Despite having their 20-game unbeaten snapped at Rimouski on Friday night, the Titan continue to lead the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings, selected by a panel of NHL scouts, for the fourth consecutive week. Acadie-Bathurst has been in the rankings for eight of the 11 weeks the poll has been conducted this season.
The Titan continues to lead the overall QMJHL standings and have the most victories and best winning percentage of any CHL team. The 20-game unbeaten run was the longest by far this season in the CHL.
The Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League hang on to second place in the weekly rankings, picking up a couple of ties this week. The Whalers lead the OHL in winning percentage and points and have just five losses in 34 games this season.
Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League were the team on the move in this week’s rankings, moving into third place in the weekly poll, up from sixth. With another two wins this past week, the Cougars have been one of the hottest teams in the CHL in the past month since first cracking the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 list four weeks ago.
There were no teams on last week’s Top 10 list that didn’t make the list this week, but a few teams switched positions. Still in fourth spot are the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL, with the Barrie Colts of the OHL moving up one spot, from sixth to fifth, despite losing a pair of games last week. The Kamloops Blazers of the WHL slipped into sixth place in the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10, down from third spot last week.
Rounding out the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10: 7. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL, up from 10th last week; 8. Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL, same as last week; 9. Red Deer Rebels, WHL, same as last week and 10. Guelph Storm, OHL, down from seventh spot last week.
This is the final week for the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 to be released this year. The next ranking will be issued January 7, 2002.
The complete list from Week 11 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 29 5 4 1 1 8 2 Plymouth Whalers/OHL 22 5 6 1 2 11 3 Prince George Cougars 21 8 3 2 6 4 4 Shawinigan Cataractes/QMJHL 25 8 3 1 4 10 5 Barrie Colts/OHL 21 9 4 0 6 4 6 Kamloops Blazers/WHL 20 10 1 2 3 9 7 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds/OHL19 10 6 0 10 2 8 Halifax Mooseheads/QMJHL 21 11 3 1 8 2 9 Red Deer Rebels/WHL 20 10 5 0 9 11 10 Guelph Storm/OHL 19 11 5 0 7 4WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the WHL on Monday night.
Heading into this week’s action, the Swift Current Broncos (23-10-3-2) have 51 points, tops in the WHL and best in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division standings. Red Deer is six points back in the Central at 20-10-5-0. In the East Division, the Regina Pats (21-11-2-4, 48 points), have opened up a six-point lead on the Brandon Wheat Kings, with Regina currently on a four-game winning streak.
In the B.C. Division of the Western Conference, the Prince George Cougars (21-8-3-2) have 47 points, four points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. In the U.S. Division, the Spokane Chiefs (22-12-3-2, 49 points) are 11 points ahead of the second place Portland Winter Hawks.
Nathan Barrett of Lethbridge leads the WHL scoring derby with 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points, followed by Tomas Kopecky of Lethbridge (21-28-49). Four players are tied for third place in WHL scoring, all with 46 points: Eric Johansson of Tri-City (22-24-46), Tyler Beechey of Calgary (19-27-46), Tim Smith of Swift Current (17-29-46) and Kevin Korol of Regina (11-35-46).
Top goaltenders in the WHL are Regina’s Josh Harding (1.98 GAA, .922 save percentage), followed by Shane Bendera of Red Deer (2.28, .918), Kyle Stanton of Prince George (2.30, .920), Logan Koopmans of Lethbridge (2.33, .911) and Cam Ward of Red Deer (2.37, .905).
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the OHL on Monday night.
Nathan Robinson of the Belleville Bulls continues to lead the OHL scoring derby heading into this week’s action. Robinson has 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points, three points ahead of his teammate Mike Renzi (25-38-63). Sarnia’s Kris Newbury (26-34-60), Sarnia’s Dusty Jamieson (22-31-53), Guelph ’s Dustin Brown (32-17-49) and London’s Rick Nash (24-25-49), round out the top OHL scorers.
Barrie’s David Chant continues to lead all goalies with a goals against average of 2.06 and a save percentage of .936. Peter Budaj of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors is second in both categories with a 2.37 GAA and a save percentage of .922. Rounding out the top five goalies in GAA are Jason Bacashihua of Plymouth (2.42), Sault Ste. Marie’s Ray Emery (2.50) and Ottawa’s J.F. Perras (2.58)
The Plymouth Whalers continue to lead the OHL overall standings and the West Division with a record of 22-5-6-1. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds are second in the West, now just seven points behind them. In the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, the Guelph Storm (19-11-5-0) lead the Kitchener Rangers by three points, as the Rangers moved into second place thanks to four straight wins.
The Barrie Colts are the Central Division leaders at 21-9-4-0 for 46 points, second highest point total in the OHL and four points better than the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors (18-11-6-0). In the East Division of the Eastern Conference, the Belleville Bulls (18-15-2-1) have a slim one-point lead on the Ottawa 67’s and the Peterborough Petes.
Formal bid presentations to host the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup take place Tuesday in Toronto. The Barrie Colts, the Guelph Storm, the Ottawa 67’s and the Erie Otters are all making bids to host the championship tournament of the Canadian Hockey League, May 18-26, 2002.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the QMJHL Monday night.
Heading into this week’s action, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan continues to dominate the league and Maritimes Division standings. The Titan are 29-5-4-1 for 63 points, nine points better than any other QMJHL team and good for a huge 17-point lead on Halifax in the division standings. In the East Division of the Dilio Conference, Rimouski (23-12-2-1) has 49 points, three ahead of the second place Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
In the West Division of the Lebel Conference, the Montreal Rocket (14-18-4-2) cling to a slim one-point lead on Val-d’Or. In the Centre Division, the Shawinigan Cataractes (25-8-3-1) have a 12-point bulge on the Victoriaville Tigres.
Charles Linglet of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar continues to lead the scoring race with 36 goals and 39 assists for 75 points. Jason Pominville of Shawinigan (35-39-74) is just one point behind him, followed by Chicoutimi’s Pierre-Marc Bouchard (30-42-72), Jonathan Bellemare of Shawinigan (20-52-72) and Victoriaville’s Matthew Lombardi (27-44-71).
Olivier Michaud of Shawinigan has the best goals against average with a 2.17 mark, followed by Adam Russo of Acadie-Bathurst (2.42), Olivier Dannel of Acadie-Bathurst (2.45), Dany Dallaire of Halifax (2.67) and Jonathan Cayer of Montreal (2.96). Dallaire has the best save percentage at .919, followed by Russo (.913) and Cayer (.908).
