Team Canada candidate-heavy teams top BTN Dynamic Dozen

The top 12 for 12/12/12 could be called the Don't Cry For Me, Argentina edition.

At this time of year, top teams losing star players to the IIHF world U20 championship commands a lot of focus. Almost every team ranked this week will be missing a big piece of its arsenal until January, but really you should not be sympathetic. It's a good trade-off for having amassed top-end talent in the first place. And verage teams that don't have great depth and rely heavily on their stars are probably affected even more by the U20 commitments. Or the under-17 in some cases.

1. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.597 RPI, 2.2 SRS, —) — The gift for a team which seems to have everything: Derrick Pouliot is back from Team Canada to freewheel on the blueline. Since the Winterhawks do not even play again until Friday, conceivably the top-10 NHL pick will be back in the lineup before he misses a game.

Another good Portland nugget: they have allowed only 13 power-play goals, which is another reason why Tyler Wotherspoon is a sabermatrician's dream. Now watch that jinx his Team Canada chances or something.

2. London Knights, OHL (.585 RPI, 1.6 SRS, +1) — Eighteen wins in a row kind of speaks for itself. The upshot for London is that it probably will have a lot more D-zone time while Messrs. Harrington, Maatta and Zadorov are not around to take care of the housekeeping around the net. That will affect how many chances the Knights get, but they are a counter-attacking team. They might hold up well after all.

3. Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (.575 RPI, 1.6 SRS, -1) — Being without Marty Frk and Nathan MacKinnon through early January should show off their scoring depth. How are the likes of Matthew Boudreau, Stefan Fournier, Darcy Ashley and Luca Ciampini going to pick up the slack facing top checking lines and defence pairs while Nate the Skate is away?

Meantime, reason 8,973 the import draft is unfair. The big-market Mooseheads have manoeuvred to get both Shawinigan and Sherbrooke's top selections next summer, which will likely each be top-10 picks.

4. Spokane Chiefs, WHL (.569 RPI, 1.2 SRS, —) — They earned their current five-day break by taking 10-of-12 points during a Prairie road trip. It's fairly impressive that the Chiefs limit foes to fewer than 30 shots per game on a regular basis (Eric Williams handles 28.2 on average) with a green-ish defence corps that includes 18-year-old Cole Wedman and two 17-year-olds, Jason Fram and Tyler King. That is why Don Nachbaur is coaching with Team Canada. Spokane is home until the break,

5. Kelowna Rockets, WHL (.563 RPI, 1.3 SRS, +1) — The Rockets are operating without captain Colton Sissons and Henrik Nyberg with four Alberta road games in five nights yet to come, beginning Wednesday at Lethbridge. That will be tough to overcome, although young Tyson Baillie has thrived in an expanded role. Batting .500 on this trip, which began with a win at Kootenay on Tuesday, would qualify as a great feat.

6. Kamloops Blazers, WHL (.557 RPI, 0.9 SRS, +4) — The Blazers have not necessarily faced the stiffest competition to start December, but having allowed only 10 goals (excluding empty-netters) in six games is a very encouraging sign. Subsisting on all-out offence is very difficult, although it is nice on the nights when Colin Smith can carry them; he widened his scoring-race lead over JC Lipon by getting both goals in a shootout win at Calgary on Tuesday. Is he a MVP candidate?

7. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL (.554 RPI, 1.4 SRS, -2) — Only one regulation-time win in their last four games, but B-B's overall body of work assures its placing. The eight-game stretch while Xavier Ouellet is off at the world junior championship will say a lot about their defence. Incidentally, right wing Marc-Olivier Roy was only 18th among Quebec league skaters in Central Scouting's prelim list last month, but has 10 points in his last five games.

8. Guelph Storm, OHL (.551 RPI, 0.9 SRS, +4) — The OHL's best team without a Team Canada invitee could make some headway, depending on how well overage backup Keegan Wilson pinch-hits between the pipes if Garret Sparks makes Team USA. Guelph outscored three divisional opponents 15-3 last week. The only perturbing point was letting Erie's Dane Fox take a liberty with 17-year-old star Jason Dickinson during a blowout game last weekend.

9. Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL (.544 RPI, 0.8 SRS, +4) — The Cats' and their fantastic five of Ivan Barbashev, Dmitri Jaskin, Alex Saulnier, Allain Saulnier and Yannick Veilleux break in just in time for a homestand that includes a Saturday date with Halifax. It seems like coach Danny Flynn has done a great job marshaling his precious resources, with those five contributing a huge share of Moncton's offence. Moncton will still have four of its five main players throughout the run of the world junior, including overage Alex Saulnier, who's taken more faceoffs than any three teammates put together.

10. Owen Sound Attack, OHL (.544 RPI, 0.8 SRS, -3) — The Attack, already on a two-game slide, will not have suspended head coach Greg Ireland for Friday's visit into London and the rest of the month. That's rougher than a call from the IRS. First-round pick Jacob Middleton has been a bright spot on the blueline despite an injury. He could be on an arc not unlike slightly older Owen Sound defenders Jake Dotchin and Chris Bigras.

11. Tri-City Americans, WHL (.543 RPI, 0.4 SRS, -2) — Their top priority before the break ought to be getting Eric Comrie back in the win column. Try telling a young goalie, let alone one who's 17 and has lost six starts in a row, that W's are the worst stat to go by with a netminder. Comrie had his first one-or-none game in eight weeks on Tuesday vs. Everett and ended up SOL (as in shootout loss). That could be grating.

12. Barrie Colts, OHL (.539 RPI, 0.9 SRS, +4) — You try and try not to judge young players by having a famous hockey bloodline. It's not fair to hold them up against the paterfamilias. Then you learn it took Colts wing Brendan Lemieux, son of Claude Lemieux, all of a dozen games to earn his first suspension (eight games). Other than that and operating without Mark Scheifele until January, the Colts are not in a bad spot. The 16-year-old Lemieux had looked like every bit like the equivalent of a bonus first-rounder, which will raise questions if the actual first-rounder, little-used Brendan Perlini, could be a trade sweetener.

The not as dynamic but still very distinguished dozen — 13. Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (.538, +2); 14. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL (.536, -3); 15. Kitchener Rangers, OHL (.529, -7); 16. Drummondville Voltigeurs, QMJHL (.527, +4); 17. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL (.525, +4); 18. Sarnia Sting, OHL (.525, +1); 19. Québec Remparts, QMJHL (.525, +4); 20. Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL (.524, -3); 21. Prince Albert Raiders, WHL (.520, -7); 22. Brampton Battalion, OHL (.518, -4); 23. Calgary Hitmen, WHL (.517, +2); 24. Red Deer Rebels, WHL (.517, —).

Hot team — Belleville Bulls, OHL, up 12 (45th to 33rd).

Cold team — Kitchener Rangers, OHL, down 7 (8th to 15th).

Nowhere to go but up — Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (.412).

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), an equation which uses goal differential and strength of schedule, is used as a complement. All three CHL leagues are considered equivalent in quality.

(All rankings through play on Dec. 11.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.