Soo Greyhounds take over the BTN Dynamic Dozen lead

The puck doesn't lie, and neither do the numbers — the Sault Ste. Marie.Greyhounds grade out as the best team in the Canadian Hockey League, ending the Oshawa Generals' nearly three-month reign.

It should come as no surprise after seeing how a 10-forward 'Hounds team did the knife-through-hot-butter routine against the London Knights on Sunday, with Anthony DeAngelo racking up a five-point day. The club has scored at least five goals in every game of its nine-win streak, closing in on Oshawa for top spot in the OHL.

Meantime, Rimouski and Brandon slide in into the Nos. 3 and 4 spots in this blog's weekly exercise in quantifying team performance.

1. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL (.564 RPI, +1.8 SRS, +1) — The defining moment of that win over London was likely DeAngelo's first goal. Tied 2-2 in the first minute of the second stanza, the Knights' young offensive defenceman Victor Mete went deep into the 'Hounds zone, and DeAngelo filled the space on the enusing counter-attack and scored. Not so long ago, DeAngelo might have been the other defenceman in that scenario. Zach Senyshyn, an all-rookie team candidate, piled another goal on within a minute and it was feeding time in the Essar Centre shark tank.

2. Oshawa Generals, OHL (.561 RPI, +1.8 SRS, -1) — Curious pattern with Los Angeles Kings-drafted wing Matt Mistele; he's tallied nine goals in 18 games since his trade from Plymouth, but has actually only tallied in five games. Some streakiness can be expected with a midseason pickup. In any event, if Oshawa's to go far, it's hard to imagine it happening without the two-time 30-goal man having a big playoff in his hometown.

3. Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL (.560 RPI, +1.4 SRS, +1) — The whole mother-of-invention phenomena has led to Rimouski coach-GM Serge Beausoleil piecing together an effective energy line with 18-year-old François Beauchemin and 19-year-olds Anthony Chapados and Deven St-Hilaire. The Océanic need every bit of depth they can manage, since their final two weekends both include two-game series, first against Baie-Comeau and against Quebec to wrap up.

4. Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (.555 RPI, +1.4 SRS, -1) — Rookie forward Nolan Patrick, who has missed nearly three weeks, is closer to returning as Brandon's now down to just three injured regulars up front. The Wheaties' window (99 points with nine games left) to nab first overall from Kelowna (101 with eight to go) to nab first overall is just a little more open coming into the week.

Incidentally, for a change Brandon won't be displaced from their arena by the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. The plan is to start their first-round series with back-to-back games before the event takes over Westman Place.

5. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.551 RPI, +1.7 SRS, —) — Fortunately for the Rockets, there is no 4-on-4 bonus hockey during the postseason, since they haven't fared well with it. Kelowna is off until Friday, so it has two days to work through the how and why of having an ideal road performance get away during Tuesday's overtime loss against the Everett Silvertips. Or just chalk it up to the reality it's hard to shut down 'Tips scoring ace Nikita Scherbak in all three periods.

6. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.549 RPI, +1.2 SRS, +1) — Armada forward Danick Martel, who is two points away from 100, struggled at the start of the season while working through a lot of emotions in the wake of his parents' divorce. There's a helpful reminder that no matter how much analysis from on high one attempts, there's often something below the surface happening.

7. Erie Otters, OHL (.543 RPI, +1.4 SRS, +1) — Erie won Twitter after the Florida Panthers' goalie-injury drama, referencing the Connor Crisp saga from 2011.

The Otters, no easy segue here, will not have overage defenceman Troy Donnay until their second playoff game. The New York Rangers signing has been suspended 10 games for a head-checking major/game misconduct last Saturday in Owen Sound.

8. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.542 RPI, +0.9 SRS, -2) — Making up the four-point gap on Everett in the U.S. Division is more than a realistic possibility for the Winterhawks, although that closing 8-in-12 stretch might be daunting for a team that leans heavily on frontliners such as Nic Petan, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Chase de Leo. Second place, though, could be secured with a win over Seattle on Friday. .

9. Calgary Hitmen, WHL (.538 RPI, +1.3 SRS, +2) — The Hitmen and Rockets appear to be 1A and 1B atop the league after the former's two quality wins last weekend. Calgary might appear to be better built for the playoffs, especially with a physical back line with Keegan Kanzig, Travis Sanheim and Ben Thomas, among others. .

10. London Knights, OHL (.537 RPI, +0.7 SRS, —) — Between ther third and fourth ranked teams from the OHL, there is a big drop-off. London has unsettled goaltending and a porous penalty kill, but it's going to be tough to get rid of in the playoffs thanks to the Mitch Marner-Max Domi-Christian Dvorak pyrotechnics.

11. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.530 RPI, +0.6 SRS, +3) — So are we going to talk about Zach Fucale having an .872 save percentage in 13 games since the world junior championship, or just try to pretend it away? The Remparts' rankings shows they're probably going to be fine, eventually, but it's also boosted by having played upper-echelon Baie-Comeau, Rimouski and Val-d'Or in the past couple weeks.

12. Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (.525 RPI, +0.7 SRS, —) — The fact the team with its sixth-highest point percentage is ranked speaks to how taut the QMJHL is this season, which is going to make the playoffs unpredictable. Shawinigan is in a tight race just to have home-ice advantage for the first round, but with games in hand and a game-stealer in Marvin Cüpper, they're in decent position to earn that extra home date.

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL (.525, -4); 14. Guelph Storm, OHL (.524, +1); 15. Owen Sound Attack, OHL (.522, +2); 16. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (.520, +6); 17. Barrie Colts, OHL (.520, -4); 18. Val-d'Or Foreurs, QMJHL (.518, +9); 19. Ottawa 67's, OHL (.518, -1); 20. Everett Silvertips, WHL (.513, -4); 21. Niagara IceDogs, OHL (.510, +5); 22. North Bay Battalion, OHL (.507, +7); 23. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL (.506, —); 24. Kitchener Rangers, OHL (.505, -4).

Hot team — Gatineau Olympiques, up 15 (31 to 46).

Cold team — Swift Current Broncos, down 11 (42 to 31).

Nowhere to go but up — Sudbury (.422).

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.