Chirps from Center Ice

Well, until the next COVID wave derails this little enterprise.

Wait, did I say that out loud? I guess I did. Anyway, I last did this in the middle of December, after returning it from a week or so hiatus before that, so it is consistently inconsistent.

With that said (I meant to this time) I have decided to wipe the slate clean and just start over. So that’s why the “Last Week” part of the Power Rankings you have all come to know and love is absent this week. Provided COVID doesn’t rip through and kill off half the games this week, we will be back next week, and so forth.

Hopefully.

Anyway, here’s the whole list in all of its goodness.

Rank	Team	Blurb
1		Have been class of the Central by far, but there is too much competition to think the Wolves will have a runaway at the division crown.
2		Have been class of the Eastern Conference by far, and I don’t think there is any competition where it won’t be a runaway for the Comets at the #1 seed in the North.
3		Have been class of the Pacific but…
4		…the Reign have games in hand (3) and five more head to heads with the Heat. Will be an interesting race to watch down the stretch.
5		Moose are like a bad headache. Always there. Keeping the Wolves honest and have points in seven straight.
6		Went to the top of the Atlantic on Sunday and will probably stay there. Deep, well coached team.
7		Bruising club that gets two in a struggling Wilkes-Barre this weekend.
8		Have played .500 hockey in the last ten games. One of a long line of teams just coming back online after a COVID outage.
9		Hanging around the top of the North, waiting for Utica to slip and keeping third place Toronto at bay.
10		You can only play the teams on your schedule and Hershey has absolutely mauled the Penguins of late. Very average against everyone else.
11		Stockton and Ontario have had all the fun, but here’s Henderson laying in the weeds.
12		Keith Kinkaid’s renaissance in goal is something to behold. The Wolf Pack have the second best goals against in the division.
13		I had this team pegged as a midpack team at the start of the season and that’s exactly who they are.
14		Points in nine straight. Those COVID antibodies are something, I’ll tell ya.
15		Feasting on bad teams in Tucson and Milwaukee so far in 2022. Schedule tightens bit with Eric Staal and the Iowa Wild this weekend.
16		7-2-0-1 in their last ten which isn’t bad for a team who COVID hit the hardest.
17		The Crunch are coming for your souls. Just wait.
18		Grand Rapids looks like it wants to contend with the Moose and Wolves, but when given the chance (like these last three games against the aforementioned Moose and Wolves), the Griffins stumble.
19		Monsters have played good Central Division teams and well, the results have been typical.
20		Rockford. Probably a playoff team. They are your schools most consistent C student.
21		Pair of huge wins over the Central’s best Chicago should have Iowa higher here but it doesn’t. Gotta continue to build off of that.
22		Come out of COVID protocol on the wrong end of decisions against the Penguins and Marlies.
23		Belleville is still a very good team despite its dead last showing in the North.
24		Last place in the Pacific but playing better hockey of late than the three other teams in the division yet to be named here.
25		Finally off the schnide with big wins against in state rivals Hershey and Lehigh Valley.
26		Ontario Monday sandwiched the four other games against San Diego the Canucks are playing in this stretch.
27		I mean there is no shame in losing to Stockton, but getting shutout against San Jose is bad.
28		I don’t think any of the residents of San Diego have to worry about shoveling snow this week, so there’s that.
29		Admirals and Stars are playing class clowns of the Central.
30		Schedule is relentless for the Islanders the rest of the month; two against Providence then Springfield and Hershey. Yikes.
31		Stars are the last team in the AHL to hit ten wins. They still are on just nine.Maybe Wednesday against Milwaukee?

There were no Power Rankings last week because when you had nearly an entire division in the Atlantic out of action the first weekend in December, you can’t fairly grade and come up with Rankings like that. COVID-19 would have been the number one team. People are dying from this, you can’t really make a joke out of it. So I thought it would be best to just not do one last week.

Anyway we are back at 100%, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, and have the Rankings back and better than ever this week.

Utica goes back to number one, but really throw a blanket over the top three teams and either one can be the number one side.

Here’s the full list…

Rank	Team	Blurb	Last Week
1		Still tearing through teams. When do we start having the conversation of Utica being an all time great team?	+1
2		Haven’t lost in ten straight. Now, beating up on last place Texas for three games isn’t that impressive. The Wolves are a literally wolf in a sheeps den of other teams in the Central.	+5
3		Pasted San Jose 10-1 last Tuesday. This is what good teams do to bad teams. Don’t really see any problems schedule wise with this team so the run should continue.	+3
4		Returned from COVID protocol and lost a shootout in Allentown on Sunday. Rematch this Friday at home with the Phantoms, then an important home and home with Springfield.	n/a
5		Came out of COVID protocol and faced Utica and managed to win in overtime which was impressive. Also managed to beat Laval this week. Head to Charlotte for a midweek trip.	-4
6		Senators are back to .500 and looking to make more noise. Successful weekend trip through Providence and Bridgeport.	+4
7		Bruins were patient zero in the AHL’s Atlantic and were rewarded with a three in three coming out of protocol. Almost unfair. Managed 4 of 6 points with a shutout of the Thunderbirds tossed in there Saturday.	+2
8		Play Chicago in a kids day game Thursday with a chance to make up a bit of ground that the Wolves have on them.	+4
9		Played a home and home with San Diego where the home team in each contest was victorious. Are .500 and among a ton of other teams in the Pacific who are the same.	-1
10		We have reached the “slightly above average” portion of teams in the Pacific, with Tucson playing at a 6-4 in their last ten clip, including a shootout win over the Stockton Heat, who are in their own stratosphere currently.	+7
11		Dropped all of the offense Wednesday in Syracuse (8 goals) then lost in Utica and in Allentown. Five game homestand begins this Thursday with visits from Utica and Chicago.	-6
12		Has been pretty business as usual for the Checkers, who split a pair of 5-3 decisions with Syracuse this past weekend. Rochester and Bridgeport are in this week.	+3
13		Are the Bears extremely average?	+6
14		Eagles use Bakersfield and Tucson on their schedule to make a run up to fourth in the Pacific. Big test this weekend in Stockton.	-3
15		Split a pair out in Rockford. There is a lot of average in the Pacific and the Silver Knights are one of them.	+3
16		Penguins take advantage of a rag tag Springfield group Sunday and pick up their first shutout since January 2020 with a guy they signed on a PTO from ECHL Idaho. Stuff of legends.	+9
17		Some teams managed to make it out of COVID protocols OK (like the Penguins) and then there is Springfield, who has been pillaged lineup wise. Back to back shutout losses this past weekend with Providence and Wilkes-Barre.	-14
18		When I got to the IceHogs I was expecting them to be a lot worse than third in the Central, especially when I saw Henderson paste Rockford 5-0 last Friday.	+4
19		Went win – loss – loss this weekend through the Northeast. Host Syracuse then head to Grand Rapids this weekend.	-5
20		Griffins are highly inconsistent. Marlies drop by this weekend.	-4
21		Admirals are on a four game win streak – does this survive through a home and home with the Wolves this weekend?	+5
22		North Division’s most inconsistent team. Beat Manitoba, lost to Rochester then went to Hershey and made a 2-2 in the third period into a 4-2 win.	+5
23		Haven’t won in seven straight, getting swept by lowly Milwaukee this last weekend. Admirals travel to Des Moines Tuesday, which starts a six game homestand for the Wild.	-10
24		Seven game homestand opens with a win over the Reign. Bakersfield and San Jose stop by this weekend.	-4
25		Have stayed COVID free and picked up two wins in the process. Big tests this week with Belleville, Hartford and Rochester coming.	+6
26		Picked up a win against a suddenly struggling Marlies team on Saturday and lost to a suddenly hot Belleville team on Sunday.	-3
27		Split a pair in Charlotte. That can be something to build off of.	+3
28		Have had a few COVID delays. They have played like it too, going 2-5-1-2 in their last ten. Schedule doesn’t relent. Stockton and San Diego are this weeks opponents.	-7
29		Road trip wraps up in Henderson. Canucks have the sixth best power play in all the AHL, bested only in the division by, you guessed it, Stockton.	n/a
30		Salvaged a split with Abbotsford. Four game road trip after the Eagles swoop in this Wednesday.	-2
31		Stars kickoff their long homestand with the Wolves drubbing them for 19 goals across three games. Schedule doesn’t lighten up with Rockford this week and Manitoba next week.	-7