Brandon Wheat Kings push up to No. 2 in the Buzzing The Net Dynamic Dozen

Nearly half of current major junior players were not alive the last time the WHL's best team hailed from east of Lloydminster(s).

The Brandon Wheat Kings, in winning 6-of-7 during a road trip that covered more than 5,000 km, served notice there's a better than outside chance that could change in May. Teams are usually happy to bat around .500 on those interminable trips across western Canada, but coach-GM-owner Kelly McCrimmon's charges really only had one rough patch, a loss to league-leading Kelowna that really wasn't a 6-1 game.

Fittingly, the Rockets and Wheat Kings are at the top of the heap in this week's Double D. Jayce Hawryluk, John Quenneville and friends are also safe and sound at home for the next few weeks..

1. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.636 RPI, +2.8 SRS, —) — The last defenceman to win the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the Dub's most valuable player was Karl Alzner, who now plays for the Washington Capitals. As far as the quarter-pole MVP goes, Capitals prospect Madison Bowey is first among D-men in points (22) and plus/minus (+16) while being the biggest defensive pillar on the league's most dominant team to date. The 19-year-old's contributions foster a lot of play time in the offensive zone for top point-getter Nick Merkley and leading goal scorer Rourke Chartier.

Come March, it might look silly to have talking about the MVP so soon. Reigning Four Broncos honouree Sam Reinhart will probably get traded to a contender and score a bajillion points after the world junior championship.

2. Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (.603 RPI, +2.0 SRS, +5) — Thanks for clearing that up, eh. One game ultimately doesn't prove anything, but the Wheaties beating Medicine Hat (last week's No. 4-ranked team, now 17th) 4-0 in its building amounts to a trouncing. That might be based solely on the observation that Jordan Papirny didn't rate first-star honours after a 33-save shutout. Typically when that happens, it means the team was solid and didn't expose their goalie to too many Grade-A chances. Veteran defenceman Colton Waltz and Eric Roy kept it tidy on a night where NHL draft prospect Ryan Pilon was out of the lineup.

3. Erie Otters, OHL (.601 RPI, +2.8 SRS, +2) — According to computations, Erie's shooting percentage as a team is a full three percentage points than any other team. They might be able to maintain the gain until someone devises a defence to limit Connor McDavid, which is probably only achievable in theory.

The burgeoning Otters hype needs to be midlly leavened by the acknowledgement their opponents have a combined .474 winning percentage. At the same time, they have 11 regulation wins in 14 games and are outscoring teams 2-to-1 and did that largely without an important part of the defence, since Travis Wood only returned from injury last weekend. They're really, really, ridiculously good.

4. Oshawa Generals, OHL (.593 RPI, +1.7 SRS, +5) — It can be rare for an offensive defenceman to be used as a penalty killer. Rarer still is how Mitchell Vande Sompel, who leads OHL D-men with 18 points, is occasionally being used when the Gens are a man short. Vande Sompel, who played some centre in his age-16 season, is actually being used to pressure the points in a one-forward, three-D package. For that, and a number of other reasons, namely veteran defenders Josh Brown and Chris Carlisle, the Gens are league best 87.2 per cent on the PK.

5. Kitchener Rangers, OHL (.592 RPI, +1.0 SRS, -3) — Coach Troy Smith's Rangers still have not actually lost a game since Thanksgiving weekend (five wins and four 'ties,' for all you shootout abolitionists). Forward Brandon Robinson, with six points over his five-game streak and a big third-period goal last Saturday in Owen Sound, was the latest to bring something to the offensive potluck. Draft-eligiible defenceman Doug Blaisdell has also had a strong start.

6. Everett Silvertips, WHL (.578 RPI, +1.9 SRS, +5) — Since CHL teams have a sponsorship for everything, why isn't there something to recognize a defenceman who logs a lot of minutes without committing penalties? Silvertips sophomore Kevin Davis has 11 points in 14 games from the back end and has yet to receive a two-minute minor. As a team, Everett had a franchise first with a penalty-free game last weekend in a shutout win over Edmonton. Davis, fellow 17-year-old Noah Juulsen and 19-year-old Cole MacDonald are enjoying strong starts statistically for a defence that had a lot of slack to pick up after Mirco Mueller's early graduation.

Montreal Canadiens first-rounder Nikita Scherbak, et al., have been thriving at playing keep-away. The 'Tips are riding a four-game 'one or none' streak.

7. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.564 RPI, +0.9 SRS, +8) — Still unbeaten when Daniel Walcott has played after handing Quebec some comeuppance at Le Colisée last weekend. The Armada's last five wins on their 8-0-0-1 skein have each been by two goals or fewer, which usually indicates some regression is due. Still, overage Danick Martel continued providing the spark last weekend, scoring a big short-handed goal in the win at Quebec.

8. Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL (.561 RPI, +0.8 SRS, -5) — As noted on Monday, Rimouski's upcoming string of two-game weeks (adjust your fantasy lineups accordingly) shouldn't put too much of a strain on a defence that has been taxed during Samuel Morin's absence. Fatigue kicked in during a 5-1 humbling in Victoriaville where several regulars on the blueline, Eduard Nasybullin, Beau Rusk and Simon Bourque, got into penalty trouble. They shall overcome.

9. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.551 RPI, +0.4 SRS, -1) — Just an ordinary Sunday in the world of the 'Walls' (the literal translation of Remparts). Tampa Bay Lightning second-rounder Adam Erne and 17-year-old Dmytro Timashov reportedly quarreled between periods of a game. That happens over a long season, but only in Quebec City does it get reported. Having that kind of media glare is actually a privilege when one things about it.

The loss to the Armada deprived Edmonton Oilers second-rounder Marc-Olivier Roy of the chance to get a win against his former team. The Remparts shuffled the winger around that afternoon, too.

10. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL (.549 RPI, +0.7 SRS, —) — Why the Q is awesome, part 13,4ing57: Drakkar GM Steve Ahern, pressing into coaching duties by the absence of head coach Marco Pietroniro, called out his players for doing the "flamingo" during a third-period collapse vs. the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Colourful, that. Baie-Comeau is propped up here by being in the same division with Rimouski and Quebec; it's allowed at least three goals in each of the past five games. Goal prevention is going to be a priority for Baie-Comeau, since it's been rendered spartan offensively by having Los Angeles Kings second-rounder Valentin Zykov require hernia surgery. Zykov will miss 3-4 weeks.

11. Ottawa 67's, OHL (.547 RPI, -0.5 SRS, +7) — Joke from the cheap seats: the 67's really seem bent on preserving their unbeaten home record as long as possible. A malfunction in TD Place's ice-making equipment turned a 3-in-3 weekend into a one-game weekend. Ottawa's placing is somewhat due to strength of schedule (two games already with Oshawa and one with Erie), but it's commendable that Jeff Brown's gang is just below .500 despite having had only four of their 15 games at home. They are deeper up front, where draft-eligibles Dante Salituro, Travis Konecny and Jeremiah Addison comprise three of the club's top four scorers.

12. London Knights, OHL (.546 RPI, +0.8 SRS, —) — The Knights and Owen Sound Attack make it four of the top 13 from the OHL Midwesst Division. It's unclear how high the bar was set for the Knights defence, which was hit hard by attrition, but overage Dakota Mermis, San Jose Sharks signing Julius Bergman and first-time regulars Brandon Crawley and Aiden Jamieson are keeping the roof from caving in. A Nov. 14-15 home-and-home with Owen Sound will be a better barometer of where London stands.

By the way, does anyone have doubts about 16-year-old Max Jones eventually ending up in green and gold?

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Owen Sound Attack, OHL (.542, +4); 14. Kamloops Blazers, WHL (.540, -8); 15. Sherbrooke Phoenix, QMJHL (.540, -1); 16. Victoriaville Tigres, QMJHL (.539, —); 17. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (.537, -13); 18. Tri-City Americans, WHL (.536, +1); 19. Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL (.528, +11); 20. Belleville Bulls, OHL (.527, +1); 21. Prince George Cougars, WHL (.525, -1); 22. Swift Current Broncos, WHL (.519, +3); 23. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL (.517, +3); 24. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.516, +17).

Hot team — Portland Winterhawks, up 17 (41st to 24th).

Cold team — Calgary Hitmen, down 16 (24th to 40th).

Nowhere to go but up — Niagara (.358).

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.