National Junior A Ranking: Week 7

July 9th, 2008 by Paul Tutka

With BC done, and with our own Lauren Ward already previewing what should be a couple interesting series in the opening round out West, Ontario done this weekend and the Edmonton Eclipse two wins away from clinching first place, regular seasons are winding down and the post-season is about to start heatin’ up.

And speaking of clinching, even though they got dumped by a surging New West team last night, Coquitlam, like many expected, took the BC regular season crown, while Orangeville’s stranglehold on the top of the Ontario standings already has them clinching the top spot as well.

Anyways, we’ll keep runnin’ down the top ten teams in the country until the Minto hits, with week seven’s chart toppers below…

(1) Orangeville Northmen (OLA) 18-3-0
Last Week: 1
Past Week: 5-4 win over Brampton, 19-2 win over Orillia, 12-7 loss to Peterborough

Even though most showed up to see Andrew Suitor and Rory Smith throw-down, twice in fact (most callin’ it a draw), the Northmen ended up pulling out a pretty nice W over an Excels team that has really kinda pulled up their socks in the second half of the year. And if it wasn’t for Ryan Masters playing outta his mind after getting plugged in for Kalvin Thomas, they woulda had another perfect week. They keep the top spot heading into the post-season with both Coquitlam and Victoria stumbling to end their year, outside of having the deepest roster in the country too. Hard to bet against them right now.
First Round of the Playoffs: A likely war against one of the few teams to hand them a L this year, the Brampton Excels. Could be a pretty cool series.

(2) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL) 17-4-0
Last Week: 3
Past Week: 9-8 win over New West, 12-7 win over PoCo, 6-2 win over Victoria, 9-6 loss to New West

Pretty solid week for the BC regular season champs, outside of last night’s loss to New West, albeit without Jarrett Davis in the lineup. Davis has made monster jumps in The Money Ballers in recent weeks, while also posting 11 points in the A’s previous three games, all wins, before last night’s L. Had Davis factored into all of the Adanac’s 21 games this year, his points per game average woulda had him with 91 points this summer. It would have had the Port Moody product only a few points behind scoring champ Alex Gajic’s final season total. Interesting to note that forward Jordan Weir wasn’t in the lineup last night either, another guy that’s been rockin’ the score-sheet in the second half of the year with some big time goals. The kids just outside of our top 30 on The Money Ballers and will no doubt be a major impact player come the post-season. No Matt Beers or Joel Weber either in that last one, so take it for what it’s worth.
First Round of the Playoffs: Well, we’ll have to wait and see since they have a first round bye, but smart money would probably be on a big second round series against the Lakers.

(3) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 15-6-0
Last Week: 4
Past Week: 9-8 loss to Coquitlam, 9-3 win over Burnaby, 9-6 win over Coquitlam

They may have finished a couple points behind Victoria in the standings, but with wins over both the ‘Rocks and Adanacs in the last two weeks, the Bellies mighta not landed one of those bye spots, but they look damn good heading into the post-season none-the-less. Actually, the Salmonbellies hold 2-1 records over both the teams that finished ahead of them, which definitely bodes well for ‘em too. Oh yeah, they hold a 2-1 regular season series lead against the T-Men, the boys they’ll see in the first round of the post-season, starting this weekend. And the worst thing? Now teams have to worry about Sean Tessarolo scoring too. Kidding.
First Round of the Playoffs: A young T-Men team that sports one of the best duos in the country, Colton Clark and Cody Bremner. This series might be more interesting then most people think.

(4) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 16-5-0
Last Week: 2
Past Week: 9-7 win over Nanaimo, 6-2 loss to Coquitlam

When everyone is all on the same page, few teams anywhere in Canada, let alone BC, can hang with ‘em. But when they’re not clicking, that season ending loss to Coquitlam happens (and that was with Weber workin’ the gate too). Matt Flindell and their D will give ‘em a chance to win every night out, but with names like Cayle Ratcliff, Mike Pires, Cory Conway and even lesser high pro names like Joel Henry and Matt Yager, this O can’t have any nights off now that the post-season is front of ‘em. Well, almost in front of them, since they nailed down second overall and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Can their young guys gut it out through hard as hell series against the likes of Coquitlam, New West or even Burnaby?
First Round of the Playoffs: Like Coquitlam, they’ll have to play the waiting game, but New West would make the most sense and make for a beauty of a series in the semis.

(5) St. Catharines Athletics (OLA) 13-5-2
Last Week: 5
Past Week: 10-9 win over Six Nations, 8-4 loss to Six Nations

The A’s are coming off a split with Six Nations after running off a hot as hell ten game unbeaten streak that saw them go 9-0-1 as they climbed into the upper echelon of the OLA standings. Outside of the Eclipse in the RMLL and the Northmen’s crazy start to the season, no team in Canada has matched a run like the one St. Kitts just ripped off. Woulda been great if one of their tests against Orangeville came in the second half of their season, but guess we’ll have to wait until one of the later rounds in the postseason. Was their L against Six Nay just a hiccup, or are the Arrows still too much for them down the stretch?
First Round of the Playoffs: There’s a good chance they’ll probably finish-up behind the Arrows, or right in-line with them, but a series against either the Braves or Lakers makes the most sense outside of some kinda major collapse.

(6) Six Nations Arrows (OLA) 15-5-0
Last Week: 6
Past Week: 10-9 loss to St. Catharines, 7-4 loss to Mississauga, 8-4 win over St. Catherines, 6-5 win over Brampton

Really wanted to move ‘em ahead of the A’s, who they of course split with this past week, but that 7-4 loss to the at the time one win Tomahawks was a result that couldn’t just be swept under the rug. The loss also marked Cody Jamieson’s first full game outta the Arrows’ lineup, who struggled to get the ball past John Ernst of Missy. Coincidence? The barely four goals they were able to muster up tied their lowest scoring output on the season. The other time they did that was when they got dropped by Orangeville way back at the beginning of June.
First Round of the Playoffs: Like we said for the A’s, the Nations will probably see either KW or Peterborough to start their 08 playoffs.

(7) Burlington Chiefs (OLA) 12-8-0
Last Week: 8
Past Week: 7-2 win over Orillia, 8-6 win over Akwesasne, 12-5 win over Orillia

No one wants to see these guys in the first round of the playoffs. Repeat, no one. Hell, with the way they’re playing, few probably wanna have to dance with them anytime during this year’s post-season. The Chiefs have been labelled by many as this year’s dark horse OLA fave, and with high profile wins over Akwesasne, Six Nations and Peterborough in recent weeks, there’s a good reason everyone’s diggin’ ‘em. Sniper Kevin Brownell has scored 11 goals during the team’s impressive five game win streak, with 22 total points on top of that. Gary Muzzin has looked great in goal lately and their D is as hard hitting and mobile as they’ve been all year. This guys are inching into scary good mode.
First Round of the Playoffs: Looks like a killr’ series against the Indians might be next, but St. Kitts might be their first match-up too. Either way, great lacrosse is on the horizon at Central Arena, so get your arse in that barn.

(8) Akwesasne Indians (OLA) 14-6-1
Last Week: 7
Past Week: 8-6 loss to Burlington, 7-0 win over Brampton

Like the Chiefs, the Indians are considered a bit of a sleeper pick as one of the teams that can topple Orangeville. Partly cuz they already did it. Remember that 8-6 win on the back of some stellar play by keep Justin Delormier and that cannon from Pete Jacobs? These guys have the personnel to do some real damage come the post-season and are built for seven game wars. They’re tough, athletic and sport some of the top O ballers in Ontario this year. All the pieces are in place, now they just gotta make sure the consistency is too.
First Round of the Playoffs: Think it might be Burlington, but with a win over Six Nations, they might land a series against either KW or Peterborough.

(9) Edmonton Eclipse (RMLL) 9-0-3
Last Week: 10
Past Week: 5-5 tie with Edmonton Miners, 8-6 win over Jr. Calgary Mounties

With the kinda games the two Edmonton clubs are having this year, the most anticipated inter-provincial series might actually end up being in Alberta. The Eclipse tied the Miners for the second time this season, getting a pair of goals from forward Sean Reid. Picking up Missy tender Marc Nano seems to be paying off too, as Nano posted two solid showings as the Eclipse extended their undefeated run to 12 games now. The word is that Delta pickup Carlton Schuss, who still isn’t 100% since touching down in Edmonton, is workin’ some sweet chemistry with Eclipse stud Simon Giourmetakis. With the way this team is coming together and continue to build confidence and chemistry, this might be the most Minto ready team we’ve seen outta Alberta since they got an invite to the national dance. They should have their hands full against the Jamie Shewchuk led Spruce Grove Slash tonight, but another couple wins should clinch a regular season crown. These guys want it just as bad as anyone in the country right now.

(10) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL) 12-9-0
Last Week: 9
Past Week: 5-3 win over South Fraser, 6-4 win over Nanaimo, 9-3 loss to New West

The last time the Lakers had anywhere near nine losses in the regular season was in 2003 (8), where they still managed to finish second in the province during the regular season and took St. Catharines about as far as they could in the Minto. Can they do it again this year? And since we’re talkin’ history, even if you added up all their regular season losses over the last four years, you’d still be three losses short of this year’s nine. With that said though, this team still has a host of ballers that have been down this road before and don’t need to be taught how to “birng it” in the post-season. The addition of Dane Stevens should be a big lift too, even though the Lakers have struggled to score as of late. One streak that did stay alive this year? With Alex Gajic winning the scoring title, it now marks five straight years that a Laker has been BC’s top scorer. The others? Garrett Billings in 2004 and 2005, Jamie Shewchuk in 2006 and then Jamie Lincoln last summer. Will we see the Laker MVP streak stay alive too? A Burnaby baller has won the MVP nod the last three years. Ilija Gajic in 2005 and 2006 and Lincoln last summer. Gajic, who’s been included in our National Junior Player of the Year watch-list since it kicked off, is most people’s fave this year for the BCJALL honour too.
First Round of the Playoffs: They’ll have their hands full with an eager PoCo side, even though they swept ‘em aside 3-0 during the reg. season, outscoring them 30-18. A first round win and likely match-up with the guys that took their season crown, Coquitlam, is what’s starin’ at ‘em if they get by the Saints. Drama!!