OHL Week 11 Power Rankings

With Hockey Canada naming the WJC invites on Wednesdsay and camp opening in St Catharines on Monday some key OHLers may be with their teams for the final time this weekend. Taylor Raddysh could be looking at his last games with Erie and possibly Michael DiPietro with Windsor. If we are to believe recent speculation there could be a few big names from the East who are close to playing their final games with their teams. It should be an interesting week as we are a little over a month away from the Trade Deadline. Teams should have a good idea now of where they stand.


Games of the Week

Sarnia (2) @ SSM (1)
Game 3 of the season series. Sarnia is 1-0-1 while the Greyhounds are 1-1. Hounds have outshot the Sting in each game and are currently in the midst of a 14 game winning streak. Sarnia didnt have the greatest weekend last week but always play the Hounds tough especially at the Essar

Saginaw (4) @ Hamilton (3)
After last weeks game which Hamilton stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 I have high hopes for this game. A reminder for anyone who has Rogers or Cogeco but does not have the action pak. You can stream this game for free with www.cable14now.com just use your Cogeco or Rogers log in since they co-own cable 14.

Honourable mention
London (7) @ Niagara (8)
Two teams that are playing some great hockey right now. There may not be a saltier team in the east that has more hate for London than Niagara. Icedogs fans always pack The Vault and should make it a hostile environment for the big bad Knights.

Helvig contineus to shine in net for Kingston, currently sitting 4th in GAA and 2nd in SV%. This past weekend he stopped 113 of 119 shots helping head Kingston to 5 of 6 points.... Oshawa picked up 2 of 6 points but in a brutal stretch of games where they looked very good, of concern though is the health of Serron Noel who left the Windsor game early with an UBI and did not play vs Sarnia. His draft stock is soaring and they cant afford to miss him for long...

Good news coming for Barrie as Forwards Andrei Svechnikov is slated to return this upcoming weekend. He wont be around long with the WJC coming up but will be a nice boost for the Colts.... Dont look now but the Wolves are a different team with Mario Culina. A .917 SV% in 3 games and 2 straight wins over Kit and Miss.... Think the Steelheads regret moving Brendan Harrogate? Via @GeneralsUpdates With him in the lineup they were 9-1-0-1 without him they are 2-15-0-0.

Dale Hunter picked up his 700th career win behind the bench this weekend becoming the fastest coach to reach that honour... Evan Bouchard was named OHL Defenceman of the month for November... The Kitchener Rangers have decided to spit in the face of Michael DiPietro, the Windsor Spitefires and the city of Windsor by scheduling their teddy bear toss against the Spits. After shutouts last year in 3 straight shutouts last year in teddy bear toss games you would think this dying city would get some respect. I guess not.

How about those Greyhounds? Franchise record 14 game winning streak which includes 2 wins vs CHL top 10 teams and a couple of long road trips..... The Saginaw Spirit picked up a big commitment in USNTDP player Jake Goldowski. Their '00 and '01 core is looking scary.... Connor Roberts with 3 points in 3 games since coming over from Hamilton. In games he has scored the Firebirds have picked up wins over Hamilton and Windsor..... 3 of the 4 player of the month catagories went to the West Division. Jordan Kyrou with his 2nd player of the month nod, Blade Jenkins with rookie of the month and the unbeaten Mathew Vilallta with goalie of the month....

(1) Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds 23-3-2 Power Rank Percentage (PR%) .8652
The Hounds made their yearly Eastern roadtrip this past weekend and walked away with 3 wins. Katchouk, Frost and Carrol were suspended for the middle match vs Kingston for breaking team rules but the Hounds played arguably their best game of the year and picked up the OT win. Tyler Johnson picked up his 2nd shutout since being acquired from London vs Ottawa and as mentioned in the intro the Hounds set a franchise record with 14 straight wins.
Games This week: Dec 6 vs Sar; Dec 8 vs NB; Dec 10 vs Wsr

(2) Sarnia Sting 22-5-2 PR% .7592
Well that was an ugly loss to the Spirit. After holding a 6-0 lead they gave up 7 straight goals to lose in OT. They had a strong bounce back game with a win over Oshawa but they were still outplayed and can thank Fazio for the win. Is the shine starting to wear off on these Sting? Could some reinforcements be coming?
Games This Week: Dec 6 @ SSM; Dec 8 vs Eri; Dec 9 vs Pbo

(3) Hamilton Bulldogs 16-6-6 PR% .7157
Games This Week: The Bulldogs picked up a big come from behind win over the Saginaw Spirit after spoting them a 3-0 lead. They then spotted the Firebirds a 3-0 lead in their next game and lost in OT. Both signs of concern but they rebounded to beat the Steelheads at home Sunday.
Games this Week: Dec 9 vs Sag; Dec 10 @ Miss

(4) Saginaw Spirit 14-10-3 PR% .6975
First the bad, they blew a 3-0 lead at home to Hamilton and lost, they also spotted the Sting a 6-0 lead. But I harp on the Spirit enough. What a great comeback win vs the Sting. They may not have an offensive super star but they have quality players who can chip in up and down the lineup. I dont know if they are as good as their current streak but they are better than how they started the season. Closer to the former than the latter and if they keep it up whats to stop them from flirting with a 4 or 5 seed?
Games This Week: Dec 9 @ Ham; Dec 10 @ Osh

(5) Kitchener Rangers 18-9-2 PR%.6688
How about those Rangers? Two weeks ago they were 4-0, 1 week ago they were 0-3 and this week? They were 3-0 this week with a pair of wins over Owen Sound and a road win against Erie.
Games This week: Dec 5 vs Wsr; Dec 8 vs Fli; Dec 10 vs Gue

(6) Kingston Frontanacs 15-7-6 PR% .6648
5 out of 6 points for the Fronts, Helvig was fantastic especially against the shorthanded Greyhounds in a game where Kingston was dominated. Funny thing about it for beind dominated the Fronts did not look particularly that bad. They just happened to run into a better team that was playing their best game of the year. How about Matt Hotchkiss though? 5 goals since coming over from the Storm has been a nice boost to this offence.
Games This Week: Dec 8 vs Nia; Dec 9 vs Sby

(7) London Knights 13-12-2 PR% .6437
Not the greatest week for the Knights. They dropped a game to the Generals who are still missing their starting goalie and then needed OT to beat the Battalion. 3 winnable games this week though so the Knights should continue with their upward trajectory in the standings
Games this week: Dec 7 @ Nia, Dec 8 vs Ptb; Dec 10 vs Eri

(8) Niagara Icedogs 13-9-5 PR% .6279
Almost a perfect week as the Icedogs saw their 4 game win streak snapped on Sunday to the streaking Spirit. One play who really stepped up was Bradley Johnson. Johnson scored his first career goal on Rememberence day. Last Sunday he had his first career 2 goal game and then followed that up with 2 more 2 goal games vs Erie and Flint. Not a bad stretch for the 2nd year forward.
Games this week: Dec 7 vs Ldn; Dec 8 @ Kgn; Dec 9 @ Ott

(9) Guelph Storm 14-10-3 PR% .6232
Lots of free hockey for Storm fans this past week as they picked up an OT victor against Erie and then prevailed in a shootout against Owen Sound. Popovich was particularly key in the Owen Sound game as he faced 53 shots before turning away all 3 shooters in the shootout. Unlikely the standings would hold this way but imagine what the OHL Fan Boys Podcast would be like if the Storm and Spitfires met in the 1st round?
Games this week: Dec 6 @ Ham; Dec 8 vs OS; Dec 10 vs Kit

(10) Barrie Colts 15-9-3 PR% .5636
After a win against the floundering Steelheads the Colts lost both road games in Ottawa and Kingston. On the plus side their main central division rivals end their weekend with the same roadtrip.
Games this week: Dec 8 @ Miss; Dec 9 vs Osh; Dec 10 @ NB

(11) Windsor Spitfires 15-10-2 PR% .5596
5 out of 6 points but with a disappointing OT loss to Flint. Could December 7th be Michael DiPietro's final game with the Windsor Spitfires?
Games this week: Nov 5 @ Kit; Nov 7 vs Eri; Nov 10 @ SSM

(12) Owen Sound 13-10-4 PR% .5293
It has been over 2 weeks since their last regulation win. In the meantime 3 regulation losses and 2 OT/SO losses. A trade for a goalie cant come soon enough. With Niagara, Saginaw and Kingston thriving is the only option left Dipietro? If you have waited this long you may as well get the best.
Games this week: Dec 8 @ Gue; Dec 9 vs Fli

(13) Ottawa 67s 14-13-2 PR% .5140
Got shutout by the Greyhounds (nobody is beating the right now) couldnt score against Helvig (not many are these days) but picked up a big win against Barrie. 3 conference games on the docket this week. Want to make sure they keep those below them in the standings where they are.
Games this week: Dec 8 @ Osh; Dec 9 vs Nia; Dec 10 vs Sby

(14) Oshawa Generals 12-15-2 PR% .4743
A win vs London to open the week and then 2 tough matchups against great goalies in Windsor and Sarnia. This Gens team can be dangerous when everyone is rolling but just areant there yet. Still seems like they have too many bodies especially on the blueline.
Games this week: Dec 8 vs Ott; Dec 9 @ Bar; Dec 10 vs Sag

(15) Peterborough Petes 14-13-1 PR% .4677

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Games this week: Dec 7 vs Sby; Dec 8 @ Ldn; Dec 9 @ Sar

(16) North Bay Battalion 9-15-4 PR% ..4664
As a Battalion fan you really couldn't have asked for more at the start of the week. A win in Sarnia and taking the Knights into OT. Can they carry that over to this week where they get the limping Steelheads, lurk as a trap game for the Hounds and then send the Colts to the glue factory to end the week?
Games this week: Dec 7 vs Miss; Dec 8 @ SSM; Dec 10 vs Bar

(17) Erie Otters 10-13-5 PR% .4494
They took 2 division rivals ahead of htem in the standings to OT. Blowing the loss to Kitchener stings. With a 3 game roadtrip coming up it looks like Taylor Raddysh has played his last home game with the Otters.
Games this week: Dec 7 @ Wsr; Dec 8 @ Sar; Dec 10 @ Ldn

(18) Sudbury Wolves 9-16-4 PR% .4455
Only 1 game this past week but like a trout stugging after spawning season these Wolves picked up a hearty 2 points. Culina seems to have put their D at ease and Carson is starting to find his groove which is imperative with Levin out.
Games this week: Dec 7 @ Ptb; Dec 9 @ Kgn; Dec 10 @ Ott

(19) Mississauga Steelheads 11-16-1 PR% .4427

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Games this week: Dec 7 @ NB; Dec 8 vs Bar; Dec 10 vs Miss

(20) Flint Firebirds 9-17-2 PR% .3902
OT wins over Hamilton and Windsor equals a fantastic weekend for the Firebirds. Clearly the white flag was raised with the trade of Moore and Caamano but this young roster still has some talent. It is just a question of putting it together, getting some bounces and some timely goaltending
Games this week: Dec 8 @ Kit; Dec 9 @OS