Portland Winterhawks top season’s next-to-last BTN Dynamic Dozen

With a week to go, the Portland Winterhawks have gone to tyrannical lengths to show you how good they are.

The 'Hawks, who have topped 100 points for the fourth season in a row, lead BTN's completely arbitrary mathematically-derived ranking after losing only once in the past two months. The conference rival in Kelowna and the OHL-leading Guelph Storm have given up just enough ground to make Portland a shoo-in.

Five Quebec League teams cracked the Double-D this week, and one isn't even in the Telus West division.

1. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.584 RPI, +1.9 SRS, —) — With the No. 2 playoff seed locked in, the sidebar to the final week is whether Oliver Bjorkstrand will fulfill former Portland coach Travis Green's prediction of a 50-goal season for the dangerous Dane. To be fair, Green, now guiding the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate in Utica, N.Y., gave Bjorkstrand two seasons to hit the big five-oh. Bjorkstrand will have to earn it, since Portland's last four games are against close-checking U.S. Division teams and the Winterhawks are going to start wanting to sit out anyone with anything more than a hangnail.

2. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.578 RPI, +1.8 SRS, +1) — What's very intelesting about a Tri-City-Kelowna first-round matchup is that all-everything goalie Eric Comrie has been held out of three of the teams' four meetings. The Winnipeg Jets prospect stopped 39-of-42 shots to help overmatched Tri-City force a shootout in his only game against the Rockets. One shouldn't read too deeply into it; it's probably like Slovakia starting its No. 2 goalie against Canada at the world junior.

Kelowna's magic number for clinching first overall is down to one.

3. Guelph Storm, OHL (.576 RPI, +2.0 SRS, -1) — Guelph is likely to draw Plymouth in the first round for the second time in three springs, only with the roles reversed from their 2012 series. Nine Storm, including stars such as captain Matt Finn and offensive leaders such as Scott Kosmachuk, Brock McGinn and Zack Mitchell, helped then seventh-seeded Guelph stretch out the older and deeper Whalers to six games. That lesson should not be lost on the Storm. It is going to finish first overall but efforts such as a 6-2 loss to Owen Sound last week trip fans' inner alarms.

4. London Knights, OHL (.570 RPI, +1.7 SRS, —) — Some perspective, courtesy Morris Dalla Costa, who contends the Forest City shinny concern "has done more with what it has than any Knights team since the dominant 2005 steamroller that won a Memorial Cup." It's just that Guelph and Erie have refused to flinch.

Phoenix Coyotes first-rounder Max Domi responded to a benching last week by getting five points in his next two games.

5. Erie Otters, OHL (.564 RPI, +2.0 SRS, —) — Erie controls its own destiny in the race to nab the No. 3 playoff seed and perhaps avoid a second-round showdown with Guelph, since its closing slate is comprised of three of their conference's bottom four teams, including #ChychrunCup winner Sarnia. So the main question might be whether Connor McDavid, coming off an 11-point week that included scoring a goal vs. the Kitchener Rangers where he was balanced on one foot as he swooshed in on goal, will get enough opportunities to reach 100 points. The wunderkind needs seven to join the century club.

6. Val-d'Or Foreurs, QMJHL (.551 RPI, +1.4 SRS, +2) — Thanks to a hat trick from Louick Marcotte — a fourth-year forward who's yet to see a second-round playoff series — during a downing of Gatineau, Val-d'Or is set up to seize the West Division title from Blainville-Boisbriand. The teams' season series has gone just like a playoff round, with B-B winning the first two prior to Mario Durocher's charges winning the last three; 'Game 6' is set for Friday in the Laurentians. Taking the division is the difference between being seeded No. 3 and No. 5 for the playoffs.

7. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL (.549 RPI, +1.1 SRS, —) — Drama! Baie-Comeau bench boss Éric Veilleux, provided nothing got lost in the translation, basically called his Rimouski counterpart Serge Beausoleil a glory boy following the Océanic's two-game sweep of the Drakkar. Rimouski won the first game 7-1 and Beausoleil accused Veilleux of encouraging his players to goon it up like it was re-enacting the bad old days of the LNAH. Veilleux's response might have succeeded in putting the onus back on the other coach. It's better to do that than invite scrutiny of his own team's play.

Baie-Comeau will finish first overall if it sweeps its season-ending home-and-home with Chicoutimi.

8. Victoria Royals, WHL (.549 RPI, +0.9 SRS, -2) — Cherry-picked nugget of the week: the Royals are 14-1-1-1 when Chicago Blackhawks-drafted defenceman Travis Brown and the slick sophomore Joe Hicketts have been in the lineup together. (That win column includes a lot of games against the Kamloopses and Prince Georges of the world, so be warned.) The Royals, who are locked into the WHL Western Conference's third seed, might be getting some traction in a market with famously lukewarm support after selling out both of its home games last weekend. According to Hockey Attendance, the Royals are averaging 4,737 in attendance after drawing 5,660 in their first season on Vancouver Island, but keep in mind (a) attendance is down league-wide (b) and that figure doesn't reflect giveaways and freebies.

9. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.547 RPI, +0.9 SRS, +1) — B-B showed it is among the living by playing a perfect roadie to beat Rouyn-Noranda 4-1 on Saturday, temporarily keeping surging Val-d'Or at bay in its division race. Ryan Tesink, the overage who's battled injuries for two seasons, was paramount in that one with a goal and a short-handed assist within a four-minute span of the third when the Armada broke the Huskies' will. Tesink is going to have to be an X-factor for the Armada in the playoffs.

10. Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (.544 RPI, +0.3 SRS, -1) — It is likely not for nothing that Seattle went into a slump while captain Justin Hickman was out with a hand injury; the 'Birds got off the schneid immediately after his return. Seattle, which is tied for 24th in the CHL according to Simple Ranking System (SRS), still only has two goals from Branden Troock over the past eight weeks. The Dallas Stars selection's next chance to break out is on Tuesday when Seattle can wrap up home-ice advantage for the first round if it beats Spokane.

11. Drummondville Voltigeurs, QMJHL (.541 RPI, +0.8 SRS, —) — The Volts have higher priorities, but really should join the 3-2-1 points system brigade. Drummondville enters the week with three more wins the sixth-place Quebec but is one point behind due to the Remparts' impressive collection of 11 charity points.

Eighteen-year-old goalie Louis-Philip Guindon, who was on Central Scouting's ranking last season but was passed over, has a chance to set a club single-season record for lowest goals-against average as he takes a 2.48 line into a two-game week. With Quebec playing Rimouski twice, Drummondville has a good chance to earn a first-round date vs. a Victoriaville team that it's owned lately.

12. Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL (.541 RPI, +1.0 SRS, +4) — Fourteen wins in a row to extend the fight for first overall in the Q to the final week, and just now the Océanic are squeaking into the Double-D? It's tougher to move up this far into the season, and there is only a 10-percentage-point gap among the five Quebec League representatives, so let's not sweat it.

Coming from two goals down in the final five minutes, while without key attackers Michael Joly and Patrik Zdrahal, to beat Baie-Comeau probably only happens once or twice in a lifetime. Either way, the Océanic will be the hottest team in the Q entering the playoffs and Toronto Maple Leafs first-rounder Frédérik Gauthier is gung-ho about having more impact than he did as a rookie.

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL (.538, +1); 14. Spokane Chiefs, WHL (.536, +1); 15. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.536, -2); 16. Calgary Hitmen, WHL (.536, -4); 17. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL (.535, +1); 18. Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL (.532, -1); 19. Everett Silvertips, WHL (.527, +1); 20. Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (.522, +1); 21. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL (.519, -2); 22. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (.514, +1); 23. Windsor Spitfires, OHL (.511, -1); 24. Oshawa Generals, OHL (.511, —).

Hot team — Rimouski Océanic, up 4 (16th to 12th).

Cold team — Calgary Hitmen, down 4 (12th to 16th).

Nowhere to go but up — Lethbridge Hurricanes (.420).

An explanation on rankings — Buzzing The Net uses Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) with a recency factor. RPI combines a team's record with the strength of its opponents to produce an overall rating. Our method also gives more weight to recently played games. Shootout wins and losses are classified as ties, for philosophical and practical reasons. Simple Ranking System (SRS), a ranking which combines goal differential and strength of schedule, is used as a complement. All three CHL leagues are considered equivalent in quality.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.