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Even though they’ve had issues against the Brampton Excels in Round One, we’ve still got the Orangeville Northmen sittin’ at the top of the charts, givin’ ‘em the slight edge over the Coquitlam Adanacs, who’ve been hibernating as they waited for Burnaby to dust off Port Coquitlam. It’s time to wake up though and nab that picnic basket for both Coquitlam and Victoria. It’s go time!!

Actually, there wasn’t all that much movement on the National Jr. A Ranking this week, outside of the west coast Lake Show takin’ over that ten spot from the Lakers in the ON. Peterborough mighta got dropped against Six Nations in six, but with only two guys graduating and a whole host of their top draws coming back next year, the Borough ain’t lookin’ too shabby for 2009 (plus no U19’s to get in the way).

Anyways, onto the top ten teams in the nation…

(1) Orangeville Northmen (OLA)   22-5-0 (combined regular season + post-season record)
Last Week: 1
Playoffs: Lead Brampton Excelsiors 3-2 in best of seven series

Still think Andrew Suitor is just a badass that throws down? Trust, it’s no coincidence that the Northmen have been unable to knock off the Excels and have actually let ‘em hang around for a lot longer than people thought, since Suitor’s been on the sidelines after the Rory Smith fight (check out the fight below). TSN Turning Point? If the Excels manage to win the next two, the series turning point could sure as hell be the 19:40 mark of the third period in Game 3. You’d think the Northmen would clinch tonight, but this thing has turned into a legit series for sure.

(2) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL)   17-4-0
Last Week: 2
Playoffs: Kick-off series against Burnaby Lakers this weekend

Not a whole lot to chat about here since the boys have had a chance to rest their wheels waiting for Burnaby to finish up business in their series against the Saints, but this weekend, games on! A bye in any sport usually means one of two things for a team… either their gonna come out guns a blazzin’ and chompin’ at the bit, or they’re gonna be flatter than Tim Sylvia’s game plan against Fedor on the weekend (weak!!!!). Anyways, should be interesting to see how they look in Game 1 against a Burnaby team that has a bit of experience in winning in the post-season over the years… just a bit.

(3) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL)   18-7-0
Last Week: 3
Playoffs: Beat Nanaimo Timbermen 3-1 in best of five series, kick-off series against Victoria Shamrocks this weekend

They came out pretty unscathed against the T-Men, sending a message in Game 4 after the 10-8 loss, knocking’ Nanaimo outta the post-season with a D heavy 9-2 win. Message received. Could they have asked for a better second round? They won the season series against Victoria 2-1, allowing just six goals combined in the two W’s. Alex Turner is right up there so far as best post-season performer after postin’ 11 goals in four games against Nanaimo. Will Victoria be able to contain him and the rest of the high flyin’ New West O? Some real good matchups are shapin’ up for this one.

(4) St. Catharines Athletics (OLA)   19-6-2
Last Week: 4
Playoffs: Beat KW Braves 4-1 in best of seven series

The A’s continue to get little respect outside of the province, even after finishing off their opponents faster than really anyone else has done in round one in either Ontario or BC. Outside of Game 3, when the Braves took it to St. Kitts and scored the W, the A’s D looked scary good. Outside of that single post-season loss, St. Catharines is givin’ up just 4.75 goals against which just blows away what other teams around them have been sportin’ so far this post-season. Right now, it looks like the A’s will likely see the Six Nations Arrows in what should be a classic showdown between Cody Jamieson and St. Kitts’ smash mouth D.

(5) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL)   16-5-0
Last Week: 5
Playoffs: Kick-off series against New Westminster Salmonbellies this weekend

See Coquitlam skinny above, basically. It’s gut check time on the island. How will the Shamrocks perform against a New West team that beat ‘em out during the reg season? These guys are young, kinda green in areas on the court and a Game 1 loss on Saturday night could be pretty damaging. A win? Major confidence boost.

(6) Six Nations Arrows (OLA)   20-8-0
Last Week: 7
Playoffs: Beat Peterborough Lakers 4-2 in best of seven series

If you’re an Arrows fan, you gotta be thakin’ God Cody Jamieson exists, cuz dude owned the scoresheet last night as Six Nations got rid of those pesky Lakers in what turned out to be a pretty tight series. The Arrows scored 15 goals in Game 6, 13 of which Jamieson factored in on (6 goals and 7 assists). Gonna start just simply putting Jamieson’s name in this thing versus “Six Nations Arrows”. We’re not worthy bro.

(7) Burlington Chiefs (OLA)   16-11-0
Last Week: 8
Playoffs: Lead Akwesasne Indians 3-2 in best of seven series

Well, they kinda almost won the series last night, but after the OLA overturned Dean McLeod’s decision prior to last night’s game five(ish), the Chiefs will now have to win four straight up (check out this link for Commish McLeod’s response to fans earlier this morning in regards to the overturned ruling). Anyways, although everything kinda got F’d up in this series, nice to see that the teams will be forced to finish this thing on the court and not the boardroom. Ryan Learn was a killer last night, putting four through the Indians’ cage and lookin’ to carry that momentum into tonight’s game six. Emotions will be high tonight, so get your arse to Central barn, unfortunately though, the Hawaiian shirt thing was last night.

(8) Akwesasne Indians (OLA)   17-9-1
Last Week: 6
Playoffs: Down 3-2 to Burlington Chiefs in best of seven series

Obviously no Blake Kenny or Jason Ingram in the lineup (and to those that don’t think those kids make a difference, you obviously haven’t seen them contribute to the Indians all summer, so please…), but no Jeremy Thompson or Justin Delormier in the lineup is killin’ em too. What else is killing ‘em? When the Chiefs put a leash on Kyle Buchanan, for real. In the Indians two W’s, Bucky has posted seven goals, in their three L’s, he’s scored just two, both of which came in that game that Akwesasne was leading heading into the third. This is the time the Indians need guys steppin’ up their game and will need impact ballers like Kyle shootin’ the lights out tonight and potentially later this week. It’s now or never boys, but you don’t need us tellin’ you that. Should be a barn burner, literally and figuratively cuz Central likes to second as a sauna, tonight.

(9) Edmonton Eclipse (RMLL)   14-0-3
Last Week: 9
Playoffs: Kick-off series against Calgary Raiders this weekend

They played a helluva lot more disciplined against a ton of Sr. vets in the Senior Raiders game, dummying ‘em up 9-6. They did the same to the juniors 5-4, who they’ll see again this weekend in the first round of the playoffs. Carlton Schuss keeps lookin’ damn good as he fits into the Eclipse’s lineup real nice, ditto for Marc Nano, who is makin’ a pretty slick tandem with Mitch Anders. Was this the best Junior A season by a team since Alberta got hooked up with the Miners and Raiders? How insane will this potential, and hopeful, series against the Miners be (no lookin’ ahead though guys)? Some real good stuff happening in Alberta lately, so make sure you stay dialed in at www.abjralacrosse.com, it’s the bee’s knees (feel free to use that as your site header, think it fits well).

(10) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL)   15-10-0
Last Week: Not ranked
Playoffs: Beat PoCo Saints 3-1 in best of five series, kick-off series against Coquitlam Adanacs this weekend

Can they do it? Can they bring-it and stir up the post-season spirits as they look to knock off Coquitlam in the semis. The smart monies definitely not on ‘em, but winning in the post-season is a learned asset, and if anyone’s spent time learnin’ that science, it’s the Lakers’ franchise. Shaun Dhaliwal and Brock Armour looked real good in the Saints series, but they’ll need guys steppin’ up across the board if they’re gonna topple the #2 team in the country. If Scott Lowe and Tom Wray can give them decent tending, they’ve got the personnel to ride their keepers to an upset.

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