Power Rankings (Week 3)

Penticton Vees broadcaster Ryan Pinder has released the third edition of his Interior Conference Power Rankings. This time you're going to have to listen to the audio to get the rankings. Pinder has Trail ranked 7th in the conference despite being first in the BCHL in power play production, fifth in goal per game scoring and boasting an above .500 record. Does that mean Pinder is completely out to lunch? No, I think it is more than anything a reflection of how difficult it is this early in the season to rank the Interior teams. I think it's pretty easy to chose who I would rank 1rst and 8th this week, but 2nd through 7th is almost a complete toss up.

Just look at the standings. Three teams are tied for third, two teams are tied for sixth, the first and second place teams have both played an extra game, and every team but one has a record of at least .500 or better.

Lets just take a look at each team quickly (by point totals):

• Prince George (PROS: top record in the conference so far, outstanding goaltending, a terrific top pairing and top six forwards --- CONS: defeated soundly by Penticton, only team to lose to Merritt, have not scored more than 3 goals since their second game)
• Westside (PROS: have the best defenceman in the conference, very good puck possession, tough team, second place in the conference --- CONS: questionable goaltending and still waiting for a #1 option to emerge, third lowest goals per game in the conference)
• Penticton (PROS: have yet to lose a game in regulation, scored a third more goals than they've given up --- CONS: have only played four games so far this year, a team full of unproven BCHL players)
• Vernon (PROS: large core of returning players from a very good young team last season, tough to score against, two new players leading the team in scoring --- CONS: second lowest goals per game numbers in the conference, have had a couple of stinkers that had some fans and players questioning their effort, goaltending is still somewhat of a question and missing a go to scorer right now)
• Trail (PROS: top power play in the league so far, good scoring depth, two veteran goaltenders who have performed well in all but one game, only team to beat Penticton so far --- CONS: layed a total egg against Quesnel, a young team that is learning on the job and making their fair share of mistakes on the ice, penalty kill numbers aren't great)
• Quesnel (PROS: have had maybe the best goaltending performance in the league to date, their top six forwards are delivering results as good as anyone in the league so far, veteran team who have given up the fewest goals per game of anyone in the conference --- CONS: depth outside of the top six is questionable, results are inconsistent so far, did most of their scoring in one game against Trail while they only had 12 goals in 5 games before that)
• Salmon Arm (PROS: top three forwards performing as well as anyone in the conference, McMaster producing very well from the blue line, coming off a strong weekend with two dominant victories --- CONS: goaltending performance from Gillis has been shaky so far despite his strong resume, scoring depth appears to be lacking so far, had a slow start)
• Merritt (PROS: very good top line with Zalba, Grant and Johnson, excellent team toughness with guys like Brodie, Barr and Davis, have made some good pick ups up front to deal with early scoring troubles --- CONS: worst goals per game in the conference and second worst in the BCHL, no goaltender with a save percentage over 86%, worst goals per game in the BCHL)

Can you really rank these teams comfortably? I found it a little easier last week, but this past weekend has just tightened the ranks if anything. There's an argument to rank Trail 7th, but there's also an argument to rank them in the top 3 or 4. So while I'm optimistic about the start the Smoke Eaters have had, it's obvious that there is going to be a real tough battle for playoff spots and home ice advantage. Obviously that's why Ryan's rankings are not scientific and are really there to inspire discussion. If you have your own rankings post them over at vees blog.

In other blog news, Hammer got the honour of meeting the legendary Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe. Check out his post on that over at the Bulldogs blog.