Some shakeup to the top five again this week but you can pencil these teams as top ten teams the rest of the way, I think.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Laval Rocket
Last Week: 4th (up 3)
Record: 37-15-2-1
Rocket and Americans playing leap frog for tops in the North and it’s the Rocket in front this week.
2. Rochester Americans
Last Week: 1st (down 1)
Record: 34-16-3-3
Swept in Laval and that’s a four point swing for the opposition and the Amerks are chasing Laval again.
3. Hershey Bears
Last Week: 2nd (down 1)
Record: 35-15-5
Bears can’t lose and when they aren’t playing still manage to win when teams that have games in hand on them lose those. Five clear of the rest of the division, widest lead of all the division leaders.
4. Colorado Eagles
Last Week: 3rd (down 1)
Record: 31-15-5-3
Split with Henderson and you can’t be doing that when it is so tight with the tops of the division.
5. Coachella Valley Firebirds
Last Week: 5th (no change)
Record: 32-18-1-5
Three game win streak and 7-3 in their last ten and tied for the lead with the Eagles in the Pacific. Can the Firebirds make it all the way again?
6. Milwaukee Admirals
Last Week: 8th (up 2)
Record: 30-18-4-5
Five game point streak comes at great point in the season. Admirals host Grand Rapids, Hartford and Rockford this week.
7. Springfield Thunderbirds
Last Week: 11th (up 4)
Record: 30-20-2-4
Thunderbirds are the hottest team in the Atlantic, 7-2-0-1 in their last ten and looking to cause havoc.
8. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
Last Week: 13th (up 5)
Record: 31-16-7-1
Ran out of gas against the rested Crunch playing third game in three days.
9. Providence Bruins
Last Week: 6th (down 3)
Record: 32-18-4-2
Eight game road trip begins with a 2-1 loss in Springfield Saturday.
10. Charlotte Checkers
Last Week: 10th (no change)
Record: 31-17-3-3
Checkers have the most games in hand on the rest of the division and have to start making use of same. Six game road trip takes them through the North Division.
11. Texas Stars
Last Week: 9th (down 2)
Record: 32-19-3
Stars stumble in Chicago, and that’s points they will wish they had a month from now.
12. Calgary Wranglers
Last Week: 7th (down 5)
Record: 31-21-4-2
Wranglers have gone cold and are sinking, 2-6-1-1 in last ten.
13. Syracuse Crunch
Last Week: 15th (up 2)
Record: 24-19-8-4
Crunch take advantage of a tired Penguins team Sunday to keep themselves in a playoff discussion in the North.
14. Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Last Week: 14th (no change)
Record: 29-22-5-2
Split in Charlotte. Tightening things up in the Atlantic.
15. San Diego Gulls
Last Week: 17th (up 2)
Record: 23-25-5-3
The Gulls are the hottest team in the league and it would be a shame if they could not secure a playoff berth.
16. San Jose Barracuda
Last Week: 25th (up 9)
Record: 29-20-4-3
San Jose seems stuck in the middle for now which is OK, but you don’t want to be just OK in the last month of the season.
17. Abbotsford Canucks
Last Week: 18th (up 1)
Record: 29-23-2-1
Split a home series with the Barracuda but let San Jose leave town with three points. Canucks battling with San Jose and a bunch of other teams for positioning in the Pacific.
18. Cleveland Monsters
Last Week: 23rd (up 5)
Record: 28-18-5-5
Monsters seem inert when teams all around them are ready to make or are making moves.
19. Belleville Senators
Last Week: 26th (up 7)
Record: 26-21-4-4
Did some early PA damage this week to bump them back into playoff discussion in the North.
20. Chicago Wolves
Last Week: 29th (up 9)
Record: 29-23-3
Kickoff seven game home stand with a pair of wins over Grand Rapids and Texas. Stock up on the Wolves for now.
21. Ontario Reign
Last Week: 12th (down 9)
Record: 31-19-3-1
Yikes! Reign haven’t won in five!
22. Toronto Marlies
Last Week: 20th (down 2)
Record: 29-17-3-6
Marlies go 1-2 in the week, slip a bit.
23. Rockford IceHogs
Last Week: 27th (up 4)
Record: 24-25-5-1
Seemingly a safe bet for playoffs, can push to get better seeding here in the last four weeks of the season.
24. Henderson Silver Knights
Last Week: 16th (down 8)
Record: 23-31-3
Silver Knights had a decent run but are regressing to the mean again.
25. Bakersfield Condors
Last Week: 19th (down 6)
Record: 24-20-6-3
Condors are vulnerable to get passed by a Gulls team on a tear.
26. Manitoba Moose
Last Week: 30th (up 4)
Record: 20-31-1-3
Moose are a respectable 5-3-0-2 in their last ten but still ten points off of a playoff spot.
27. Tucson Roadrunners
Last Week: 24th (down 3)
Record: 27-23-3-2
Four game homestead upcoming for the Roadrunners. Seems like a final stand here.
28. Grand Rapids Griffins
Last Week: 22nd (down 6)
Record: 29-22-4-2
Split with a resurgent Moose team, lost to the Wolves. Griffs fading at a bad spot in the season.
29. Utica Comets
Last Week: 21st (down 8)
Record: 23-25-4-2
Comets are eight out of playoff spot with about a month left. Need a reverse of the start of the season where they went 0-13 (meaning they need to go 13-0) to seemingly have any hope.
30. Hartford Wolf Pack
Last Week: 31st (up 1)
Record: 24-27-5-2
10 point deficit with this many games remaining is a long road to hoe.
31. Iowa Wild
Last Week: 28th (down 3)
Record: 20-32-3-1
10 point gap to Rockford seems insurmountable. Get your silverware polished up.
32. Bridgeport Islanders
Last Week: 32nd (no change)
Record: 12-28-4-3
Winless in eight. Is the season over yet?
Have a great week everyone!
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