Oshawa Generals, despite loss, keep lead in Buzzing The Net Dynamic Dozen

Heading into a short week before the holidays, the Oshawa Generals remain on top on the Dynamic Dozen by a fair margin.

The Gens have little to fear, so it would seem, other than drawing the Niagara IceDogs in a 1 vs. 8 first-round series in about three months. The 'Dogs have accounted for half of Oshawa's four regulation losses, including one last Friday. The Generals' body of work, keeps them atop our attempt to quantify the performance of all 60 Canadian Hockey League teams.

Conspicuous by their absense this week: the Erie Otters, now with their nose pressed against the glass at 13th.

1. Oshawa Generals, OHL (.574 RPI, +1.9 SRS, —) — Indeed, it is somewhat surprising that minutes played is one major category where 19-year-old Gens goalie Ken Appleby isn't first or second in the league; he's actually seventh. That someone who's been the goalie of record for 22-of-25 wins and might even be the league's MVP is only seventh is a passing comment on the goaltending depth in the league; several teams are riding the first-stringer.

Appleby will certainly get his 26th start on Friday, since the Generals are in his hometown of North Bay. Really, it wasn't a big shock to see him thrive, especially behind a good second-last line of defence with shutdown types such as Josh Brown and Will Petschenig.

2. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (.561 RPI, +1.3 SRS, —) — The Tigers stayed one percentage point ahead of Kelowna after dropping a hotly anticipated home tilt to the Rockets last week. Their power play was stymied and kept out on the perimeter for a lot of that night. Typically, the Tigers, with their skilled duo of Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford, have got away with that, but their eyes were probably pried open after seeing the approach come up snake-eyes against a top team.

The Central Division, meantime, is going to be tight in the second half, with Calgary and Red Deer also on the uptick.

3. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.560 RPI, +1.6 SRS, +1) — Nineteen-year-old wing Gage Quinney, AKA The Other Guy In The. Josh Morrissey Trade, has two goals in three games since coming west from Prince Albert. That is the art of the deal; getting the big shiny thing while also getting a valuable complementary player. Even without Morrissey, Kelowna already has at least six points from its five-game swing through Alberta.

4. Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL (.556 RPI, +1.0 SRS, -1) — Some good news for the Océanic is that league co-scoring leader Alexis Loiseau did not sustain a brain injury after getting knocked out of last Sunday's game. That should mean Loiseau will miss only the first-half finale vs. Quebec prior to getting back after the break.

Rimouski hasn't been lights-out lately, but such is the parity in the Q. The best last-10 record actually belongs to the 16th-place Chicoutimi Saguenéens (7-2-1-0). Only two teams have fewer than four wins in their past 10.

5. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL (.556 RPI, +1.6 SRS, +1) — Sophomore Blake Speers turned heads with five goals over the last two games of the week, but Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Jared McCann also has nine points during the last six games. It's been an annus interruptus for the 18-year-old centre, coupled with the disappointment of not being in Team Canada's plans, but it bears mentioning that he is bouncing back. The Soo is finishing off the pre-Santa schedule with a Guelph-Kitchener trip where 16-year-old goalie Joseph Raaymakers will get a chance for back-to-back positive experiences with Brandon Halverson away at Team USA camp, since the Americans expect to take three goalies into their pre-competition schedule.

The hockey record for consecutive positive experiences is 51, set by Wayne Gretzky in 1983-84.

6. Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (.545 RPI, +1.1 SRS, +1) — The Wheat Kings scooched up thanks to an overall strong week that was slightly dampened by yet another loss to Regina. It might have been one of those instances where an early lead (2-0 just 69 seconds in) puts a team to struggle handle prosperity. Brandon's done a fine job of getting along despite injuries to major components such as Jesse Gabrielle and Jayce Hawryluk; it could use the nine days off.

7. Regina Pats, WHL (.545 RPI, +0.9 SRS, +2) — No worries about Morgan Klimchuk going through the motions in his first post-Team Canada camp after being in the first round of cuts. The Calgary Flames prospect had three points and was a plus-2 while helping Regina come back from four two-goal deficits in that aforementioned win over Brandon. The Pats, provided they can beat Lethbridge on Wednesday, will enter the break having lost only three times in their past 20 games. They might have become a buyer, after all.

8. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.539 RPI, +0.4 SRS, -3) — Eighth isn't earth-shattering for a Memorial Cup host team at the midpoint, hence the anticipation of major moves from the Remparts coach-GM Philippe Boucher during the the trade period. Does that mean in addition to getting Halifax/Team Canada Zach Fucale and defenceman Matt Murphy? The current four-game skid has laid bare that Quebec doesn't yet have true three-pair depth along the blueline.

9. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.538 RPI, +0.4 SRS, -1) — The 'Hawks story for the week might as well be Dominic Turgeon. The 18-year-old had five points over three consecutive wins, including an assist on a third-period game-winner and the icebreaker during a roadie at Tri-City in the first-half finale. Adin Hill, still the co-starter, made 45 saves to pull those two points out of the fire. Ultimately, Portland is sitting pretty, with a long break and a favourable schedule where it won't have to play outside the U.S. Division until Jan. 14.

10. London Knights, OHL (.537 RPI, +0.8 SRS, +4) — The fancy stats point out that among the seven OHL clubs that score on at least 11 per cent of their shots, only the Knights and Ottawa 67's have a Fenwick Close below the break-even 50 point. There is a salve for Knights dislikers if ever there was; London's has had its Houdini on of late, with Christian Dvorak, Max Rupert and Mitchell Marner helping the wriggle out of some jams despite the WJC-related absences and a flu strain in the ranks.

11. Calgary Hitmen, WHL (.533 RPI, +1.2 SRS, +2) — Calgary is 13th out of 22 teams in the Dub in save percentage (.894), the only way one could really see them landing 19-year-old Vancouver Canucks goalie of the future Thatcher Demko is if he's signed over Christmas and becomes ineligible to play for Boston College. That's just a general opinion. The last big-name goalie to leave college hockey for major junior at midseason was Anthony Stolarz (Nebraska-Omaha to the London Knights in 2012-13). Stolarz's move was motivated by needing playing time whereas Demko has been a Division I starter for a season and a half.

12. Red Deer Rebels, WHL (.530 RPI, +0.5 SRS, +3) — Can the getaway game before Christmas really be a measuring stick? Wednesday's Rockets-Rebels game will mark the Red Deer debut of Winnipeg Jets-drafted defenceman Nelson Nogier, whom apparently is a "steady" force since he mentioned it twice upon his first interview with the hometown Advocate. Coach Brent Sutter's bunch has not lost to an unranked team since Nov. 8 against Tri-City.

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Erie Otters, OHL (.529, -3); 14. Owen Sound Attack, OHL (.528, -3); 15. Victoriaville Tigres, QMJHL (.525, -3); 16. Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (.523, +1); 17. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.523, -1); 18. Barrie Colts, OHL (.521, +4); 19. Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL (.520, +9); 20. Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL (.520, -2); 21. Guelph Storm, OHL (.517, -2); 22. Swift Current Broncos, WHL (.515, -2); 23. Sarnia Sting, OHL (.508, —); 24. Chicoutimi Saguenéens, QMJHL (.508, +3).

Hot team — Spokane Chiefs, up 10 (38 to 48).

Cold team — Edmonton Oil Kings, down 8 (43 to 35).

Nowhere to go but up — Acadie-Bathurst (.415).

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.