ODESSA, Texas – The teams in the Central Hockey League seem to be settling into a rhythm of sorts. The Colorado Eagles retained the top spot in the Pro Hockey News CHL Power Ranking Poll for the week. The Eagles are followed closely by the Blazers and Jackalopes who continue their hot play.
The Texas Brahmas were the big movers in the wrong direction this week. The Brahmas dropped behind Laredo and Bossier-Shreveport. The drop was more a case of the MudBugs and Bucks improving their play than the B’s playing poorly this past week.
In fact, the Bucks have reeled off a hot streak since their slow start and they have retaken the division’s top spot. Head coach Terry Ruskowski was named President of the Bucks organization this week. He will maintain his position as bench boss in addition to being the president.
The divisional leaders are quickly making their races something other than competitive. The real battle in each conference will be the secondary playoff positions. Beginning with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and down there is little difference between the teams in the bottom half of the poll. One good hot streak and the standings will be altered significantly.
But time and schedules will become enemies of those battling for those precious few post season berths.
Contact the author at jeff.reed@prohockeynews.com.
| CHL Power Rankings | ||||||||||
| (including games as of Dec 17th) | ||||||||||
| Team | Div. | GP | Pts | Pt% | % Rk | GF | GA | Gdif/G | Gdif Rk | Rank |
| *Colorado | NW | 22 | 36 | 81.8% | 1 | 102 | 66 | 1.636 | 1 | 1 |
| *Oklahoma City | NE | 22 | 34 | 77.3% | 2 | 70 | 41 | 1.318 | 3 | 2.5 |
| *Odessa | SW | 25 | 38 | 76.0% | 3 | 104 | 67 | 1.480 | 2 | 2.5 |
| *Laredo | SE | 23 | 33 | 71.7% | 4 | 81 | 56 | 1.087 | 4 | 4 |
| Bossier-Shreveport | NE | 22 | 28 | 63.6% | 5 | 68 | 58 | 0.455 | 6 | 5.5 |
| Mississippi | NE | 23 | 28 | 60.9% | 7 | 76 | 65 | 0.478 | 5 | 6 |
| Texas | SE | 23 | 29 | 63.0% | 6 | 72 | 63 | 0.391 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Rio Grande Valley | SE | 21 | 22 | 52.4% | 8 | 72 | 71 | 0.048 | 9 | 8.5 |
| Corpus Christi | SE | 21 | 21 | 50.0% | 9 | 71 | 69 | 0.095 | 8 | 8.5 |
| Arizona | SW | 26 | 21 | 40.4% | 12 | 101 | 113 | -0.462 | 10 | 11 |
| Rapid City | NW | 22 | 20 | 45.5% | 10 | 68 | 86 | -0.818 | 12 | 11 |
| New Mexico | SW | 24 | 19 | 39.6% | 13 | 88 | 105 | -0.708 | 11 | 12 |
| Rocky Mountain | NW | 22 | 18 | 40.9% | 11 | 61 | 84 | -1.045 | 14 | 12.5 |
| Wichita | NW | 23 | 14 | 30.4% | 16 | 55 | 78 | -1.000 | 13 | 14.5 |
| Tulsa | NE | 21 | 16 | 38.1% | 14 | 59 | Related | |||
You must be logged in to post a comment.