The red-hot Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League continues to lead the way in Week 10 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings.
Acadie-Bathurst won four more games this week, extending the club’s unbeaten streak to 19 games and winning streak to eight games, to easily stay on top of the weekly rankings, selected by a panel of NHL scouts. The Titan now boasts a CHL best record of 27-4-4-1, for 59 points.
The 19-game unbeaten streak is the longest in the CHL this season. The Titan has appeared in the Bank of Montreal MasterCard Top 10 for seven of the first 10 weeks of the season and took over top spot from the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League three weeks ago.
Holding on to second place in Week 10 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings are the Plymouth Whalers, who won two of their three games this week to remain atop the OHL overall standings. The Whalers have a 22-5-4-1 record and have been ranked no lower than third for the first 10 weeks of the rankings, while also being the OHL’s number one ranked team every week so far this season.
The top ranked team in the WHL and third ranked in the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings for Week 10 are the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, who split a pair of games this past week. The Blazers are in a dog-fight for first place overall in the hotly contested WHL overall standings, as the top eight teams in the WHL are just five points apart.
Rounding out the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings this week are the fourth ranked Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL, the fifth ranked Prince George Cougars of the WHL, the Barrie Colts of the OHL, who are ranked sixth, the seventh ranked Guelph Storm of the OHL, the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, who appear in the rankings for the first time this season, and are ranked eighth, the ninth ranked Red Deer Rebels of the WHL and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, who are ranked 10th and are also making their debut in the Top 10 rankings. Dropped from the list this week were the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, who were ranked ninth last week, and the Rimouski oceanic of the QMJHL, who were ranked eighth.
The complete list from Week 10 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings follows. The rankings can also be found at www.chl.ca every week.
Rank Team/League W L T OTL Last Week Weeks in Rankings 1 Acadie-Bathurst Titan/QMJHL 25 4 4 1 1 7 2 Plymouth Whalers/OHL 22 5 4 1 2 10 3 Kamloops Blazers/WHL 19 8 1 2 3 8 4 Shawinigan Cataractes/QMJHL 24 6 3 1 5 9 5 Prince George Cougars/WHL 19 8 3 2 6 3 6 Barrie Colts/OHL 20 7 4 0 7 2 7 Guelph Storm/OHL 18 9 5 0 10 3 8 Halifax Mooseheads/QMJHL 20 10 4 0 Not ranked 1 9 Red Deer Rebels/WHL 18 10 5 0 4 10 10 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds/OHL18 9 6 0 Not ranked 1
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the WHL on Monday night.
Heading into this week’s action, Nathan Barrett of the Lethbridge Hurricanes continues to lead the WHL scoring derby with 23 goals and 33 assists for 56 points. That’s good for a nine-point lead on his teammate Tomas Kopecky (20-27-47). Regina’s Matt Hubbauer (25-19-44), Kootenay’s Tomas Plihal (17-27-44) and Regina’s Kevin Korol (11-32-43) round out the top five WHL leading scorers.
Shane Bendera of the Red Deer Rebels is still the WHL’s leading goalie with a goals against average of 2.14 and a save percentage of .922. Calgary’s Sebastien Laplante is second at 2.29, followed by Regina’s Josh Harding (2.31), Red Deer’s Cam Ward (2.32) and Lethbridge’s Logan Koopmans (2.33).
The Regina Pats (18-11-2-4) still lead the East Division standings, but the Brandon Wheat Kings (18-10-0-2) are just four points behind them, thanks to a four-game winning streak. Swift Current (21-9-3-1) has a five-point lead on both Lethbridge and Red Deer in the Central Division, with the Rebels currently on a six-game losing streak.
The Prince George Cougars are the B.C. Division leaders with 43 points (19-8-3-2), good for a two-point edge on both Kamloops (19-8-1-2) and Kootenay (19-14-3-0). In the U.S. Division, Spokane (20-11-2-2) still has a healthy 10-point lead on Portland despite the Chiefs going just 3-6-1 in their past 10 games.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the OHL on Monday night.
The race to host the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup in the conference standings ended on the weekend, with nine teams earning the right to bid to host the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup, May 18-26, 2002. The top four teams (and ties) in both the East and West Conference had the right to bid to host the Cup and all OHL teams hit the 30-game mark on the weekend.
As a result of the standings at the 30-game mark, the following nine teams have a chance to bid on hosting the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup: Barrie Colts, Peterborough Petes, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, Ottawa 67’s and Belleville Bulls from the East; Plymouth Whalers, Guelph Storm, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Erie Otters from the West.
The Memorial Cup tracker page at www.chl.ca has a detailed look at the race for the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
The Peterborough Petes lead the East Division standings with 38 points (15-9-5-3), followed by Belleville (17-13-2-1), just one point back. The sizzling Barrie Colts (20-7-4-0) have won 10 straight games and have a four-point lead on the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors (17-11-6-0) in the Central Division.
In the Midwest Division, the Guelph Storm continues to lead (18-9-5-0) with 41 points, five ahead of the Kitchener Rangers (15-12-6-0). In the West Division, the Plymouth Whalers lead the pack with a 22-5-4-1 record for 49 points, seven up on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (18-9-6-0).
There’s a tie for the OHL scoring race heading into this week’s action between a pair of Belleville Bulls. Nathan Robinson (26-33-59) and Mike Renzi (23-36-59) have a one-point edge on Sarnia’s Kris Newbury (25-33-58). Sarnia’s Dusty Jamieson (20-29-49) and London’s Rick Nash (23-23-46) round out the top five OHL scorers.
Barrie’s David Chant is the top goalie, with a 2.22 goals against average and a save percentage of .932. Toronto’s Peter Budaj is second at 2.37 and .922, followed by Plymouth’s Jason Bacashihua at 2.43 and .917.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the QMJHL Monday night.
Heading into this week’s action, the number one ranked Acadie-Bathurst Titian continue to dominate the standings, with a 27-4-4-1 record for 59 points. That’s good for a 15-point lead over the Halifax Mooseheads atop the Maritimes Division standings in the Dilio Conference. In the East Division, Baie-Comeau (20-11-2-2 for 44 points) is one point ahead of Rimouski and two points ahead of Chicoutimi.
The West Division standings feature a tie at the top, with the Montreal Rocket (14-16-4-1) and the Val-d’Or Foreurs (15-19-1-2), both with 33 points. Hull is just one point back with 32 points in the West, part of the Lebel Division. Shawinigan (24-6-3-1) has 52 points, good for a 10-point bulge on Victoriaville in the Centre Division.
Charles Linglet of Baie-Comeau continues to lead the QMJHL scoring race with 35 goals and 38 assists for 73, followed by Shawinigan’s Jason Pominville (34-38-72). Chicoutimi’s Pierre-Marc Bouchard (29-41-70), Baie-Comeau’s Yanick Lehoux (32-36-68) and Jonathan Bellemare of Shawinigan (20-48-68) round out the top five league scorers.
Shawinigan’s Olivier Michaud has the best goals against average in the QMJHL with a 2.17 mark, followed by Adam Russo of Acadie-Bathurst at 2.48. Russo leads in wins with 24, followed by Michaud with 19. Halifax’s Dany Dallaire has a league best save percentage of .918, followed by Montreal’s Jonathan Cayer at .914.
For complete QMJHL statistics and standings, visit the official QMJHL site.
