Chirps from Center Ice

NOTE: News of the day from Coal Street included Brian Gibbons’ recall and four recalls from Wheeling. Read about it here.

More bad than good in Week 7 of the AHL Power Rankings. That’s why teams like the Chicago Wolves are up 13 spots in 9th this week after winning five in a row.

It also seems like the team that gets to number one, can’t stay there. Last week it was the Grand Rapids Griffins. They lost two this week to divisional foes and are down seven spots in eighth.

If the Abbotsford Heat won ten in a row, they’d be number one. Ilya Bryzgalov made sure that didn’t happen Saturday in Oklahoma City so the Binghamton Senators are your new number one. Can they stay there? They have one this week with Adirondack, whom they are 1-2 against and two this weekend with the Hershey Bears, the only team this week not to go anywhere in the rankings this week.

Biggest fall this week belongs to your Syracuse Crunch, down eleven to thirteenth.

If you didn’t link in from somewhere else, click through to see where everyone else filed in.

Rank	Team	Last Week	Comment	This Week
1		3rd (+2)	B-Sens on a tear. Six game win streak. A test vs. the Phantoms, whom they can’t seem to solve.	@ ADK Fri., HER Sat. & Sun.
2		4th (+2)	Heat win 9 in a row before losing to Ilya Bryzgalov and the Barons on Saturday.	@ MIL Tue., RFD Wed., IA Sat. & Sun.
3		7th (+4)	Falcons lead the Northeast, thanks to a three game winning streak.	Host ALB Fri., HFD Sat., @ PRO Sun.
4		6th (+2)	Beat Norfolk twice and lost to Portland in between.	Host WOR Fri., PRO Sat., @ WOR Sun.
5		10th (+5)	Devils ebbing and flowing, tidy three game winning streak, two back of the division lead.	Host HFD Wed., @ SPR Fri., ADK Sat.
6		12th (+6)	Back to winning ways in Wilkes-Barre, two wins over big division rivals.	@ RCH Wed., Host STJ Fri. & Sat.
7		8th (+2)	Points in all three games for the Monsters this week, who are in the thick of it in the North.	Host OKC Thu. & Fri.
8		1st (-7)	The Griffs give some ground to divisional foes Milwaukee and Chicago, who they both lost to this week.	Host MIL Wed., @ IA Fri., CHI Sat.
9		22nd (+13)	These are the Chicago Wolves we have come to expect. A 5 game winning streak.	@ MIL Fri., Host GR Sat.
10		15th (+5)	Cooled off the Griffins this week, lost to to the hot Wolves and beat the struggling Wild.	Host ABB Tue., @ GR Wed., Host CHI Fri.
11		8th (-3)	Phantoms lose their only game of the week vs. the white hot B-Sens.	Host BNG Fri., ALB Sat.
12		5th (-8)	Thumped by the Heat, beat the Comets then fall 10 rounds in a shootout to the Marlies.	@ HAM Tue., Host TOR Sat.
13		2nd (-11)	Crunch on a two game slide. The loss of Stamkos up top having an immediate effect or just a burp?	Home and home with HAM Fri. & Sat.
14		18th (+4)	4 of 6 this week for the Marlies who needed this to stay competitive in the North.	Host CHA Tue., @ TEX Sat., SA Sun.
15		20th (+5)	IceCaps get points in all games this week vs. the Sharks and are still in the mix at the almost quarter pole.	@ WBS Fri. & Sat., BRI Sun.
16		11th (-5)	Hogs barely hanging on in the Midwest. They need to find some early season magic quickly.	Host ABB Wed., @ CHA Sat. & Sun.
17		13th (-4)	Two losses to the Monarchs this week with a win vs. the P-Bruins in between. Five home games coming up.	Host POR Fri. & Sat.
18		21st (+2)	Points in all games this weekend. Better than most.	@ NOR Fri. & Sat.
19		14th (-5)	Two losses this week and losing track on first place Manchester and coming back to the pack in the Atlantic.	Host BRI Fri., @ MCH Sat., Host SPR Sun.
20		26th (+6)	Not a bad week for the Barons, who cool off the Heat and beat the Rampage.	@ SA Tue., LE Thu. & Fri.
21		25th (+4)	Amerks beat who they should have then got obliterated in Binghamton Saturday.	Host WBS Wed., then a home and home with UTI Fri. & Sat.
22		16th (-6)	Lost two this week, including one big to the listless Wolf Pack.	@ PRO Fri., WOR Sat., Host STJ Sun.
23		30th (+7)	Sharks get out of the basement thanks to the anemic Checkers and 5 of 6 on The Rock.	@ MCH Fri., Host BRI Sat., MCH Sun.
24		No change	Bears score 13 goals in North Carolina this week then 1 in Wilkes-Barre Saturday.	Host BNG Sat. & Sun.
25		23rd (-2)	Rampage falling out of the race. Need to turn things around soon.	Host OKC Tue., @ TEX Fri., Host TOR Sun.
26		17th (-9)	Dogs fading a bit in the North. Two losses this week.	Host TEX Tue., then a home and home with SYR Fri. & Sat.
27		19th (-8)	Three losses this week for the Wild who are in last in the Midwest and may stay there the rest of the season.	Host GR Fri., ABB Sat. & Sun.
28		29th (+1)	Pack shut out in back to back games then beat Bridgeport handily.	@ ALB Wed., SPR Sat.
29		27th (-2)	Comets with a two game win streak then go cold again for a two game losing streak.	Home and home with RCH Fri. & Sat.
30		28th (-2)	6 game losing skid, where the Checkers have been outscored 26-10.	@ TOR Tue., Host RFD Sat. & Sun.

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