WHL Power Rankings: Week 11
Some underdogs have started to heat up as we inch closer to playoff-clinching scenarios!
1. Saskatoon Blades
1st East- 34-9-2-3
Saskatoon went 3-0-0-1 this week to extend the team’s point streak to six games.
Even more impressive, the Blades have only suffered one loss in regulation time in their past 24 games to sit atop the CHL Top 10.
Fan favourite Anaheim Ducks prospect Egor Sidorov hit 100 career goals with his 37th of the season in a 9-1 win over Regina and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten tallied two goals and an assist, including a sensational individual effort in a 3-2 overtime win against Swift Current.
2. Everett Silvertips
1st U.S.- 32-15-1-2
The Silvertips threw 63 shots at Seattle’s Scott Ratzlaff but couldn’t pull out the win as Everett’s eight-game winning streak came to an end.
Still, Everett bounced back with emphatic wins over Spokane (7-4) and Tri-City (8-2), with Austin Roest putting up four goals and WHL Rookie of the Month Carter Bear chipping in with two goals and four assists.
Everett looks to keep on rolling with matches against Spokane and Wenatchee on tap this weekend.
3. Portland Winterhawks
2nd U.S.- 31-12-2-1
Portland collected wins over Tri-City (3-2), Spokane (5-4) and Seattle (4-1) before dropping a tight 4-3 match to the Kelowna Rockets.
With an average of 4.6 goals per game, the Winterhawks have (at least temporarily) taken the crown as the top-scoring team in the WHL.
Newly acquired Detroit Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson has eight points in seven games with Portland, while defencemen Luca Cagnoni (one goal, four assists) and Tyson Jugnauth (one goal, three assists) have been solid drivers of the Winterhawks’ offence.
4. Prince George Cougars
1st B.C.- 32-14-0-2
An uncharacteristic 1-1-0-1 week saw Prince George fall out of the top five in the CHL Top 10 for the first time since October, but the Cougars got back in the win column with a 5-2 win over Seattle on January 30.
With a goal and a pair of assists against the Wenatchee Wild, Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt reached a pair of impressive milestones.
Heidt’s 169 assists and 243 points in his Cougars career marks the most points by any Cougars player since the franchise relocated to Prince George from Victoria in 1994.
5. Red Deer Rebels
2nd Central- 27-13-1-5
Prince Albert managed to snap Red Deer’s nine-game winning streak in a 4-3 shootout, but the Rebels still have points in 13 straight games.
The Rebels also collected wins over Edmonton (6-3) and Brandon (5-3).
WHL Goaltender of the Month Chase Wutzke has continued his reign as one of the most formidable netminders in the league. Through the month of January, the rookie goalie went 8-0-0-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .929 save percentage- he hasn’t lost in regulation since the beginning of December.
6. Medicine Hat Tigers
1st Central- 29-14-3-1
Medicine Hat earned 3 of a possible 4 points in two high-flying matches against Moose Jaw this week. The Warriors slipped by the Tigers 6-5 in a shootout before Medicine Hat came back for a 5-3 victory the following night.
WHL Player of the Month Gavin McKenna dominated with three goals, four assists and a plus-2 rating, registering eight multipoint performances in January.
The Tigers face a massive test in a February 2 road trip to Saskatoon to face the Blades.
7. Moose Jaw Warriors
2nd East- 28-16-0-2
We do love a good ole-fashioned defenceman hat trick in the Power Rankings- and this week Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk delivered in style!
The shootout loss to Medicine Hat may have snapped a six-game winning streak for Moose Jaw, but the Warriors have still won 11 of their last 13 outings.
The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Warriors, who have still won 11 of their last 13 games
Next up, a tilt against the Prince Albert Raiders, who have a recent track record of knocking off top teams…
8. Wenatchee Wild
3rd U.S.- 27-16-4-0
Wenatchee tripped up with a 6-3 loss to the Thunderbirds before stunning the Prince George Cougars with a 5-4 shootout victory at home.
Briley Wood netted his second hat trick of the season against the Cougars to extend his point streak to nine goals and 12 assists in 11 games.
The Wild will be without Head Coach Roy Sommer for part of the weekend as he will be inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame as part of the festivities at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic in San Jose, Calif.
9. Swift Current Broncos
3rd Central- 23-18-3-2
Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie lit the lamp twice in a 5-2 loss to Saskatoon and added another goal and assist in a 6-0 demolition of Lethbridge.
Reid Dyck stopped 28 shots for his first shutout of the year, and his 10th win of the season on a special night for the Broncos, as the Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2024 was announced (honourees include WHL alumni like Patrick Marleau, Cory Sarich, Travis Moen and Jack Norris).
10. Victoria Royals
2nd B.C.- 25-16-4-3
Victoria went 1-1-1 in a trio of games against the Vancouver Giants, letting significant leads evaporate in both losses.
Tyson Laventure hasn’t had any issues finding the back of the net since arriving in Victoria in mid-January, wracking up six goals and four assists in seven games in his new uniform.
Victoria will try to turn the tide with a weekend set against Seattle.
11. Lethbridge Hurricanes
4th Central- 23-20-3-0
Sean Tschigerl shined with two goals and an assist as the Hurricanes thumped Regina 6-1 on Brent Seabrook’s jersey retirement night.
Lethbridge followed it up with a 4-2 win over the Oil Kings but ran into a brick wall with a 6-0 loss at the hands of Swift Current- the team directly ahead of Lethbridge in the Central Division standings.
The ‘Canes host the Calgary Hitmen in a divisional tilt on February 3.
12. Brandon Wheat Kings
3rd East- 22-18-5-1
Listen, it wasn’t a banner week for Brandon.
The Wheat Kings were shut out 8-0 by Calgary before falling to Red Deer 5-3, finally mustering their lone point of the road trip in a 5-4 OT loss to Edmonton.
Six players scored twice for Brandon over the three games, including team points leaders Roger McQueen and Rylen Roersma.
It’s a hard road ahead for the Wheaties with tilts against Red Deer, Swift Current and Saskatoon on tap.
13. Kelowna Rockets
3rd B.C.- 22-22-3-0
Dropping two straight games to Kamloops and coming back to eke out a win against Portland? That’s quite a trajectory for the Rockets this week.
Kelowna mustered a pair of goals but came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Blazers before forcing overtime in an eventual 3-2 loss the next night.
Feeling the sting from four straight losses, the Rockets mustered a tight 4-3 win against the Winterhawks to get back in the win column, with Hiroki Gojsic’s 10th goal of the year standing as the game-winner.
14. Calgary Hitmen
5th Central- 19-18-6-1
Calgary netted an impressive nine points in the team’s past 10 games.
Rookie netminder Alex Garrett earned his first WHL shutout with a 33-save performance against Brandon and the skaters backed him up with eight goals of run support.
Tempo WHL Player of the Week Carter Yakemchuk had three assists against Brandon and a pair of goals against Regina to help force overtime, where the Pats would take the second point.
15. Vancouver Giants
4th B.C.- 20-24-3-0
The Giants quietly went 7-3-1-0 in January and earned five of a possible six points against Victoria this week.
Vancouver scored five unanswered goals- including two from Calgary Flames prospect Justin Lipinski- to beat Victoria 5-3 on January 26.
New addition Connor Levis would score a hat trick the following night to force overtime and Tyson Zimmer snagged the winner in a 7-6 barn burner.
Levis would attempt to pull off a comeback for a third straight game with a late goal to force the extra frame once again, but Victoria was able to come away with the extra point thanks to a Dawson Pasternak goal.
Vancouver has to be feeling pretty good- but there’s a big test ahead with matches against Prince George and Everett on the docket this weekend.
16. Prince Albert Raiders
4th East- 21-23-1-3
Prince Albert The Lake Country Cobra Chickens played spoiler as Saskatoon fell 5-4 in a shootout on January 26, but the Blades got some revenge in a 3-2 win the next day.
The Raiders bounced right back with a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Deer Rebels on home ice- the fifth straight game to go to a shootout at the Art Hauser Centre.
Prince Albert also happens to be 4-1 over that stretch.
Sloan Stanick and Niall Crocker came up big with two goals and three assists each in three games this week and look to continue slaying giants with visits from Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat on tap.