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Arkz · 03-14-2021, 09:45 PM

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Feels like just yesterday when the regular season started. So full of hope and optimism for a few teams, while others knew that they just had to get through it. And so now, after 396 games, we arrive at the final Power Rankings for Season 58. This season saw two teams jump out to an early lead and never look back. Below them, there were a number of solid teams that had solid seasons and a chance to perhaps surprise some folks in the playoffs. And then, after that, there’s a collection of teams that might already have their eyes set on next season. So, without more preamble, let’s get into the final rankings of the season!

Stats and rankings set prior to start of playoffs.

12. Maine Timber
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 12, Mid-Season: 12

Arkz: It’s been a long season for the Timber. They started out at the bottom, and they are still here. However, there wasn’t much you could do with a roster that suffered that many call ups at once to the big leagues. This is a team that’s been successful in the past and will be successful again, but there’s going to be times when the clock gets reset and it's time to bring in new blood. Unless you’re Newfoundland, all teams go through this process and unfortunately it was Maine’s turn. The Timber just couldn’t consistently get their offense or defense firing on the same nights. When they did, they could get wins against Newfoundland, Nevada, and others. Hopefully next season, after some more development, they can find their consistency night in and night out.

Shuff: They have been sitting here at number 12 all season long. We spoke about their trade for Walter Burke last time; he didn’t seem to do too much to help them. As Arkz said, this season was a rebuilding one for Maine. The large S59 class will be a season older next season; I’d project Maine to climb out of this 12 spot by the opening rankings of S59.

Dex: We did not have high expectations for the Timber heading into the season and their first half definitely showed that. However, from the last power rankings to this one, I would honestly say they have gotten better to a point where I don’t think they are the bottom team. The Timber got about 24 points to end the season which is on par with the Outlaws and Scarecrows’ 25 points since we last checked in. In addition to that, Jonny Tsunami has found the scoring touch with 24 points in 31 games. I don’t expect them upset the Berserkers as I expect them to be looking towards next season as Shuff and Arkz said.

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11. Anaheim Outlaws
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 10, Mid-Season: 10

Arkz: Similar story for the Timber, it was time once again for Anaheim to go through the rebuild process. This is a team that made it to the Four-Star final last season, but father time comes for us all. There was a nice little stretch there a few weeks ago where the Outlaws beat Anchorage, Vancouver, and Kelowna all in a row at home by a pretty convincing goal differential. Still, Anaheim suffered the same struggles that plagued Maine, consistency. They were on that good run, and then proceeded to lose a bunch of games in a row (to good competition). This team will return to form, but not this season.

Shuff: Another rebuilding team. Anaheim was ranked 10 in both of the previous rankings, but having moved Walter Burke seemed to drop them just enough to be behind St. Louis. They had a solid offense (all relative of course) until that trade, but since then really struggled to score goals. Their GA ended up being third to worst in the league which is better than I would have expected coming in. Still terrible, and good enough for last in the west in goals for, goal against and points.

Dex: Where I think the Outlaws differ from the Timber is that they are on the downturn as Maine is on the upturn. The Outlaws’ offense and defense is on par with Maine to end the season in my opinion. However, I would admit that the Outlaws offense is marginally better between them and the Timber. I still give the Timber the nod over the Outlaws looking at their future. As for the playoffs I can’t see them taking it over the Raptors.

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10. St. Louis Scarecrows
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 11, Mid-Season: 9

Arkz: The most talented offense we’ve talked about so far on this list, and honestly that’s going to still be the case until we get to the top 5. Scoring goals was never the issue for St. Louis this season. In fact, if they were in the West, they would have had the second-most goals scored in the conference. The record here for the Scarecrows leaves a little bit to be desired, but you can’t help but look at that overtime losses metric. They had seven on the season, leading all teams and only with Quebec City (6) in close contention. St. Louis lost every single overtime game they had this season, including a game against Quebec City and two against Kelwona. If luck broke the other way for the Scarecrows, it’s not hard to believe they would have finished ahead of the Kraken in the East and perhaps ahead of Vancouver as well.

Shuff: Losing 7 games in overtime. Arkz wants to pin that on some bad luck; but getting seven loser points? This team only led Maine by 8 points. Sounds like some good luck to me. Set to lose Ayers, Doom, Dobrosky and Kharlamov, I am not sure if St. Louis will be able to climb out from the bottom of the rankings any time soon. Sporting the league’s worst defense by goals against hurt them; their offense was right around league average. I’d expect that to flip next season. This is not a team I’d be worried about pulling a first round upset.

Dex: Playing against a tough Anchorage team in the first round, I don’t think they have a good chance to pull an upset, but with the way they play I feel they’ll either get swept or push it to game 7. It is their explosive offense which is better than the Armada’s (170 goals for to 168), versus the tough defensive team of Anchorage (4th best defensive team in the league. And so, their defense and goaltending need to find that next level because if they want to have a chance those goaltending numbers from Kirkstone and Byrnison aren’t gonna cut it. Chances do seem slim, but I can definitely see them doing it.

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9. Carolina Kraken
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 9, Mid-Season: 11

Arkz: As their previous ranks indicate, this has been a bit of an all-over-the-place season for Carolina. At the start of the season, the rankers felt that Carolina was one of the better teams that were still in rebuild mode. Then by midseason, the team had slipped down to the basement. But recent weeks have seen them bounce back to the middle of the pack on the resurgent play of goaltender Ragnar-Alexandre Ragnarsson. Carolina draws a first round, winnable matchup against the Vancouver Whalers in the playoffs, and if the Kraken can get by their nautical rivals, they might just surprise the team they meet in the second round as well.

Shuff: As Dex and I mentioned at midseason the Kraken benefited from an easier schedule second half, and were able to land themselves the number nine seed and another date with the Vancouver Whalers. We all thought the Kraken would be a middling team once again and just that is what they were. With a below league average offense and defense; the Kraken need an infusion of talent all over the roster.

Dex: The Carolina Kraken went on a bit of a run to end the season getting 32 points since we last checked in. Their goal differential is still not ideal and they aren’t close to the top pack, but they are facing up against the Vancouver Whalers who struggled against them. Definitely keep a close eye on Vincent Wolfe as he retained that 4th spot in goals since our mid-season rankings, notching 30 goals on the season. This put him on top for points on the team. Heading into their matchup against Vancouver, they can certainly pull an upset as the lower seeded team.

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8. Vancouver Whalers
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: T4, Mid-Season: 8

Arkz: The rankers were high on Vancouver at the start of the season. Blame it on the pre-season performance, where the Whalers went 5-2. Well, once again we learn that the pre-season doesn’t mean anything, as Vancouver went on to have consistency problems in the regular season. At one point they were at .500 and had a positive goal differential, but finished the season at .462 and 18 goals in the hole. Still, this is one of the better defensive teams in the league and they can score goals on occasion, so their first round matchup against Carolina should be a good one. Beyond that, it’s going to come down on the offense and scoring more than one goal a game for the Whalers. A task that’s seemed herculean to them at times this season.

Shuff: The Whalers have been all over the place this season. Coming into the only real toss up matchup in the first round, it’s really going to come down to which Whaler team shows up. While the points look a bit lopsided, the Whalers had five loser points and the Kraken had just one. The Whalers do have a much better defense than the Kraken. Alexis Saint-Michel should be in the ROY discussion, but he really fell off after the halfway point of the season. If he heats up again this could be a very competitive team.

Dex: I can honestly say that the team never really came together at the same time this season. Sometimes it was the 3rd line scoring, then the 2nd line took over, and the 1st line brought the season home. None of them appeared to be clicking at the same time, but if the team can figure that out I feel they can contend with the top teams. The Whalers really are in their own world, not bad enough this season to be put with lower teams, but also not good enough point wise to be put with the higher teams. This round we’ll see where this Whalers team really sits.

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7. Colorado Raptors
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 5, Mid-Season: 4

Arkz: When the season started, it looked like it was going to be a battle between Colorado and Anchorage for second in the West behind Kelowna. During the first half, that expectation proved correct and with Colorado inching out Anchorage slightly. But, as time wore on the cracks started to show for Colorado. They ended up tied in record with Nevada, but with a worse goal differential. That means they’ll have the better seed for the playoffs, but they are going into it with many more questions. Fortunately for the Raptors, they get to host Anaheim in the first round, so they should be at least able to take care of business there, right?

Shuff: The Raptors were 4 mid-season. Go look back at what Dex and I said. They had a high PDO and a rough second half schedule. They fell off quite a bit as such. A negative goal differential, and five loser points? That does not bode well for the Raptors come playoff time. They should still destroy the Outlaws in round one though.

Dex: This Colorado Raptors team is scoring by committee and riding on the insane performance from Yanno Rosejac. No one on the team had over 35 points, but 16 players had 20 or more points. Also, Rosejac has a 0.919 save percentage which is 3rd best in the league for goaltenders with the same amount of games played. If Rosejac can keep this up, the team are serious contenders. However, I feel if Rosejac has a couple of bad games, I don’t know if their offense can pick it up for them. It should be an easy first round for them against the Outlaws.

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6. Nevada Battleborn
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 7, Mid-Season: 6

Arkz: As you can see by the previous rankings, Nevada has been a solid “middle of the pack” team all season. They technically finished below Colorado in the West but won their division and thus were awarded a bye in the first round. They also are the first team we’ve mentioned on this list with a positive goal differential (6). I like Nevada’s chances against their second-round opponent, as long as their consistency remains. This team scores goals, but not to the level of Kelowna or the top East teams. They also are good on defense, but not as strong as Anchorage or Kelowna. Truly neutral, as all things should be.

Shuff: Don’t we love the division system? Nevada gets the bye, but that was a great race with Colorado. But, imagine how much greater it could have been if Anchorage was also in the race? A three team race for one bye is better than a two team race. Either way, they get a bye, but this is a team that could have issues in either the second round, especially if they get Newfoundland, a team that was better than them. Nevada was a mess on the road going 13-19-1 against a 22-9-2 at home. That could help them in the second round where they will have the home ice.

Dex: My biggest worry for the team in the last power rankings was their need for 8 backup games, but it seems the Battleborn were able to pull it off extremely well winning 7 of 8 with their back up. Their offense and defense picked it up by scoring goals (5th best in the league) and limiting shots especially in the games with their backup. I have no big worries for the team heading into the playoffs. I think the team can pull off a respectable run.

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5. Anchorage Armada
Previous Rank: Pre-Season: 6, Mid-Season: 5

Arkz: The boats finished just barely above Nevada and Colorado in what turned out to be an absolute blood-bath in the West among the middle-four teams of the conference. This team performs in much the same way as the Armada team that won a championship just a season ago. An okay offense powered by an incredibly stingy defense and goaltending combo. However, they are missing a number of key pieces that made that Anchorage team dominant last season, and so now go into the playoffs with a tough road ahead of them. They’ll open things up against St. Louis, in which this Armada team will have to clamp down on defense to win it.

Shuff: Boats bad and even more so with Gabe. Anchorage gets St. Louis in the first round, shouldn’t be an issue. Their defense is on par with Qubecc, Kelwona and Newfoundland. Their offense though? It’s worse than St. Louis’s! For them to make a run is possible; a few low scoring games could work in their favor. This is a team I’d be afraid of, they just don’t give you any space to operate your offense. Could play well in the playoffs.

Dex: If defense wins championships, the Anchorage Armada can see themselves back in the finals. However, could this team be too reliant on their defense? How I see Anchorage is that they are a slightly better version of the Colorado Raptors. Their goaltender Chimkin Tendy is playing out of his mind with a 0.927 save percentage, but the question is can he keep that up and if he can’t, can the offense step up? No doubt their defense has been great but as both Arkz and Shuff mentioned, their offense is just “okay.” I think this season will be a tougher run for the Armada if they want a back-to-back championship.

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4. Detroit Falcons
Previous Rank: Start of Season: 3, Mid-Season: 7

Arkz: I mentioned it in our mid-season edition of the Rankings, but I felt then that Detroit was getting a bit shortchanged. There were some quirks in the scheduling that meant Detroit hadn’t played as many games as others, and they had played some recent tilts against tough competition. Now, at the end of the season, they finished only a point behind Newfoundland in the East. Still, they won their division and thus will get a first-round bye to get things started in the playoffs, and a chance to rest that high-powered offense. Detroit was third in the league in terms of goals scored, and they’ll hope that offense powers them through to the promised land.

Shuff: Detroit does land a bye, and thanks to the division system, they do it with ease. A great race it could have been with Newfoundland. Sadly, I don’t see them having a shot in a series against QCC or KEL. Thanks to the playoff format, they may be able to sneak into the finals without playing either one of them. They had some road issues, going just 16-13-4 on the road. Winning road games is usually key in the playoffs, but at least in the quarters they just have to defend home ice, where they were a dominating 24-8-1.

Dex: I think the Falcons are the real thing. They had one of the biggest jumps from our midseason rankings, scoring over 47 points to end the season. The team has 2 - 50 point players in Mihailov and Jeziak, putting the team as the 3rd best offensive team. Their defense and goaltender are also very respectable with Aalto posting a 2.45 goals against average (6th best among starters) and a 0.908 save percentage. This season, the Falcons are my dark horse candidate for the Four Star Cup.

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3. Newfoundland Berserkers
Previous Rank History: Start of Season: 8, Mid-Season 3

Arkz: As mentioned, Newfoundland finished only a point up on Detroit, and due to finishing second in their division, will have to play in the first round. The good news for the Berserkers is that they get to open the playoffs at home and against the Maine Timber. The same Timber that Newfoundland went 5-0-1 against in the regular season (also where Maine got shut out three times). They also go into the playoffs with a better point differential. So, while they will have to play a series against the Timber, the expectation is that they’ll take care of business and set up a subsequent matchup against potentially Vancouver or Carolina. Newfoundland is about as automatic a lock as you can get to make it to the second round, but stranger things have happened, and it’s not official until the Berserkers get those four wins.

Shuff: They played Maine last season as a 5/12 matchup. Newfoundland won as a 12. Does Maine have revenge in them? Playing in Quebec's division isn’t fun, but the same can be said about Newfoundland. This team somehow never seems to be rebuilding. An excellent defense carries the just above the median offense.

Dex: The Berserkers are the definition of a defensive team, limiting shots on the net. All other teams are okay with relying on their goaltender, but this Newfoundland team can’t trust that. Hugo Gronroos faced the fewest shots, but has the worst save percentage among goalies that have played over 40 games. Regardless, the Newfoundland Berserkers have the 4th best offense and 4th best defense. Their offense has 5 players over 40 points, led by Charlesworth and O’Bigbers with 55 and 53 points respectively. If the team can continue to limit shots, they’re in the clear, but if not, I’m a little worried.

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2. Quebec City Citadelles
Previous Rank: Start of Season: 1, Mid-Season: 2

Arkz: There’s a lot of people in Quebec City (and probably Anchorage as well) that probably feel like they could have won that series last season easily if replayed. But things ended the way they did, and Anchorage went on to beat Anaheim and win the cup in S57. Now the Citadelles are back for revenge and a chance at glory that was denied to them. Yeah, this Quebec City team isn’t quite as good as the Citadelle team of last season, but it’s pretty close and the Citadelles are the second-best team in the league with no one even approaching them. This was the top-scoring team in the league this season, and also let in one of the fewest goal totals as well. If it wasn’t for the patently insane defense of Kelowna (more on that in a minute), Quebec would have been leading in all the relevant categories.

Shuff: So QCC is the number two seed. Another monster season from them, but they really need to close out this run with a cup. With Mew Two and Zdenko Bernak leading the league in points they have the top two scorers. They just narrowly beat Kelowna for the most goals scored (258-257). With Kelowna having a much better defense and should be able to slow down Quebec the question for Quebec becomes will their defense be able to slow down Kelowna enough?

Dex: As Arkz mentioned, last season was the Citadelles’ season. This season? I’m not too sure. Mat Smith put up a 1.96 goals against average and a save percentage of 0.918. They have a high-flying offense with 10 players over 40 points, 5 of which are over 50, and 2 of which are over 60! Mew Two is above a point per game, but the team as a whole looked a lot more human as the season went along. People and the team expect another good run and there’s nothing that I can see that would stop that.

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1. Kelowna Knights
Previous Rank: Start of Season: 2, Mid-Season: 1

Arkz: Abandon hope, all ye who play the Knights. Kelowna has been dominant all season. They are the only team to put together more than 100 points (109), second in the league in goals scored (252, vs QCC’s 255), and were far and away the best defensive team with only 134 goals allowed. That led to a differential of 118. That’s only 20 goals less than what Maine scored all season. They’ll have a first round bye and we aren’t sure who they’ll play in the quarters but this is shaping up to be a titanic showdown in the semifinals against Quebec City (yes, I know the seeding is dumb but take it up with your friendly neighborhood HO person). During the regular season, Kelowna went 4-2 against Quebec City, but with a differential of +1. It will be interesting to see what happens, and as a neutral observer I can’t wait.

Shuff: A ridiculous +123 goal differential, a 26-3-4 home record, a 20-11-2 road record. A truly incredible season. Kynwyl Pearce, a Minnesota Monarchs prospect, is their leading scorer and he led the league in goals scored. We are all just waiting for the KEL-QCC semifinal matchup. But the two teams do have business to take care of before then.

Dex: Like how last season was the Citadelles season, this season is the Knights. Anything less than a Four Star Cup will be a bit of a disappointment (no pressure Kelowna!), but even if the team doesn’t win it all this season, I can definitely see the right back on top of the standings next season with few losses to the team. Nothing much more to say about the top team with a 0.923 save percentage goaltender and an almost point-per-game player.

And that’s it everyone! I’d like to thank my fellow rankers on the committee and Shuff and Dex for writing these with me all season. I’d also like to give a big thanks to our readers and all those who took the time to check out this media series. These playoffs are setting up to be absolutely wild, and I think there will be more than a few surprises waiting for us once things get going. I’m honestly not entirely sure how the first round is going to turn out, and once we get through that we have some absolute titans waiting to join in on the fun. As always, if you have any questions, comments, disagreements, or pro-Kelowna propaganda, please put it in the replies below. Thanks again for reading, and best of luck in the playoffs!

Word Count: 4,110. Please split between myself, @mee and @Dextaria