Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

AHL Power Rankings: Week 15

The first full week of January is in the books and the AHL hit the halfway mark this past weekend as the positioning for the divisional races and top four are heating up.

Big shakeup this week in the Top 5. In fact, no one stayed where they were last week. Every team moved up or down this week.

The Toronto Marlies are back in the top spot this week after sweeping the Checkers in North Carolina and are 7-3 in their last ten.

The Syracuse Crunch jump up to the second spot in the Rankings, sweeping the Rochester Americans capping off a perfect week for the Crunch.

The Pacific Division leading Tucson Roadrunners are third, followed by the Atlantic Division leading Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, who have won seven straight.

The Grand Rapids Griffins round out the top five, the defending champions are not out of this thing yet and are not to be discounted.

To see the sixth place team, hit the jump after the Griffins to see the rest if you didn’t link in direct.

1

Last Week: TOR 4 @ CHA 1, TOR 3 @ CHA 1
Sweep the Checkers in North Carolina. 7-3 in their last ten, winners of six straight.

+3

This Week: @ SYR 1/19, @ BNG 1/20, @ BRI 1/21
Record: 28-11-0-0

2

Last Week: SYR 4 @ BNG 1, SYR 3 @ UTI 2, RCH 0 @ SYR 4
Crunch sweep the week, putting pressure on second place Rochester. Shutting the Amerks out Saturday sends a strong message.

+5

This Week: vs. BNG 1/15, @ BEL 1/17, vs. TOR 1/19, @ UTI 1/20
Record: 23-12-1-2

3

Last Week: TUC 4 @ STK 2, TUC 4 @ ONT 6, TUC 4 @ SD 2
Tucson holds the first spot in the Pacific for another week with wins against second place Stockton and third place San Diego.

+2

This Week: vs. SD 1/15, vs. SD 1/17, @ SA 1/19, @ SA 1/20
Record: 19-11-2-1

4

Last Week: WBS 6 @ BEL 2, WBS 4 @ LAV 3
Seven straight for the Penguins, who took advantage of some non-playoff teams. Real test is this week against rivals Lehigh Valley and Providence.

+5

This Week: vs. LV 1/17, @ PRO 1/19, @ PRO 1/21
Record: 23-10-2-1

5

Last Week: GR 3 @ MTB 2 (OT), GR 5 @ MTB 1, CLE 2 @ GR 4, CLE 2 @ GR 1
Griffins sweep the Moose in Winnipeg, then split a series with the Monsters. Don’t sleep on the defending champs yet.

+5

This Week: vs. MIL 1.17, @ MIL 1/19, vs. RFD 1/20
Record: 19-17-1-4

6

Last Week: RCH 2 @ BEL 3 (OT), BNG 2 @ RCH 5, RCH 0 @ SYR 4
Curse of being the number one team in the Power Rankings? Rochester loses in overtime to Belleville and are shutout by rival Syracuse and lose ground to first place Toronto.

-5

This Week: vs. UTI 1/15, @ UTI 1/17, @ CHA 1/20, @ CHA 1/21
Record: 23-9-4-3

7

Last Week: GR 3 @ MTB 2 (OT), GR 5 @ MTB 1, IA 5 @ MTB 4, IA 2 @ MTB 3
Moose drop three straight this week, good thing they built up a lot of collateral and still lead the Central by a lot. Host Texas for a pair this week.

-5

This Week: vs. TEX 1/19, vs. TEX 1/20
Record: 26-8-3-2

8

Last Week: SPR 6 @ LV 2, HER 1 @ LV 2, LV 2 @ HER 1 (OT)
Lehigh Valley travels to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday in a battle of 1 vs. 2. Then they rematch the Bears outside at Hersheypark Stadium.

+5

This Week: @ WBS 1/17, @ HER 1/20
Record: 23-12-2-3

9

Last Week: RFD 5 @ ONT 2, RFD 4 @ SJ 2, RFD 2 @ BAK 3 (OT)
Positive trip for the IceHogs. Winnable games this week for Rockford.

+5

This Week: @ CLE 1/17, @ CLE 1/19, @ GR 1/20
Record: 21-15-2-2

10

Last Week: CHI 1 @ SD 2, TUC 4 @ SD 2
Split the week. Gulls lurking. Two more with Tucson this week.

+1

This Week: @ TUC 1/15, @ TUC 1/17, vs. SJ 1/19, vs. SJ 1/20
Record: 19-14-1-0

11

Last Week: CHI 1 @ SD 2, CHI 4 @ BAK 3, CHI 2 @ ONT 4
14 game point streak ended Wednesday in San Diego. California trip was not very good to the Wolves who only bring home two points. Wolves go from a potential candidate for the top spot to out of a playoff spot in fifth.

-8

This Week: @ IA 1/17, vs. BAK 1/20, vs. CLE 1/21
Record: 19-14-5-2

12

Last Week: UTI 5 @ LAV 1, SYR 3 @ UTI 2, UTI 3 @ BNG 2 (OT)
Comets are fourth in the North. Do they have enough jam to get higher? This week will be a great chance to see.

+7

This Week: @ RCH 1/15, vs. RCH 1/17, @ HFD 1/19, vs. SYR 1/20
Record: 17-14-4-3

13

Last Week: BRI 3 @ PRO 2, PRO 1 @ BRI 2 (SO), SPR 5 @ PRO 2
One point out of the week for Providence and winless in their last four games. Tough tests this week for the P-Bruins.

-7

This Week: vs. WBS 1/19, @ BRI 1/20, vs. SPR 1/21
Record: 22-12-3-1

14

Last Week: HFD 2 @ BRI 1 (SO), BRI 3 @ PRO 2, PRO 1 @ BRI 2 (SO)
Swept Providence this week and moved up to a four seed.

+10

This Week: @ CHA 1/16, @ CHA 1/17, vs. PRO 1/20, vs. TOR 1/21
Record: 18-13-4-2

15

Last Week: SA 1 @ SJ 2, MIL 4 @ SA 1, MIL 1 @ SA 3
Salvage the week with a nice win over Milwaukee. Host the division leading Roadrunners for a pair this weekend.

-7

This Week: vs. ONT 1/17, vs. TUC 1/19, vs. TUC 1/20
Record: 21-16-2-0

16

Last Week: CLE 0 @ MIL 1, MIL 4 @ SA 1, MIL 1 @ SA 3
Couldn’t sweep the weekend, losing Sunday to San Antonio. Admirals are second in the Central, still a ways behind the Manitoba Moose for first.

-4

This Week: @ GR 1/17, vs. GR 1/19, @ IA 1/20
Record: 20-14-4-0

17

Last Week: RFD 5 @ ONT 2, TUC 4 @ ONT 6, CHI 2 @ ONT 4
Reign get 4 of 6 this week. Busy week coming up for Ontario who, if the trend continues, will be in the mix very soon.

+5

This Week: vs. TEX 1/15, @ SA 1/17, @ STK 1/19, @ STK 1/20
Record: 18-15-1-1

18

Last Week: TEX 1 @ BAK 2 (OT), CHI 4 @ BAK 3, RFD 2 @ BAK 3 (OT)
3 points out of 6 available this week keeps the Condors out of a playoff spot. But it’s January and still a lot of time.

+7

This Week: @ SA 1/15, @ IA 1/19, @ CHI 1/20
Record: 16-14-6-0

19

Last Week: TUC 4 @ STK 2, TEX 7 @ STK 2, TEX 0 @ STK 2
Race to watch is going to be in the Pacific between the Heat and the Roadrunners, despite the fact that the Heat won just one game this week.

-4

This Week: @ SJ 1/17, vs. ONT 1/19, vs. ONT 1/20
Record: 18-12-2-3

20

Last Week: SPR 2 @ HER 1 (OT), SPR 6 @ LV 2, SPR 5 @ PRO 2
Thunderbirds are 6-3-0-1 in their last ten and have moved out of last place in the Atlantic Division, where they have been since October. Springfield is only six points out of a playoff spot.

+7

This Week: vs. HFD 1/15, vs. HER 1/17, vs. BNG 1/19, @ PRO 1/21
Record: 17-21-1-1

21

Last Week: SA 1 @ SJ 2, RFD 4 @ SJ 2
Remain last in the Pacific. 5 of 8 or 6 of 6 points this week can change that this week.

+5

This Week: vs. BAK 1/15, vs. STK 1/17, @ SD 1/19, @ SD 1/20
Record: 16-15-0-2

22

Last Week: RCH 2 @ BEL 3 (OT), WBS 6 @ BEL 2, HFD 2 @ BEL 4
Not a bad week overall for Belleville, scrapping with Rochester to an OT win and then beating Hartford clean Saturday.

+7

This Week: vs. SYR 1/17, @ LAV 1/19, vs. LAV 1/20
Record: 16-21-0-3

23

Last Week: IA 5 @ MTB 4, IA 2 @ MTB 3
Split with the Moose, handing them a rare regulation loss. Central is an extremely competitive division, Iowa is right now outside the top four.

-6

This Week: vs. CHI 1/17, vs. BAK 1/19, vs. MIL 1/20
Record: 17-13-6-3

24

Last Week: TOR 4 @ CHA 1, TOR 3 @ CHA 1
Swept by Toronto. Free fall continues. Five seed now. 3-7 in their last ten. Busy week coming up with the Sound Tigers who are in the four spot.

-8

This Week: vs. BRI 1/16, vs. BRI 1/17, vs. RCH 1/20, vs. RCH 1/21
Record: 21-16-0-1

25

Last Week: SPR 2 @ HER 1 (OT), HER 1 @ LV 2, LV 2 @ HER 1 (OT)
Bears are destined to play .500 hockey. All of the results this week for Hershey resulted in 2-1 scores, and the Bears took just two of six points out of the week.

-7

This Week: @ SPR 1/17 vs. LV 1/20
Record: 17-17-3-3

26

Last Week: TEX 1 @ BAK 2 (OT), TEX 7 @ STK 2, TEX 0 @ STK 2
Not a good trip out to California for the Stars. One point.

-5

This Week: @ ONT 1/15, @ MTB 1/19, @ MTB 1/20
Record: 20-15-4-1

27

Last Week: HFD 2 @ BRI 1 (SO), HFD 2 @ LAV 4, HFD 2 @ BEL 4
Wolf Pack take down the Sound Tigers in a shootout to start their week then the bottom fell out and they were beaten by non-playoff teams in the North Division.

-7

This Week: @ SPR 1/15, vs. UTI 1/19, vs. WBS 1/21
Record: 15-19-3-3

28

Last Week: CLE 0 @ MIL 1, CLE 2 @ GR 4, CLE 2 @ GR 1
Monsters played tight games this week, usually a sign of a turnaround. Clipped Grand Rapids on Saturday, hopefully this is a turn in Cleveland’s favor.

+2

This Week: vs. RFD 1/17, vs. RFD 1/19, @ CHI 1/21
Record: 11-19-3-3

29

Last Week: UTI 5 @ LAV 1, HFD 2 @ LAV 4, WBS 4 @ LAV 3
Rocket took two losses this week. We believe that they are better than Belleville and Binghamton. Question is, are they better than Utica and Syracuse?

-6

This Week: vs. BEL 1/19, @ BEL 1/20
Record: 16-18-5-2

30

Last Week: SYR 4 @ BNG 1, BNG 2 @ RCH 5, UTI 3 @ BNG 2 (OT)
Things keep getting worse and worse for Binghamton. The Devils were a playoff team last year. This season is slowly slipping away and becoming a massive disappointment.

-2

This Week: @ SYR 1/15, @ SPR 1/19, vs. TOR 1/20
Record: 11-20-5-2

Have a great week, everyone!

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