Big Kahuna's NAHL Power Rankings - 11/04/2008
1. St Louis Bandits (0)
2. Topeka Roadrunners (+1)
3. Traverse City North Stars (-1)
4. USNTDP (+1)
5. Mahoning Valley Phantoms (-1)
6. Alexandria Blizzard (0)
7. Alaska Avalanche (0)
8. North Iowa Outlaws (+1)
9. Wichita Falls Wildcats (-1)
10. Bismarck Bobcats (0)
11. Alpena Ice Diggers (0)
12. Owatonna Express (+1)
13. Fairbanks Ice Dogs (+2)
14. Springfield Jr Blues (-2)
15. Marquette Rangers (-1)
16. Kenai River Brown Bears (0)
17. Wenatchee Wild (+1)
18. Albert Lea Thunder (+1)
19. Motor City Machine (-2)
St Louis stays at the top for another week, and Topeka climbs back up to #2. Wichita Falls continues to fall down the list and are really struggling lately. The Express climb a spot this weekend after the sweep of the Thunder. Motor City has completed their free-fall to the bottom by extending their losing streak to 12 games, and then trading away two of their best players. At the Showcase, the Machine needed overtime to beat Wenatchee, and a shootout to beat the Thunder. If those games were played today, I think Wenatchee gets a win, and Albert Lea for sure beats the Machine. Albert Lea has gotten noticeably better since the first time the Express played them.
See you at the rink.
--BK
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13 comments:
My son played in central and north division, hands down he said north is the best division in the league. Also a good friend of mine is a college coach and he figured the best 8 teams in the nahl are the 6 in the north and topeka and st. Louis, he said fairbanks could be strong at the end of the year.
"Also a good friend of mine is a college coach and he figured the best 8 teams in the nahl are the 6 in the north and topeka and st. Louis"
- Your friend is certainly entitled to his opinion, but does he actually believe that the Motor City Machine are one of the best 8 teams in the league?? A top 8 team in the league doesn't lose 12 straight games. A top 8 team in the league doesn't need overtime/shootout to beat 2 expansion teams. By that logic, Alexandria is not as good as all 6 teams in the North Division. The same Alexandria that is 4-0 against the the North this year, including a win over the USNTDP U18 team. Alaska, Wichita Falls and Springfield are not as good as all 6 teams in the North?? The Avalanche, Wildcats & Jr Blues are a combined 6-0 against the North this season.
There are some very good teams in the North. Traverse City and Mahoning Valley are off to good starts, and look very talented. The USNTDP U17 should be good, with the resources they have behind them. Alpena and Marquette are just ordinary teams with potential. I like Marquette's coach Kenny Miller, but he needs another year to build the Rangers. Alpena got lucky when Nick Graves came back, but he can't fix their lack of scoring punch. Motor City is just 3 items away from potentially being a good team: 1. New owners, 2. New coaches, 3. New 25-man roster.
--BK
By the way, the South Division is 11-1 versus the North Division this season, and has the best two teams overall in Topeka and St Louis. That makes the South the best division.
--BK
BK:
What are your game predictions for this weekend?
BK,
This is Paul Teeple, voice of the Phantoms. I check your rankings every week and think you do a great job with your blog.
As far as the North vs. South division debate goes right now, I'd have to say it's too early to call, and by the end of the season there will only be a handful of truly meaningful games played between the two divisions (our games at STL in March jump to mind). Miller and Fritsche are two well-respected junior coaches and you know that their teams won't struggle forever.
This debate will probably be best suited for after the new year when we start to see what these teams can really do.
B.K.
Didn't mean for you to loose any sleep, just stating facts from a good source. Truth is if the showcase was to be played in December the North would dominate, everynight is a fight in that division. Teams such as N.I or Alexandria can play on a night in night out basis with teams in the north because they play teams such as A.L. and the Express alot they have more energy then those teams especially when they drive 1000 miles to play. Also look at players who made the switch from other divisions to the north they don't fair so good, I will be quick to point out If you play good competition everynight you will become better. I guess we will only have to wait and see where the national champion comes from this year.
"What are your game predictions for this weekend?"
- Haven't looked that far ahead yet. For tonight's game between Wichita Falls and Wenatchee, look for a Wichita Falls victory.
Thursday night's Alpena vs. Marquette game should be an interesting matchup. I look for Alpena to steal a close game on Marquette's home ice.
--BK
"This is Paul Teeple, voice of the Phantoms. I check your rankings every week and think you do a great job with your blog."
- Thanks for reading and contributing Paul.
As you mentioned, it is too early to draw any major conclusions on how things will stack up in the NAHL. The unfortunate thing is we will most likely never see these discussions settled on the ice with the current scheduling dynamics. I realize the benefits of playing mostly intradivisional games, but I would also like to see some other teams at our rink.
--BK
"Truth is if the showcase was to be played in December the North would dominate, everynight is a fight in that division."
- We'll agree to disagree on if the north would dominate, but I love the idea of playing the Showcase later in the year. Things are too unsettled at the beginning of the year. Let the teams get some games under their belt, and we would see a better brand of hockey.
Another thing the league could do by moving the Showcase to later in the year, is tailor the matchups. Have the best teams in each of the 4 divisions play each other, etc...
Maybe I should run for NAHL commissioner next year??
--BK
nahldad;
The north division is a tough league in general.
Alex is pretty strong in the Central. Last year the Outlaws dominated until the playoffs and then choked. Never know how well a team will do come playoffs and lots of surprises may happen.
I see Inderieden's RIGHTS were traded to Marquette. Anyone know what happened? Did he quit Motor City?
BK;
Did not Wichita Falls = 0?
"BK;
Did not Wichita Falls = 0?"
- I had them at #8 last week with North Iowa at #9. Those 2 teams switched positions this week.
--BK
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