Chirps from Center Ice

Back for Week 2 with some movement this week in the second version of these Power Rankings. There is some Atlantic Division bias here with five teams in the top ten. Sorry!

This week belongs to the Thunderbirds, who are off to a hot start. I think we knew that Ontario was going to be good and they are number two, but Utica at number three? That’s an early surprise.

Here are the rest for you in order.

Rank	Team	Blurb	Last Week
1		I mean we have seen this before with previous iterations with Springfield, but this is a good start. Wilkes-Barre and Charlotte in for some early tests.	+4
2		4-0 start with one shootout loss to start the year, top of the Pacific. Trip to Abbotsford this weekend.	+8
3		Surprising start. Surprising in that if you watched this team in Binghamton last year, you never saw this. Leagues stingiest team (4 goals allowed)	+5
4		Bit of a drop, but not far for the Bears out of the top spot. Home cooking this week with Syracuse and Cleveland.	-3
5		3 of 4 points from Hershey isn’t bad by any stretch.	+6
6		Tidy sweep of Rockford at home has the Wild at the top of the Central.	+13
7		Worked overtime to beat Hartford and Lehigh Valley this weekend. Will face rested Hartford and Springfield this weekend after another match midweek with the Phantoms.	+5
8		Good start for the Wolf Pack, racking up early points.	+1
9		Swept Grand Rapids at home. Hosts Iowa this weekend.	+7
10		Heat have the momentum on their side and are amongst the stingiest teams in the Pacific with big wins over San Diego and Bakersfield.	+6
11		Sweep the Admirals in a home and home and the Carolina affiliation looks better than it did last week.	+17
12		So that offense we talked about last week with the Crunch dried up a bit and only got the Crunch four goals against some surprising teams in Utica and Rochester.	-10
13		The other stingiest team in the Pacific is the Barracuda, who are winning games with defense early on. Trip to Stockton Sunday makes for an interesting matchup.	+13
14		Abbotsford hosted and swept Henderson in hockey’s return to the Fraser Valley this past weekend. Hosts the top team in the division Ontario this weekend.	+9
15		the ebbs and flows of a season. Pair of wins to start the season, pair of losses now. How will the Condors respond against Colorado and Henderson this week?	-12
16		5 out of 6 points from the weekend is a great start to the young season. Tough road trip this week out to Syracuse then down to Hershey.	+14
17		Huge wins by big margins over some old rivals in Toronto and Syracuse have the Americans in third in the North.	+8
18		The fun and gun they displayed at home against Colorado last week was shut down in Abbotsford this weekend, including getting shutout.	-14
19		Stayed busy last weekend with a good old 3-in-3. Shutout a tired Laval team Sunday.	+5
20		Split a weekend pair with Tucson. Splits seem to be the norm with the Stars early on here.	+1
21		Split a pair with the Stars and are .500. Last place San Diego is in this weekend.	-3
22		.500 start for the Marlies, which is right where the may play all season.	-2
23		Swept by the Wolves this weekend. One more with Chicago then a stop in Grand Rapids.	-17
24		Rocket get some home cooking this week in the likes of Toronto and Rochester. Should be an interesting early matchup with the Americans.	-11
25		Not the best start for the P-Bruins at 1-2-1-1, one point out of a three game weekend with Charlotte and Bridgeport in next.	-18
26		Tight contests in Winnipeg this past weekend with the Griffins coming out on the losing end. Wins will come, eventually.	-11
27		Cleveland held this team to just one goal in two games. Such as life in this league and the schedule doesn’t get much easier this week.	-13
28		IceHogs have given up the most goals in the AHL so far.	-6
29		Rough start of the season for the Eagles who are in search of their first win.	n/a
30		Leagues best offense on paper has least amount of goals scored in the league. Oof.	+1
31		The only team yet to register a point. Maybe it comes this weekend in Tucson.	-4