1. Bridgeport Sound Tigers – 25-9-2 LW: 2 – Again for the 4th straight week we have a new number 1 atop the rankings. I’ve had the tigers sitting at number 2 solely because the teams that have jumped them have beaten better teams, more consistency and more wins in the week. However, even with a 5-win week they grabbed 12 of 18 points. They’re also only 1 of 3 teams with 25 wins. 2. Colorado Eagles – 23-7-6 LW: 3 – After a short stumble last week the eagles only dropped to 3 but with a possible 13 of 18 points they move up because of the tigers moving up. They still find themselves in a log jam in that tight Pacific race. So, they will need to amp it up and have consistent six to seven win weeks if they want to stay on top. 3. Ontario Reign – 24-8-4 LW: 8 – The reign are starting to figure things out at the right time. Last week the Reign found themselves fourth in the division. This week they put together a seven-win week and moved atop the division. I have them behind the eagles though because the eagles have been just a bit more consistent. Being in third behind the reigning Western Conference Champions isn’t a bad place to be. Perhaps they will take the next step and jump them for week 5. 4. Rochester Americans – 25-11-0 LW: 7 – The Americans find themselves back in the top five after an impressive 7-win week they had almost matching their week one total of eight. They hop the barracuda because of the tiebreaker they hold from their head to head meeting in week three. These Americans just pulled off a big trade so only time will tell if it worked out. Will they be in the top five again next week? 5. San Jose Barracuda – 24-11-2 LW: 6 - The Cuda move back into the top five with another six-win week. They also find themselves in the tight pacific as previously mentioned for the eagles, but they are doing their part to stay in competition for first place. Two of there three losses came against top teams in Hartford and Bridgeport but the other loss came to the lowly T-Birds. 6. Stockton Heat – 25-10-1 LW: 1 – Much like week two when the Americans dropped from first to sixth after a down week the Heat now find themselves in that very situation. After an impressive eight-win week in week three they followed it up with a mediocre four- win week which drops them from the top spot. They won’t take long to figure it out though. 7. Iowa Wild – 22-10-4 LW: 9 – The wild just continue to find the ways necessary to win games. They lost Jayson a couple weeks ago and they haven’t even looked back. A six-win week to maintain the top position of the division for another week is something to be happy about. However, the griffins are right behind them. Haven’t seen to many moves from the wild but the griffs seem to be changing every week to get better and it’s working. Maybe the wild might need to as well. 8. Grand Rapids Griffins – 22-11-4 LW: 13 – The griffins find themselves behind the wild in the division and the rankings despite a seven-win week because of the extra game played and it having been a loss. As stated earlier the griffins have been making moves to their roster for what seems like every week and every week they look better and better just like that cute guy from chitown. 9. Hartford Wolf Pack – 23-11-2 LW: 4 – I finally gave in a put “hum” ford into the top five last week and they repaid me by stalling. Not only did they have their worst week of the season, but they also had their starting goalie banned because he quit basketball. Which got him a nice ban across all of LG. Hartford RIP Pack? 10. Syracuse Crunch – 21-9-6 LW: 5 – The crunch were rattled with my opinion of not being sold on them. So, they went out and proved me wrong by going 3-2-4 with a late reschedule against Rockford which was 1-1 til late in the 3rd. Therefore because of this you drop five more spots to round out the top 10. Perhaps be a little more focused on the game then my thoughts of where you are in the “virtual” made up power rankings. 11. Manitoba Moose – 21-13-2 LW: 10 – The moose drop just outside the top ten do to the influx and unpredictability of the top half of the league. They also didn’t do themselves any favors by having a mediocre week themselves but also didn’t doom their chances of competing for the top spot in the division. Few more weeks like this one though and they will be hoping to just get home ice advantage in their division. 12. Lehigh Valley Phantoms – 21-14-1 LW: 12 – The phantoms stay in the twelve spot this week despite having a down week themselves. They went 4-4-1 while losing to Utica and San Diego however they did beat Stockton and Colorado. They will need to have some more consistent winning weeks if they expect to contend with the sound tigers who currently have an 8-point lead over them. 13. San Antonio Rampage – 19-14-3 LW: 11 – The rampage much like the moose didn’t do themselves any favors this week by going 3-5-1 while the top two teams in the wild and griffins distanced themselves from the page. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I called Nico cute and said the rampage were my favorite in this division. Whoops. 14. Hershey Bears – 20-14-2 LW: 19 – The bears jump up five spaces from 19 to 14 this week thanks to a 7-2 record with victories over Stockton and Colorado. Unfortunate losses to Ontario (currently 1st) and SJ (currently 3rd) in their division kept these bears from going a perfect 9-0. But this is some good momentum to have going into week 5 when they face the Eastern North division. 15. Belleville Senators – 19-15-2 LW: 20 – Last week I had the Sens rounding out the top twenty. This week they round out the top fifteen. These guys had a lousy start to the season with two consecutive 3-5-1 weeks. However, with a 6-3-week last week and a 7-2 this week these Sens are heating up piling on the wins. With the devils being inconsistent and the crunch sliding. Expect the Sens to keep on trucking right on to the top of the division. 16. Tucson Roadrunners – 20-16-1 LW: 15 – The roadrunners drop a spot from last week because of a couple teams moving up. They close the week going 6-4 with wins over Lehigh Valley and Hartford. A tough week of competition for Tucson and they came away with 12 of possible 20 points which isn’t something to be too upset about. However, it looks as though they are going to need to start going 9-0 for the rest of the season to grab a playoff spot in their stacked division. 17. Binghamton Devils – 17-12-7 LW: 17 – The devils follow up a poor week three performance with an average 4-1-4 week. The devils played six games that went to OT last week winning only two of them. They played an additional 11 periods of hockey. They did have wins over Grand Rapids and San Antonio to help maintain an overall decent week. But the emergence of the Sens in the division is threatening their 3rd place standing. 18. Providence Bruins – 16-14-6 LW: 16 – The bruins finish week four with a 4-4-1 week including wins over Colorado and Stockton. They’ve proven time and time again that they can beat the elite teams but with losses to Bakersfield and Tucson they didn’t help themselves any. These two losses are the difference between them being 10th overall in the conference and 4th place in their division. 19. Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins – 16-14-6 LW: 14 – The baby pens drop five spots after climbing last week do to their inconsistent weeks. This week they go 3-3-3 only grabbing 9 of a possible 18 points. Wins over Tucson and Ontario help this week but the losses against San Diego and Bakersfield don’t help their case of trying to gain back into playoff seeding. 20. Bakersfield Condors – 18-18-0 LW: 23 – Week 1 4-5, Week 2 5-4, Week 3 4-5, Week 4 5-4. The condors as said last week are I guess consistent enough? Unfortunately for them week 5 they will be going 4-5 I can see it now. They have recently pulled off some big trades to acquire some good talent and they’re going to need it to compete in their division. Five weeks left in the season with a 14-point deficit isn’t insurmountable, but it won’t be easy either. 21. Milwaukee Admirals – 14-15-7 LW: 24 – The admirals had been slowly trending in the wrong direction and consistently losing games. And in their tight division they can ill afford to lose a lot of ground in a given week. However, lucky for them they got 12 of 18 points in week 4 even with four overtime losses. San Antonio had a worse week leaving them just six points out of a spot. 22. Charlotte Checkers – 16-17-3 LW: 18 – The checkers seemed poise to start climbing the ranks, they had a positive record for week three and started climbing from the basement. Except the first floor caved in and they had another losing week. Being blown out by San Diego and Bakersfield doesn’t help things either. Skyre didn’t exactly go 0-3 like week one, but 0-2-1 might as well be the same. 23. San Diego Gulls – 15-17-4 LW: 21 – The gulls are another team that are trending in the wrong direction which leaves me a bit surprised. I know RBK for a few seasons now since I’ve been managing, and this is a shock to me and most likely him. Not only a disappointing 3-5-1 week with a stinging loss to the thunderbirds the Gulls traded their paid AGM rockokaneflow. Things are not looking good in the sunshine state. 24. Chicago Wolves – 14-17-6 LW: 22 – Despite a 3-6-1 week the wolves don’t lose much ground in this week’s rankings because the teams behind them did even worse. Ever since their 7-2 week back in week two the wolves have dropped 14 of 19. Oof. I don’t know about you but that’s not a recipe for success. The wolves find themselves somehow just 7 points out of a spot. Easier odds then if you’re in the pacific but they’re going to need to start winning and soon. 25. Cleveland Monsters – 14-18-4 LW: 26 – The monsters were just one of a handful of the bottom teams to have a winning week for week four and make a splash. However, due to the inconsistency of the previous three weeks they only jump one spot. But, the monsters will be my team to watch for week five as these guys are experience vets and they will figure it out soon. 26. Utica Comets – 15-20-1 LW: 29 – Another team that had a winning week finishing 6-3 they had their best week of the season. Is it a sign of things to come? I don’t think so; six wins are six wins but only two of them were significant. The rampage had a down week, so I won’t count that one however, they did beat Lehigh Valley and Manitoba. They have division games in week five, so we’ll see where they really stand. 27. Toronto Marlies – 14-20-2 LW: 27 – The Marlies had some good wins against Bridgeport and Iowa however they got dumped by Manitoba and lost to Chicago and Milwaukee. Those are games that must be won if they want to contend in the North. Perhaps it’s time to think about breaking up the only line that’s consistently winning games and think about balancing out the rest of your team. Personal records mean nothing if you’re on the outside looking in come playoff time. 28. Texas Stars – 14-20-3 LW: 30 – The stars are anything but shiny. With the losses of badulov and buree in recent weeks I don’t really see how it can get any better for these guys. They have about 10 mill wrapped up in their top D pair who is 9-16-3 combined. The only player on this team that has a winning record is Game Seven W and that’s because he came from Iowa at 4-2-1. The only thing they have going for them is that Rockford is behind them from being last in the conference. 29. Springfield Thunderbirds – 12-21-3 LW: 30 – The T-Birds move up because they actually won games this week. There top line of Hoffa, Fedorov and Space continue to turn heads because they are dominating on not such a good team. A combined 105 points and 24-6-3 these guys will score on you and they’ll do it in bunches being that it’s the only good thing about this team as well. 30. N/A 31. Rockford Ice Hogs – 8-21-8 LW: 28 – The Hogs were hanging around solely because they weren’t winning games, but they weren’t losing them in regulation. They lead the league in OTL’s just one ahead of the Devils. However, this week they were not so fortunate as they only got 4 points out of a possible 18. Turmoil in the locker room, some drama before last night’s reschedule which ultimately led to Canada being waived. The only reason they aren’t worse is because of the next team. They take 31 this week. NR – Laval Rocket – 4-31-1 LW: Not Ranked – The rocket continues to disappoint in the sense that they had consistent 1-8 weeks and followed it up with a 2-7 week for week 3. However, this week they did one better and didn’t win any games. Charlotte was the dunce for week 1, Stockton was the dunce for week 2, WBS & Springfield were both dunces for week 3. This week while they did not lose Chicago also needed OT to beat them, so they are the dunce this week. Laval ranks at 99 this week just ahead of Southeastern Lafayette High School of Los Angeles of Anaheim East Dakota Academy.
Condors have some chill people there, but the vibe I got from their deals was pretty much to give their best players a shot at the playoffs, and call it a season while still playing it out. Pretty much quantity for Quality deals for them.
Yes salty our whole team was "focused" on your virtual rankings all week We just didnt play well simply put...
