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Last week the big question out west was, what kinda attitude were Coquitlam and Victoria gonna come out with after having to watch the first round of the post-season from the sidelines?

We speculated they’d either come out guns a blazin’ or as weak as TIm Sylvia’s chin. Both kinda happened.

Victoria took their series by the, well, by the you know whats, and have a commanding 2-0 lead on what looked like a surging New West team. In the other series, Burnaby turned up the heat and chased the Adanacs straight outta the kitchen, taking a two to zilch series lead themselves. Think you can probably figure out which one of ‘em came with their game intact and ready to go balls out from start to finish.

Here’s this week’s ten best clubs in the country, with Orangeville easily hanging onto #1 for the fifth straight week…

(1) Orangeville Northmen (OLA)   25-5-0 combined regular season and post-season record
Last Week: 1
Playoffs: Lead Akwesasne Indians 2-0 in best of seven series

After barely edgin’ out the Indians in Game 1, Orangeville just ripped the hell out of them the next night, 17-3, and no, I didn’t miss a one in front of that lonely three. With Andrew Suitor back in the Ville’s lineup, their D looked as hard as ever, and the way Adam Jones, Matt McLeod and Stephen Keogh are clikin’ on O, it’s hard to find many holes in their game right now period. The best part is, these guys have their heads on straight too. They’re skilled, focused as hell and only have one thing on their mind… a Minto Cup. Hard to doubt ‘em.

(2) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL)   18-5-0
Last Week: 5
Playoffs: Lead New Westminster Salmonbellies 2-0 in best of five series

Wow, these guys shut-up anyone that even doubted them a little bit after takin’ two against the Bellies last weekend. The work ethic in Victoria is just absolutely off the charts this summer and the proof is on the floor plain and simple. Matt Flindell and the D have stifled New West’s top O dawgs by chainin’ em up in the front yard are leavin’ em for dead. And like the Northmen, the Shamrocks’ trio of Cayle Ratcliff, Mike Pires and Cory Conway are maybe just as deadly as what’s shakin’ down at Tony Rose these days. Hard to doubt the green and white anywhere on the court after last week’s beauty showing. Can they sweep the regular season kings under the proverbial rug this weekend?

(3) St. Catharines Athletics (OLA)   20-6-2
Last Week: 4
Playoffs: Lead Six Nations Arrows 1-0 in best of seven series

This team knows how to win this year. The difference between previous St. Catharines A’s teams in recent years and this one? The guys this year just straight up want it every night out and throw out all the stops in order to get the W. They play gritty disciplined D that does a slick job running the press and then with the likes of Corey Small, Andrew Potter and company, their O can be just as deadly as anyone else in the country. And Zack Bowen? Come on! The kid has been so clutch so far and has the digits at the top of the post-season keep stats to prove it.

(4) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL)   17-10-1
Last Week: 10
Playoffs: Lead the Coquitlam Adanacs 2-0 in best of five series

After runnin’ like a tap all regular season, the Lakers are shakin’ n bakin’ when the lights shine the brightest, cuz these guys are playoff masters, which Coquitlam is findin’ out matters a whole lot more than anything you do during the regular season. Even with Coquitlam runnin’ with a whole whack of momentum in Game 2, knotting the game during the third period at seven, outscoring the Lakers 4-1 and sending things to OT, Burnaby still put it to bed with who else but Shaun Dhaliwal scoring the eventual game winner in the extra frame. And what a stud Scott Lowe’s been between the pipes. His play during the first period in Game 2 was some of the best stuff we’ve seen from anyone during the entire post-season and is a big reason why they look destined for… should we go there already… another Minto spot!!

(5) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL)   17-6-0
Last Week: 2
Playoffs: Down 2-0 against the Burnaby Lakers in best of five series

Ummm… not too sure where to go here, sooo… guess we just gotta come straight out with it… Coquitlam got PWNED hard by the Lakers. Not really a whole lot else to say. The boys in yellow and purple have gotta come out three strong now or it’s lights out for the team many across the country thought would be front-runners for the Minto. This series will show what these guys are really made out of, cuz that regular season title will be nuthin’ more than a trivia answer ten years from now. A come from behind series win would be the ultimate confidence boost, but just one more L could leave this year’s Adanacs as one of the bigger Jr. A busts we’ve seen in recent years.

(6) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL)   18-9-0
Last Week: 3
Playoffs: Down 2-0 to the Victoria Shamrocks in best of five series

Kinda surprising to see New West go down two straight to Victoria after how they played them during the season, but like we’ve heard a million and one times, the season means absolutely nothing once the playoffs hit. New West’s O has gotta figure out a way to solve Matt Flindell. Their top O guys need to be producing a  lot more, bottom line. Their usually athletic, high tempo transition game is their greatest strength, but after the Shamrocks played them stride-for-stride from start to finish, it actually left the Bellies lookin’ pretty gassed on the press. They’ll have to put those first two games outta their mind and get back to work this weekend if they wanna even see a Game 4, let alone a spot in the BC final.

(7) Six Nations Arrows (OLA)   20-9-0
Last Week: 6
Playoffs: Down 1-0 against the St. Catharines Athletics in best of seven series

Well, it happened again. Cody Jamieson posts some stellar numbers, but the rest of the O wasn’t finishing in their opening loss to the A’s. Can Jamieson carry this team on his back into the lion’s den against a likely Orangeville team that has already buried them twice this summer? We examined it earlier this year when we looked at the percentage of goals Jamieson contributes to the Arrows’ O. Now we’re lookin’ at it again versus what the remaining top scorers for each team left in the post-season is doing. Does it matter?

And just to compare that to the same players and what they threw down during the regular season…

The Arrows reliance on Jamieson has actually spiked quite a bit, if that’s possible, while a team like Burnaby seems like they’ve taken a lot of that O pressure off a guy like Alex Gajic, who are coincidentally surging in the post-season right now. But again, does it matter?

(8) Akwesasne Indians (OLA)   19-11-1
Last Week: 8
Playoffs: Down 2-0 against Orangeville Northmen in best of seven series

With their two biggest impact ballers out of the lineup for Game 2 versus Orangeville, it looked like, well, that their two biggest impact ballers were out of the lineup for Game 2. POY candidate Kyle Buchanan and GOY candidate Justin Delormier were both on the shelf for that pretty pivotal second game in the series. Sounds like Bucky will be back from the third game and hopefully beyond, but not so sure about Delormier, who played just absolutely out of his mind for 13 minutes and change before retweakin’ himself and havin’ to bail again. It’s the toughest task in the country, but no matter who dresses, Akwesasne will bring it the best they can with whoever they’ve got.

(9) Edmonton Eclipse (RMLL)   15-1-3
Last Week: 9
Playoffs: Tied 1-1 against the Calgary Raiders in best of seven series

Well, the Eclipse got that first L off the sheets, which might not totally be a bad thing. With their first L off their backs they did come out firing a night later with Simon Giourmetakis scoring five and knotting up their series against Calgary at one apiece. Obviously Calgary came to play though, so lookin’ past ‘em with the Miners likely standing in front of them has gotta be the furthest thing on their minds right now. As a team like Coquitlam is finding out fast, the real season starts now and you gotta come out ready to play every night out. Still salivating at the prospects of an Edmonton war in the final though, but let’s take this thing one game at a time.

(10) Burlington Chiefs (OLA)   16-13-0
Last Week: 7
Playoffs: Eliminated from post-season by the Akwesasne Indians

It was a pretty wild ride in Burlington this summer. The boys started the season out pretty slow, but poured it on down the stretch, culminating in a great series against the Indians, which will hopefully be remembered for all the good things it produced and not… Really stellar season from Kevin Brownell this year, making a name for himself right up there with the top studs in the nation. The best thing is, they got a lotta their top players comin’ back for 2009, which will make for a solid Chiefs team in 2009. Like we said at the start of the season… real good things going on in Burlingtion these days, which is real nice to see.

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