2023-24 CHL Top-10 Rankings: Week 13
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced today the Week 13 edition of its CHL Top-10 Rankings for the 2023-24 season.
Although they saw their 13-game winning streak come to a close, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) remain in first place for a fourth straight week, having won 24 of their last 26 games. Right behind them is the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL), who remain in second place and lead the WHL with 26 wins this season. The Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) round out the top-three in third as they continue to sit atop the OHL standings with a 26-9-2-0 record.
Moreover, with six straight wins, the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL are making their Top-10 debut of the 2023-24 season in ninth, while the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, who have won eight of their last 10, are back in the Top-10 for the first time since November.
The next rankings will be released the week of January 8, following the 14th week of regular season action in all three member leagues of the CHL.
CHL Top-10 Rankings – Week 13
1. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL): Despite the fact that they dropped their first game back from the holiday break, which snapped their CHL-best 13-game winning streak, the Drakkar (31-4-2-0) remain in the top spot for a fourth week in a row. Having won two of three games last week, Baie-Comeau now has 24 victories in their last 26 contests. They are the first club in the CHL to top 30 wins and they remain the only team in the CHL unbeaten in regulation at home (16-0-2-0) this season. 2024 NHL Draft prospects Justin Poirier and Raoul Boilard continued their strong play with big performances over the last week. Poirier registered four goals and two assists in the Drakkar’s three games, which included tallying his second hat-trick of the season against Chicoutimi on Saturday. Poirier continues to lead the QMJHL with 29 goals, a mark that ranks fourth in the CHL. Meanwhile, Raoul Boilard is riding a six-game point streak (5G-4A over that stretch), which included collecting four points in three games last week. This week, Baie-Comeau will play hosts to the Phoenix, before traveling to Rimouski for a pair of games against the 2025 Memorial Cup hosts.
Games this week: vs. Sherbrooke (Jan. 4), @ Rimouski (Jan. 6), @ Rimouski (Jan. 7)
2. Prince George Cougars (WHL): Although they fell in their first game back from the holiday break, the Cougars (26-10-0-0) bounced back by winning a pair of coMemorial Cupntests to maintain their place in these rankings at No.2 by defeating Calgary (3-2) and Kamloops (4-1). Prince George has now won seven of their last 10 and they have scored four goals or more in four of their last five contests. The Cougars continued to be led by Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt and 20-year-old Zac Funk, who continue to be difference makers for this squad. Heidt extended his point streak to five games (5G-8A over that stretch) and Funk tallied his 37th goal of the season. Funk continues to lead the CHL with 37 goals, while Heidt ranks first in the CHL with 68 points (20G-48A), just three ahead of Funk who has 65 points (37G-28A). This week, the Cougars will travel to the U.S. Pacific Northwest for a tough four-game road trip highlighted by games against Wenatchee, Seattle, No.10-ranked Portland and Everett.
Games this week: @ Wenatchee (Jan. 3), @ Seattle (Jan. 5), @ Portland (Jan. 6), @ Everett (Jan. 7)
3. Kitchener Rangers (OHL): Despite the continued absence of OHL leading goal scorer Carson Rehkopf and Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mešár, who are away at the 2024 World Juniors, the Rangers (26-9-2-0) moved up a spot having won two of their three games last week. Kitchener now has seven victories over their last 10 contests, and their .730 point percentage is the third highest mark in the CHL behind Baie-Comeau (.865) and Saskatoon (.736). Vancouver Canucks prospect and defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz has recorded at least a point in five straight games, in addition to achieving the feat in 11 of his last 12 contests. Impressively, in 37 games this season, Brzustewicz has been held off the scoresheet on just five occasions. He also reached a new career-high (58 points) in those 37 games this season, breaking his previous best of 57 from the 2022-23 campaign. Those 58 points also have Brzustewicz leading the OHL scoring race. Looking ahead to this week, the Rangers will no doubt be challenged in games against the No.5-ranked Spirit, the Wolves and the Battalion.
Games this week: vs. Saginaw (Jan. 4), @ Sudbury (Jan. 6), @ North Bay (Jan. 7)
4. Saskatoon Blades (WHL): Having earned a point in 13 straight games (10-0-2-1), the longest active streak of its kind in the CHL, the Blades (25-8-2-1) moved up to fourth after another solid week. Although they fell 3-2 in a shootout to Brandon last Friday, the Blades avenged that loss by shutting out the Wheat Kings 4-0 on New Years’ Day and they also doubled up the Raiders 6-3 last Wednesday. Saskatoon now sits alone atop the WHL standings with a 25-8-2-1 record, where their eight regulation losses are tied with Rouyn-Noranda for the second-fewest in the CHL. Among the Blades’ top performers was Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Brandon Lisowsky, Anaheim Ducks prospect Egor Sidorov and captain Trevor Wong, who each extended their own point streak to nine games (3G-10A for Lisowsky, 9G-8A for Sidorov, and 3G-16A for Wong over that stretch). Saskatoon also got great goaltending from Austin Elliott, who turned aside 62-of-64 shots faced in two starts last week. Elliott has now won five of his last seven starts, and he’s given up two goals or fewer on five occasions over that stretch. The Blades also bolstered their lineup this week by acquiring the rights to Washington Capitals prospect Alexander Suzdalev, who is expected to come over from Sweden to play for the Blades for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign. This week, Saskatoon will aim to extend their point streak to 15 games when they travel for contests in Regina and Prince Albert.
Games this week: @ Regina (Jan. 5), @ Prince Albert (Jan. 6)
5. Saginaw Spirit (OHL): Holding 18 wins over their last 21 games, the Spirit (22-10-0-1) remain in fifth for a second week in a row having won two of three contests last week. The latter included a key 4-3 victory against the No.7-ranked Greyhounds, who had beaten them earlier in the week on Thursday. In all three of their contests last week, the Spirit tallied goals on the power play, which now holds a 32.7% success rate (second-best in the CHL behind London’s 34.8%). 2025 NHL Draft prospect Michael Misa tallied three goals and an assist in Saginaw’s three games, and he now has points in five of his last seven contests. 2024 NHL Draft prospect Zayne Parekh, who was one of 40 players selected to compete in the 2024 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on January 24, leads Saginaw in scoring with 45 points this season and he is currently on a five-game point streak. This week, the Spirit will face a tough challenge when they travel to Kitchener for a showdown with the No.3-ranked Rangers on Thursday before they head back home for contests against the Petes and the Generals.
Games this week: @ Kitchener (Jan. 4), vs. Peterborough (Jan. 6), vs. Oshawa (Jan. 7)
6. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL): As one of two teams in the CHL with nine wins over its last 10 games, the Huskies (24-8-1-3) jumped up a spot to slide in at sixth in this week’s rankings. Rouyn-Noranda won all three of its contests last week outscoring its opponents 23-10 during that stretch. The Huskies have now won six in a row, and they continue to be one of the best home teams in the CHL with a 13-1-0-3 record at Aréna Glencore. Last week, Antonin Verreault showed why he is one of the QMJHL’s most talented forwards. Verreault has four goals and six assists over his last three games. He is on a three-game goal streak, and has points in four straight games. Thanks to a strong December, which saw Verreault lead all QMJHL scorers with 22 points (8G-14A), the 19-year-old from Laval, Que., now ranks first in the QMJHL with 56 points on the season. Similarly, netminder William Rousseau had a strong month, winning all nine of his starts in December, which included a pair of games against Val-d’Or last week. Additionally, forwards Louis-Philippe Fontaine and Thomas Verdon closed out 2024 on a high note as well – with Verdon extending his point streak to 11 games (7G-6A over that stretch) and Fontaine now at nine straight games with a point (8G-8A over that stretch). This week, Fontaine and Verdon will look to continue those streaks when the Huskies will welcome the Armada and the Olympiques to Rouyn-Noranda.
Games this week: vs. Blainville-Boisbriand (Jan. 5), vs. Gatineau (Jan. 6)
7. Soo Greyhounds (OHL): After climbing up to No.3, the Greyhounds (23-10-2-1) fell four places to seventh thanks in large part to a pair of losses last week. Despite their struggles last week, the Soo continue to hold the third-highest point percentage (0.681) in the OHL, trailing only Kitchener (.730) and Saginaw (.682). The Greyhounds have seven victories over their last 10 contests, and their only losses have come against the No.5-ranked Spirit (4-3), the OHL’s Eastern Conference leading Sudbury Wolves (5-1) and the Guelph Storm in a shootout (3-2 SO). The Soo also continues to benefit from the excellent play of 20-year-old Jack Beck, who registered six points (4G-2A) in the Greyhounds’ three games last week. Beck also has points in 11 of his last 12 contests (7G-12A over that stretch). At the same time, forward Marco Mignosa extended his point streak to six games (5G-3A over that stretch), and he has scored five times over a four-game goal streak. With an OHL-best 14 wins on the road this season, the Greyhounds will look to improve on that mark when they travel for contests against the Generals, the Storm, and the Colts this week.
Games this week: @ Oshawa (Jan. 3), @ Guelph (Jan. 5), @ Barrie (Jan. 6)
8. Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL): With eight wins over their last 10 games, having scored points in six straight contests (5-0-1-0), the Voltigeurs (23-9-4-1) have jumped up a couple of spots to No. 8 this week. Despite being without one of their leading scorers (Peter Repcik) and star defenceman (Maveric Lamoureux), who are both at the 2024 World Juniors, Drummondville scored wins against Blainville-Boisbriand (4-1) and Shawinigan (4-3 SO) with their only defeat coming at the hands of the Saguenéens (5-4 OT). Helping them along the way, especially over the last week, was Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Gauthier, who registered four goals and two assists in the Voltigeurs’ three games. The latter included tallying his second hat-trick of the season against Chicoutimi. Gauthier is now on a seven-game point streak, having recorded 11 points (7G-4A) over that stretch. Defenceman Vsevolod Komarov also seems to be fitting in quite nicely with his new club. Komarov tallied a goal in Drummondville’s victory over Shawinigan, giving him 13 points in the month of December, which led all defencemen in the QMJHL. This week, the Voltigeurs will look to improve their 9-6-4-1 road record when they head to Victoriaville to face the No.9-ranked Tigres on Friday.
Games this week: vs. Québec (Jan. 3), @ Victoriaville (Jan. 5), vs. Acadie-Bathurst (Jan. 6)
9. Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL): Thanks to a six game-winning streak, along with seven wins in their last 10 games, the Tigres (22-9-3-0) are making their debut in the Top-10 this week. Over the last seven days, Victoriaville managed to string three wins together by beating Rimouski (3-1), Sherbrooke (6-3) and Gatineau (4-1). Tommy Cormier continues to pace the team in scoring with 48 points, having recorded two goals and three assists in the Tigres’ three victories last week. Defenceman Pier-Olivier Roy has also been particularly strong offensively as of late. Roy has 12 points (4G-8A) over his last six games, including a goal and three assists last week. Moreover, 2022-23 CHL Goaltender of the Year Nathan Darveau continues to shine in net for Victoriaville. Darveau has won eight of his last 12 starts, including four in a row. During his only two games last week, the 20-year-old from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., turned aside 52 of the 54 shots he faced. This week, Darveau and the Tigres will aim to maintain their place in the CHL’s Top-10 when they play another three games this week, including a showdown on Friday night against the No.8-ranked Voltigeurs.
Games this week: @ Gatineau (Jan. 3), vs. Drummondville (Jan. 5), vs. Cape Breton (Jan. 6)
10. Portland Winterhawks (WHL): With eight wins in their last 10 games, including three straight over the last week, the Winterhawks (23-10-1-1) are back in the Top-10 for the first time since the end of November. Having scored six or more goals in seven of their last nine contests, Portland is now averaging 4.80 goals per game, the highest mark of any club in the CHL. Since joining the Winterhawks at the beginning of December, having left the NCAA and the University of Wisconsin, Seattle Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth has been excellent. The 19-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., has points in eight of nine games, including a goal and three assists in Portland’s three wins last week. Over the last seven days, the Winterhawks also saw San Jose prospect Luca Cagnoni record his second multi-goal game of the season and 20-year-old Gabe Klassen extend his point streak to nine games (3G-16A). This week, the Winterhawks will look to continue its climb up the CHL Top-10 Rankings and WHL standings when they welcome the Silvertips and No.2-ranked Cougars to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Games this week: vs. Everett (Jan. 5), vs. Prince George (Jan. 6)