vancouver clashes

I don't know what you're talking... Nothing to see here....

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#8

Also Nevada has one of the best pairs in terms of total points

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#9

Nice job! Hope you find the time to keep these coming regularly Smile

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#10

It's funny, during the pre-season I watched hours and hours of video on all the possible ways you can get a penalty in a hockey match. I did that because I wanted to break Funk´s penalty minute record during this ongoing season. Guys in the team said that I will never make it, 47 is too much. The coaches of the team said the same thing, they said I will look like a fool trying to break virtually unbreakable records.

I did not listen, I just kept my eyes on the screen and when it was time to get to work, I started doing everything and anything to get into the box as often as possible. Now after a good chunk of the season is behind us -  I have the record!!


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#11

Thanks for the shout out BB. QCC is gonna win it all Wink

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#12

Anchorage Goal by TURG TUUUURRRRRRGGGGG

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#13

Nice Article!

Kelowna would totally rank #1 in logo power rankings. Knights

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