SOURCE EMBROIDERY SJHL POWER RANKINGS

Press Release

1-HUMBOLDT BRONCOS (31-11-2-2)  … 1st last week
Only one regulation loss in their last ten and they’ve all but sewn up top spot in the North.

2-YORKTON TERRIERS (33-12-1-2) … 2nd last week
Red hot again with five wins in a row and Dawson MacAuley is emerging as one of the league’s best puckstoppers.

3-MELVILLE MILLIONAIRES (29-14-2-2) … 3rd last week
Playing their best hockey of the season; maybe a little late for first place though.

4-NIPAWIN HAWKS (25-13-2-4) … 6th last week
Everyone’s darling in the preseason is now living up to the hype and there isn’t a team in the league that would want to face them in the playoffs.

5-NOTRE DAME HOUNDS (25-17-0-4) … 5th last week
A tough ten game stretch means they are in tough to claim second in the Sherwood.

6-FLIN FLON BOMBERS (29-18-0-0) … 4th last week
One week after I said they may settle into second; they are in danger of dropping to third.

7-BATTLEFORDS NORTH STARS (23-18-2-3) … 7th last week
Losers of three straight, including one to Flin Flon on Saturday means they may not be able to climb higher than fourth in the North.

8-ESTEVAN BRUINS (17-24-3-0) … 11th last week
Dylan Smith and Alex Cote give them some real firepower up front.  Could they be a playoff sleeper?

9-MELFORT MUSTANGS (17-25-2-2) … 8th last week
They haven’t really taken advantage of LaRonge’s losing skid; but they are in control of their own destiny for a playoff spot.

10-KINDERSLEY KLIPPERS (16-25-3-2) … 10th last week
Daniels and Bombini banged up last week and that has hurt them; but maybe they can limp into the playoffs and get healthy again.

11-LA RONGE ICE WOLVES (17-27-0-3) … 9th last week
They’ve dropped six straight and are now in the North Division cellar.

12-WEYBURN RED WINGS (14-28-0-3) … 12th last week
They’ve lost ground on Estevan and only gained a point on Kindersley in the last ten.  They’ll need to do much better than that to make the playoffs.

WHO’S HOT

Dylan Smith, Estevan (7-8-6-14) … big four point game Saturday night; Bruins counting on him to help play playoff spoiler.

Alex Cote, Estevan (7-2-9-11) … a quiet superstar who’s helped Bruins get the ship pointed in the right direction as of late.

Jeremy Johnson, Yorkton (6-7-3-10) … he’s the closest thing the Terriers have to a game breaking goal scorer and he’s heating up again at just the right time.

Eli Lichtenwald, Nipawin (9-4-10-14) … his impact upon returning was immediate and is ongoing.

Adam Antkowiak, Humboldt (7-7-5-12) … January’s Player Of The Month.

Riley Storzuk, Flin Flon (8-4-6-10) … consistent is the best way to sum him up.

Ryan Ostertag, Weyburn (8-3-7-10) … he’s doing his part to try and help Wings get into playoffs.

Dawson MacAuley, Yorkton (6-1, 1.35, .952, 3SO) … looks like he’s taken over number one job.

Alex Wakaluk, Melville (4-1, 1.20, .959, 1SO) … busiest goalie in the league not showing signs of fatigue at all.

Davis Jones, Nipawin (3-0, 1.34, .957) … lots of reasons for Nipawin’s great play down the stretch, but Jones could be the biggest reason.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)