Advertisement

Oshawa Generals, despite power-play woes, lead Buzzing The Net Dynamic Dozen

Oshawa's power play is in a 2-for-22 slump while Mitchell Vande Sompel recuperates from an injury (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)
Oshawa's power play is in a 2-for-22 slump while Mitchell Vande Sompel recuperates from an injury (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

Oshawa managed to beat one of the best while not at its best, which kept atop our weekly exercise in quantifying team play.

The Generals have had as many as a half-dozen contributors sidelined, but held off a sizzling-of-late Barrie Colts team 1-0 last Sunday in a matchup that's about as pertinent as it gets for the OHL's Eastern Conference in mid-January. And GM Roger Hunt channeled Crash Davis in Bull Durham by slipping a "the good Lord willing" into an interview this week, which means the hockey gods are going to be nicer to the Durham Region sextet at some point.

Out west, Brandon is top dog after Kelowna and Medicine Hat each slipped up.

1. Oshawa Generals, OHL (.566 RPI, +1.6 SRS, —) — The Gens' are batting below .100 — 2-for-22, 9.1 per cent — since puck-moving defenceman Mitchell Vande Sompel went on the injury list. The good news, though, is that their depleted lineup, with six regulars out, showed some resolve by winning that 1-0 thriller over the Barrie Colts last Sunday behind a shutout from Ken Appleby. It wasn't a dreary game full of shutdown tactics; the two teams were just that evenly matched.

The most worrying of the Generals injuries was probably the one to Hunter (Big Rig) Smith, since the Calgary Flames second-rounder was hurt in an open-ice collision on Jan. 10. It's being called a chest injury and Smith could play by the end of the week.

2. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL (.560 RPI, +1.5 SRS, —) — Frankly, it's a little surprising the 'Hounds have not cut further into the RPI spread after winning 7-of-8, but the Generals were the one loss and five of those wins have been over rebuilding teams. A soft portion of the schedule at a point where a team is integrating newcomers such as the underrated-for-far-too-long defenceman Connor Boland and the three world junior returnees likely isn't the worst thing for the Soo.

Sault Ste. Marie's docket includes facing Mackenzie Blackwood-less Barrie and a Sunday matinee at Guelph, in what's become one of the OHL's best inter-division rivalries of late.

3. Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (.545 RPI, +0.9 SRS, +5) — The Wheaties' nice week had a grey lining since Florida Panthers second-round choice Jayce Hawryluk, one of the Dub's best two-way centres, is going to be out for a month with an upper-body injury. The 18-year-old will miss a reunion game this weekend vs. Regina and super-pesky agitator Jesse Gabrielle. The other principal in that swap, 19-year-old Morgan Klimchuk, enters this week coming off his first back-to-back multi-point nights since swapping Regina blue and red for Brandon black and gold.

4. Erie Otters, OHL (.543 RPI, +1.3 SRS, +2) — Just like no one takes about the tea in Colombia, no one ever mentions that the Otters have some solid complementary scoring beyond the Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome pyrotechnics. Erie depth forwards, including the likes of Patrick Fellows, Quentin Maksimovich and 16-year-old Taylor Raddysh, have also had a hot hand during the current four-game win streak.

"Our fourth line's got goals in five straight games," Strome said earlier this week. "When a team in the CHL can do that, it helps out the first and second-line guys."

5. Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL (.542 RPI, +0.9 SRS, —) — The Océanic take the Q's best record into a Friday night visit to Blainville-Boisbriand, which would have been a compelling matchup for national TV if not for a conflict with the NHL all-star draft. Rimouski leaving its nucleus mostly alone looks prescient after a week that it capped off by defeating the Moncton Wildcats 7-3. Charles-David Beaudoin, the de facto big deadline add, was a plus-5 in the game after drawing the task of stymieing the 'Cats duo of Ivan Barbashev and Conor Garland.

6. London Knights, OHL (.541 RPI, +0.7 SRS, +6) — Mitchell Marner did the media whirl in St. Catharines, Ont., at the Top Prospects Game on Tuesday, as he was barred from playing in the Knights' eventual win over the Kitchener Rangers by league edict. It shouldn't be controversial; it was just happenstance, since Tuesday's tilt was a rescheduled game and the event is not far from London. The rules that try to ration the participating players' ice time exist for good reason. Truthfully, the Top Prospects Game is probably at least Exhibit C in the case that teenagers are asked to play too much hockey.

As for the possibility the ruling affects the scoring race, well, tell it to every top player who goes to a NHL camp and plays in the world junior. The scoring title should be based on points per game.

7. Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL (.540 RPI, +0.3 SRS, +2) — The 'Cats have settled into a cushy stretch where six of their next seven games at the Coliseum. Moncton received a good measuring stick by playing Blainville-Boisbriand, Quebec and Rimouski last weekend, which should have provided a glimpse of how well their lineup measures up from top to bottom. One of the other veteran pickups, 19-year-old centre Bronson Beaton, contributed some strong supporting work with two goals on the trip .

8. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.539 RPI, +1.3 SRS, -4) — Just call Kelowna not ready for prime time; they are 0-for-3 in regionally or nationally aired games, ouch. Both Sportsnet and NHL Network USA audience saw the Rockets get dropped 5-2 by Seattle, which even with the Thunderbirds' surge, contributed to their lowest ranking on the season. One wonders if it's really fair to parallel the post-world junior play of Madison Bowey and Josh Morrissey even though a comparison is easy since they play the same position. Bowey is coming back to the only team he's known, while Morrissey carried a bigger load for the national junior team and is adjusting to a new club team. It looks like the Rockets will need a weak longer than anticipated to clear their New Year hangover..

9. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.536 RPI, +1.0 SRS, +4) — Thursday's Top Prospects Game will be a forum for B-B's young goalie Samuel Montembeault, who has the Q's second-best average at 2.62 (albeit with a save percentage below .900, but remember the league tends to be stricter on the shot counts).

Meantime, the breakout Armada contributor of the past month has been 19-year-old defenceman Philippe Bureau-Blais, who's chipped in at a point per game clip since mid-December. The Chateauguay, Que., native typically hadn't been point producer prior to that point, but sometimes older players just figure it out later in their run in the league.

10. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.535 RPI, +0.5 SRS, —) — How did it take this long to not mention the spark overage wing Miles Koules has shown lately? The ex-Medicine Hat Tiger has 10 points over eight games, including three in a hard-fought win over Prince George where the Winterhawks' ability to break a forecheck was put to the test.

The Everett Silvertips' nine-point lead in the U.S. Division, with two games in hand over Portland, seems statistically safe with a third of the regular season remaining. Then again, this is not the week to cling to the notion of a statistically safe lead in the Pacific Northwest. The RPI shows there is very little game between the 'Tips, 'Hawks and 'Birds of Seattle.

11. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (.535 RPI, +0.8 SRS, -8) — Pollyanna statement of the week: a team that can lose by five at home to a seller and lose to a outside-looking-in Saskatoon Blades squad and still be in the Double-D must be pretty good, overall. The Tigers blew off some steam with their annual team skills competition on Monday night and can reset on Wednesday against the Vancouver Giants, who are having nearly as much trouble scoring as the Toronto Maple Leafs.

12. Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (.532 RPI, +0.7 SRS, -1) — Nice week for Anthony Beauvillier — get named captain of Team Cherry for the Top Prospects, then return to join the Cats for their Friday-Saturday outdoor series with Victoriaville in Saint-Tito, Quebec. The hockey world outside of the Mauricie region is getting to know the 17-year-old.

"He leads by example and he's got an infectious attitude," NHL Central Scouting's Dan Marr said on Wednesday. "He's similar to like [St. Louis Blus first-round pick] Robby Fabbri last year. "He's relentless on the puck. Relentless on the play. He'll be going and have two big defenders that are sandwiching him out and he'll use his stick to advance the puck to the open guy and they'll get a goal scored."

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Everett Silvertips, WHL (.530, +3); 14. Barrie Colts, OHL (.529, +1); 15. Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (.524, +4); 16. Red Deer Rebels, WHL (.524, -2); 17. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.522, -10); 18. Guelph Storm, OHL (.521, +9); 19. Spokane Chiefs, WHL (.521, -1); 20. Owen Sound Attack, OHL (.516, +13); 21. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL (.512, +4); 22. Regina Pats, WHL (.512, +1); 23. Kitchener Rangers, OHL (.511, +17); 24. Sarnia Sting, OHL (.511, -7).

Hot team — Kitchener Rangers, up 17 (23 to 40).

Cold team — Sherbrooke Phoenix, down 11 (32 to 21).

Nowhere to go but up — Sudbury (.423).

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.