Week 2 is in the books and while it is still too early to really garner anything from power rankings there are a few things that stand out so far this season.
London has looked really bad this season. Even considering that they are missing so much talent. They have a gapping hole on their blueline with Victor Mete turning heads in Montreal and with Brandon Crawley signing a contract with the New York Rangers.
Niagara has really improved their possesion game this year and now Stephen Dhillon is only facing 30 shots a game. Sure he has only played 3 games but this is a huge improvement over last season. With Mississauga in limbo thanks to the NHL they have a real chance to take this division.
Hamilton is really struggling on offence. Another week like this and they will have to consider dropping 2 of their OA D so they can add an OA F to help kick start the offence. 7 goals in 4 games (1 win was a shootout victory) and no goals on the power play.
Sarnia is showing a lethal offence early this season. With 5 points in his first 2 games Jordan Kyrou is showing why he is a threat to take the league scoring title. The Sting would get quite the haul if they traded him at the deadline but he could have them competing for home ice if everything lines up for Sarnia this year.
(1) Flint Firebirds 3-0-0 Power Rank Percentage (PR%) .8737
The only unbeaten team in the league won their only game of the week as they beat the visiting Ottawa 67's erasing 2 deficits in the final period before winning in OT. Ryan Moore picked up 2 points in his 1st game after serving the last 2 of the suspension her earned in the playoffs. With Moore back the offence should keep clicking.
Games This Week; Oct 5 @ PBO; Oct 6 @KGN; Oct 8 @OTT
(2) Windsor Spitfires3-1-0 PR% .7917
The Spits sit 1st in the league in both power play and penalty kill. Don't know if they will be able to maintain that but they did have the best PK last year and Sean Day has been returned which will help them maintain their power play production.
Games this Week: Oct 5 vs SSM; Oct 6 @ GUE; Oct 7 @ OS
(3) North Bay Battalion 3-0-1 PR% .78935
Luke Burghardt continued to put up points in week 2 and sits tied for the league lead. Cam Dineen continues to show what he means to the Battalion with 8 points this year including 4 on the power play.
Games This Week: Oct 5 @ Bar; Oct 9 vs PBO
(4) Owen Sound Attack 2-0-1 PR% .7681
After dropping their season opener in a shootout to Flint they won both games this weekend. Small sample size but 6 players on the roster at at a point per game while 18 year old forward with 5 points is already more than 25% of the way to a career high in points.
Games This Week: Oct 4 vs SAR; Oct 7 vs WSR; Oct 9 @ KIT
(5) Sarnia Sting 3-1-0 PR% .7586
Jordan Kyrou was returned to the Sting this week and they promptly went out and scored 13 goals in his first 2 games. They wont be able keep up that pace through the season but Kyrou adds a dimension to this offence that takes it to another level. Add that to their enviable depth at center and you have a dangerous team.
Games this Week: Oct 4 @ OS; Oct 6 vs Bar; Oct 9 vs Ham
(6) Kingston Frontenacs 4-1-0 PR% .7583
4 out of 6 points this weekend for the Fronts capped off with a resilient win vs Hamilton in which they trailed 3 times. Had a meeting in the GTA so I drove down from the Soo to catch the game and while you could tell each team was playing their 3rd in less than 48 hours Eemeli Rasanen really stood out as a defensive force. Add his 7 points this season and he is a top 5 defender in the OHL right now.
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs Fli
(7) Niagara Icedogs 3-1-0 PR% .7386
The young Icedogs continue to get it done and compete. They picked up 4 of a possible 6 points and fought hard in their lose to the Petes on Sunday erasing a 4-1 lead before giving up 4 late goals. The biggest thing this year is that Stephen Dhillon is only facing 30 shots a game. This should keep him fresh and allow the Icedogs to stay competitive even if their young roster has some off games.
Games This Week: Oct 5 vs SBY; Oct 6 @ OSH; Oct 7 @ HAM
(8) Barrie Colts 3-1-1 PR% .7261
Colts picked up 5 of 6 points this weekend. Their PP did a great job of cashing in on their opportunities late vs the Greyhounds. Lazarev and Propp are both sporting save percentages greater than .912 and they are getting points throughout their roster.
Games This Week: Oct 5 vs NB; Oct 6 @ SAR; Oct 7 @ SAG
(9) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3-1-1 PR% .682
Not very often do 5 points in 6 games feel as underwhelming as they did this weekend for the Hounds. 2 ill timed penalties cost them 2 points late vs Barrie. Then they needed OT to beat both North Bay and Sudbury. One cause for concern early is the penalty kill but also they are averaging being on the PK 5 times per game vs 4 PP. It is early but the Hounds have finished either 1st or 2nd in PP differential in each of the last 4 seasons.
Games This Week: Oct 5 @ WSR; Oct 6 @ LDN
(10) Kitchener Rangers 3-1-1 PR% .6677
The Rangers are winless at home but have picked up 3 conference road wins this year against Sarnia, Windsor and Erie. Stanley looks poised to have his best offensive season in the O with 5 points in 4 games already this season
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs ERI; Oct 7 @ GUE; Oct 9 vs OS
(11) Guelph Storm 2-1-1 PR% .6352
The Storm continue to look strong. They took advantage of Oshawa playing their backup on Friday. Toropchenko leads all imports in scoring with 8 points in 4 games and Ryan Merkley leads all OHLers with 5 power play points.
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs WSR; Oct 7 vs KIT
(12) Oshawa Generals 3-2-0 PR% .6167
Only 2 out of 6 points this weekend but the bigger worry is the Keyser injury although it sounds like it is only minor. On the bright side '01 Nick Wong leads all OHLers with 7 goals in 5 games. Only 4 16 year olds have hit 20 goals the last 3 seasons (Akil Thomas, Nick Suzuki , Taylor Raddysh, Tye Felhaber).
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs Nia
(13) Hamilton Bulldogs 2-1-1 PR% .6100
The Bulldogs pick up 5 out of a possible 6 points while playing 3 games in less than 48 hours this week. Disappointing to lose out on a point to Kingston after holding the lead 3 times. Of bigger concern however is their offence. A worry coming into the season with the graduation of Luff and Petti. They have 11 players who have played at least 3 games this year and are still without a point and only have goals from 5 players. On a positive note though is the strong play of Kaden Fulcher who is sporting a .935 save percentage.
Games This Week: Oct 7 vs NIA; Oct 9 @ SAR
(14) Peterborough Petes 2-2 PR% .5485
A mixed bag week for the Petes. A big win vs the Generals followed by a stinker in Niagara and then a win over Niagara where they let the Icedogs back in before a 4 goal explosion in a 9 minute stretch in the 3rd. A Great news though is that Nikita Korostelev has been released by the Marlies and will be back to lead the Petes.
Games This Week: Oct 5 vs FLI; Oct 6 @ OTT; Oct 9 @ NB
(15) Ottawa 67s 2-3-1 PR% .4685
The 67's have big issues in the net having given up a league high 5.6 goals per game. I don't know if they pull the plug on Lafreniere but Joseph Raaymakers is starting to look like an intriguing option as the 67's dont want suspect goaltending to derail the development of some of their younger players.
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs PBO; Oct 8 vs FLI
(16) Saginaw Spirit 1-2-1 PR% .4293
The good news is Evan Cormier is back and 2017 1st rounder Nic Porco scored his first career OHL goal. The Bad news they are 0 for 25 on the power play and their PK is below 70%. Blade Jenkins is also having a difficult time getting it going with only 1 assist in 4 games.
Games This Week: Oct 7 vs Bar
(17) Erie Otters 1-3-1 PR% .4011
Raddysh is banged up and the Otters have only 1 point in 4 games since their opening night win. On paper they are better than a team with a .300 point percentage but with the inevitible sell off they will want to do better to build a cushion before that happens.
Games This Week: Oct 6 @ KIT; Oct 7 vs LDN
(18) Sudbury Wolves 0-3-2 PR%.3193
The Wolves are still winless this year and found out this week that potential OA Ryan Valentini is out for the year with a shoulder injury. They acquisition of Troy Lajeunesse should fill some of the void. One bright spot is the play of 2017 1st rounder Blake Murray who had his first career hattrick and leads the team in points with 5
Games This Week: Oct 5 @ NIA; Oct 6 @ MISS
(19) London Knights 1-4-0 PR% .2935
Max Jones is back but the Knights are still desperatly missing Victor Mete on the blueline. They have lost 4 of 5 for the first time since March 1-12 2015 and 3 in a row for the first time since they lost 6 in a row from Jan 30 - Feb 12th that same year. It is still early but their special teams have been a mess and they have been horribly outplayed.
Games This Week: Oct 6 vs SSM; Oct 7 ERI
(20) Mississauga Steelheads 0-4-0 PR% .2059
Still winless and now Owen Tippet has made the Panthers opening night roster. Assuming Tippet is not scratched the Panthers 10th game of the season is October 28th vs Detroit. McLeod is still in New Jersey although their roster is a little deeper. I would still expect him to get a few games like Speers last year but I would be more confident in him returning.
Games this Week: Oct 6 vs SBY
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