NLL Insider

First up, before we look at this week’s top ten junior A teams in Canada, has anyone else seen today’s top games in each province?

Ontario’s got St. Catharines up against Six Nations. BC’s sportin’ New West and Coquitlam. And then Alberta will see the battle of Edmonton, when the undefeated Eclipse try and keep that zero in their second column intact as the Miners roll into town. You couldn’t have asked for three doper games. If you’re anywhere near Bill Burgoyne, the Coquitlam Sports Centre or Southside, you better be sweatin’ your you know whats off in one of those three barns, cuz it doesn’t get any better.

Here’s this week’s National Junior A Ranking, with even more seats being traded after some pretty big results last weekend.

(1) Orangeville Northmern (OLA)   16-2-0
Last Week: 4
Past Week: 11-1 win over Mississauga, 14-6 win over Six Nations, 9-5 win over Akwesasne

Man, that was about as dominating a week from any team, anywhere in the country this summer. The Northmen look down right nasty right now and after dummying up both Six Nations and Akwesasne, two of the best you could have tossed at them, can anyone in Ontario stop them right now? Their trade deadline day pickups, Stephen Keogh and Todd Hosmer,  look like they’ve been apart of the lineup since May, and with Adam Jones back (and gone again while he tries to land gold in BC), the Northmen look like easy odds on favorite for not only the Ontario crown, but the Minto too. Nick Rose was about as slick as we’ve seen all year in the Akwesasne win, and Andrew Suitor… wow!! The dude does it all. Scores, can play at either end of the court and man does this kid love to crack melons.

(2) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL)   15-4-0
Last Week: 6
Past Week: 11-5 win over Coquitlam, 8-4 win over Delta

Just like the Northmen, the Shamrocks rebounded about as huge as they could have hoped over the past week, dropping the, at the time #1 ranked Adanacs, in total badass fashion. On the back of a clutch tending performance by Matt Flindell and wicked O showings by Cayle Ratcliff and Joel Henry, who hasn’t got the ink he’s deserved so far this year, the Shamrocks definitely looked like the top dawgs in the West on Saturday night. If Flindell can keep it up and their relatively young D doesn’t buckle come playoff time, there’s no reason why the ‘Rocks can’t drop the A’s then either. Having Neil Doddridge in camp last week could only help the young guys out, whose confidence must be through the rough after they out-hustled Coquitlam all over the court in the W. This year’s regular season crown might come down to this Sunday’s clash when Victoria travels to Coquitlam to close-out their year. Should be a beauty.

(3) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL)   14-3-0
Last Week: 1
Past Week: 8-5 win over Burnaby, 11-5 loss to Victoria

Bottom line, they got outworked against Victoria. Not really any other way to dice that L up. Victoria’s impact O guys connected and Coquitlam’s, well, came up empty. Of their top three point getters this year, Scott Defrancesco, Kelly Kilpatrick and Jarrett Davis, they only scored a combined one goal in the loss (on 16 shots). Jordan Weir, who’s actually been pretty clutch for them of late (factored in on three game winners this year on top of scoring a hat trick against Burnaby earlier that week) was definitely missed. They’ll have to put this one behind them, regroup and make sure they come out guns a blazin’ against a beyond hungry New West team tonight.

(4) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL)   13-5-0
Last Week: 3
Past Week: No games played

Ah yeah, not really all that much to report here while the Bellies have had since the 22nd of last month off, albeit on the heels of a dominating 7-3 win over now #2 ranked Victoria Shamrocks. New West did make a pretty substantial pickup on the trade deadline though, grabbing former Minto winner Jason Jones (Six Nations ‘07) from Delta. Jones is a pretty natural goal scorer who isn’t afraid to get physical if the game gets chippy. Even though Coquitlam and Victoria are grabbing the headlines, do not look past the Bellies, they are lookin’ primed for another Minto run. With two against Coquitlam still left on their sked, including a monster clash tonight, nailing down one of those first two spots in the standings (bye in the first round of the post-season) is still not totally out of the question.

(5) St. Catharines Athletics (OLA)   12-4-2
Last Week: 7
Past Week: 11-5 & 15-3 win over Peterborough, 12-3 win over Orillia

I really don’t think people outside of the province realize how good this St. Kitts team is this year. They rocked the living sh** outta Peterborough twice this week, a team even we had in-and-around the same spot as the A’s last week. Right now though, the Lakers aren’t even on the same planet as the boys in blue. Corey Small continues to make a beyond solid case for being named our first ever National Junior of the Year. Joey Resetarits is proving to be one of the best US imports we’ve seen in years. Dan Coates is still easily one of the best pure D guys (and leaders) in the junior game today. And even though he’s played about half of the minutes as the major tenders in the province this year, Zack Boychuk has looked so freakin’ insane lately. In almost 400 minutes played, the kid has yet to lose a game (7-0), holds down a GAA (4.52) that even Kate Moss would be jealous of and his .871 save percentage is only topped by Rose. I know, I know, he’s way behind in minutes played, but come on people, the kid has looked awesome lately. And when you factor in that they already have a more than capable Zack Bowen between the pipes, their tender tandem might be the most solid in the province. Their game against the Arrows tonight might finally get the rest of the country to start catchin’ up with what these guys are sellin’.

(6) Six Nations Arrows (OLA)   13-3-0
Last Week: 2
Past Week: 11-9 loss to Burlington, 14-6 loss to Orangeville, 9-7 win over Mississauga

Yes Six Nations will still be a major playa come playoff time, but that was a week I’m sure they’d wish Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones erased from their memory bank. Actually, the faster they put last week behind ‘em and get their sh** together again, the better. The question most in Ontario are asking, one we asked a few weeks back too, do the Arrows rely on Cody Jamieson too much? Although the numbers show that Jamieson makes up almost a third of Six Nations total offense, ya gotta remember that this team still has guys like Mitch Nanticoke, Ben Reaume, Jacob Kicknosway-Louks and even rook of the year candidate, Randy Staats (remember that name if this is the first time you’re hearing it… he’s about to big it up at the U19’s), in their lineup. This is a team with names that in previous seasons, have shown they’re more than capable of scoring in bulk. Should be interesting to see how the rock gets moved around when the Arrows meet up with St. Catharines twice within the next few days. Does this team need to change their O philosophy? It’s now or never, cuz St. Kitts and Akwesasne aren’t gonna give ‘em a chance to breath while they figure things out. This is actually a pretty big week comin’ up for the defending Minto champs.

(7) Akwesasne Indians (OLA)   12-5-1
Last Week: 5
Past Week: 15-7 win over Whitby, 9-5 loss to Orangeville, 7-3 win over Toronto, 10-9 win over Orillia

Not a bad week for the Indians, outside of the loss to the Northmen of course, a game these guys were jacked up for large. They ran into an almost unbeatable Nick Rose, who not only turned away 64 shots on the night, but got a bit of revenge after the Indians got to him in the two team’s last outing. With three games left on their sked, all tough clashes (Brampton, Burlington and Six Nations), how will these guys respond with a number of key ballers in BC for the U19’s? Impressive rookie James Cathers, Miles Thompson and vet Pete Jacobs will all be away for the next while as they try and land a medal at the Worlds. The Indians will definitely finish in the top four, but where will they drop? With Six Nations right behind ‘em in the standings, not to mention that the Arrows have three games in hand on ‘em, you’d have to think the Indians would need to win outright to catch the Northmen. Can they do it?

(8) Burlington Chiefs (OLA)   9-8-0
Last Week: Not ranked
Past Week: 11-9 win over Six Nations, 11-5 win over Peterborough

Looks like things have settled down in Burlington again. After droppin’ games they probably shoulda had, the Chiefs played the solid ball most knew they had in ‘em with major wins over heavy hitters Six Nations and Peterborough over the past week. Kevin Brownell has had at least a point in every single one of the Chiefs’ 17 games this year, currently riding a six game scoring streak that has him second behind only Jamieson in goals in the OLA. How big an impact will the loss of Kiel Matisz to the U19’s be? Matisz raped Six Nations for eight points in the Chiefs biggest W of the year and has been a key guy all summer for Burlington. Maybe the most impressive stuff we’ve seen from these guys lately is the play in their own end by guys like Brandon Farrer and trannies Cameron Mann and Matt Hicks. It’s all comin’ together in Burlington at exactly the right time so it seems. This is the team no one in the top four will wanna meet up with in the first round of the playoffs… trust us.

(9) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL)   10-8-0
Last Week: Not ranked
Past Week: 8-5 loss to Coquitlam

Well, we dropped ‘em from the rankings last week and since then they themselves dropped one to Coquitlam, but things are kinda lookin’ up in Burnaby after GM Richard Apples pulled the trigger on some pretty big trades that has the Lakers lookin’ decent as the playoffs near. Burnaby picked up three in the Islanders fire sale, scoopin’ up recent player of the week, tender Scott Lowe, defender Neil Arbogast and big impact baller, Dane Stevens. Are Vic, Coquitlam or maybe even New West gonna wanna run into this revamped Lakers’ roster? I sure else hell wouldn’t wanna catch ‘em after they’ve meshed. You still so sure Burnaby won’t keep that Minto streak alive? Should be interesting to see how they finish up.

(10) Edmonton Eclipse (RMLL)   8-0-2
Last Week: 9
Past Week: 3-3 with the Calgary Raiders

Their lackluster 3-3 tie against Calgary definitely wasn’t the kinda game the Eclipse needed to move up the charts. Although their short-man got a lot of extra time to work on things (not by choice) and keeper Mitch Anders played some super solid ball between the pipes, they’ll need more of an effort tonight when they throw down against the Edmonton Miners in what should be an absolute war. Picking up Missy tender Marc Nano and then Delta work horse Carlton Schuss were two big moves that will allow Edmonton to be a force once the post-season rolls around.

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