Post by International Hockey Club on Aug 2, 2012 0:55:48 GMT -5
Here's my rankings.
1) Kings - The only blunders came against Odessa and were followed up by a 7-2 steamrolling of Thunder Bay and a thrilling comeback shootout win against Seattle. This team is packed with solid talent for now and the future. Two scorers in the top 10 (TJ Galiardi and Alexander Burmistrov), and 5 total in the top 25 (add Casey Cizikas, Dmitry Kulikov, and Andrew Murray), along with good defense and solid goaltending by talented netminder Leland Irving has the Kings in the driver's seat.
2) Thunderbirds - Yesterday's choke against the Kings was a disaster, but other than that and a 8-6 wild loss to London, this team has been dominant. Allen York has been terrific, while Jake Gardiner, a defenseman, is among the league's scoring leaders overall.
3) Citadels - They've been a consistent team ever since they were embarrassed on opening day 7-4 by the Lightning. Since then, Ondrej Pavelec has settled down, while Dominic Moore leads the summer league in scoring.
4) Lightning - It's been a roller coaster ride in Thunder Bay. They opened by beating on London 7-4, but then lost to Kitchener, the Dutchmen's lone victory thus far. They'd top the Winter Hawks 5-2, but were promptly embarrassed by Cleveland 7-2. A convincing 6-1 win over the weak Winter Hawks could provide a boost. Jannik Hansen has been the Great Dane indeed and other than the horrible Kings game Thomas Greiss has been solid.
5) Prairie Dogs - They're the only team that could beat the Kings, and a large part is due to future star netminder Matt Hackett and his .898 save percentage, behind only the likes of York, Irving, and Johan Hedberg. Craig Smith leads the scoring with a pedestrian six points.
6) Highlanders - They started by feeding on weaklings Cambridge and Kitchener, but then got smacked twice by Seattle before recuperating against the Citadels yesterday. Part of the problem is that they only have two scorers in the top 25 - Peter Regin and Rich Peverley. Johan Hedberg has been unreal; if there was Vezina voting here he'd be on many ballots with the likes of Irving and York.
7) Kitchener - They smacked the Lightning 6-3, but other than that, not very good news out of Cheech and Chong country. Jimmy Howard has been downright lousy at times, and the Dutchmen - like the Highlanders - have two scorers in the top 25. Neither are very high - team leader Phillipe Dupuis sits 11th, with Vladimir Sobotka in 14th.
8) Cambridge - Ben Bishop has been pathetic. No scorers in the top 25. Lone win against the fellow weakling Dutchmen. Yeah, this is a recipe for disaster. And you could tell it almost from the get-go when they were lit up 5-1 by Cleveland: this team is god-awful.
1) Kings - The only blunders came against Odessa and were followed up by a 7-2 steamrolling of Thunder Bay and a thrilling comeback shootout win against Seattle. This team is packed with solid talent for now and the future. Two scorers in the top 10 (TJ Galiardi and Alexander Burmistrov), and 5 total in the top 25 (add Casey Cizikas, Dmitry Kulikov, and Andrew Murray), along with good defense and solid goaltending by talented netminder Leland Irving has the Kings in the driver's seat.
2) Thunderbirds - Yesterday's choke against the Kings was a disaster, but other than that and a 8-6 wild loss to London, this team has been dominant. Allen York has been terrific, while Jake Gardiner, a defenseman, is among the league's scoring leaders overall.
3) Citadels - They've been a consistent team ever since they were embarrassed on opening day 7-4 by the Lightning. Since then, Ondrej Pavelec has settled down, while Dominic Moore leads the summer league in scoring.
4) Lightning - It's been a roller coaster ride in Thunder Bay. They opened by beating on London 7-4, but then lost to Kitchener, the Dutchmen's lone victory thus far. They'd top the Winter Hawks 5-2, but were promptly embarrassed by Cleveland 7-2. A convincing 6-1 win over the weak Winter Hawks could provide a boost. Jannik Hansen has been the Great Dane indeed and other than the horrible Kings game Thomas Greiss has been solid.
5) Prairie Dogs - They're the only team that could beat the Kings, and a large part is due to future star netminder Matt Hackett and his .898 save percentage, behind only the likes of York, Irving, and Johan Hedberg. Craig Smith leads the scoring with a pedestrian six points.
6) Highlanders - They started by feeding on weaklings Cambridge and Kitchener, but then got smacked twice by Seattle before recuperating against the Citadels yesterday. Part of the problem is that they only have two scorers in the top 25 - Peter Regin and Rich Peverley. Johan Hedberg has been unreal; if there was Vezina voting here he'd be on many ballots with the likes of Irving and York.
7) Kitchener - They smacked the Lightning 6-3, but other than that, not very good news out of Cheech and Chong country. Jimmy Howard has been downright lousy at times, and the Dutchmen - like the Highlanders - have two scorers in the top 25. Neither are very high - team leader Phillipe Dupuis sits 11th, with Vladimir Sobotka in 14th.
8) Cambridge - Ben Bishop has been pathetic. No scorers in the top 25. Lone win against the fellow weakling Dutchmen. Yeah, this is a recipe for disaster. And you could tell it almost from the get-go when they were lit up 5-1 by Cleveland: this team is god-awful.