Major Junior Standings for November

Expect Standings updates on new posts nearly every week!

Western Hockey League

Right now in the WHL, Their's a top tier that's quickly developing in the WHL. Out east, it's the Calgary Hitmen and the Saskatoon Blades as the Division Leaders and expect them to battle each other for the Conference Lead. Just below them, the Moose Jaw Warriors are playing well with one of the leagues best offenses by scoring 75 goals which is leading the East and 2nd overall and a defense that's slowly getting better.

For the Brandon Wheat Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers are also at 22 points. Rounding out the playoff spots right now are the Swift Current Broncos, Prince Albert Raiders and the Red Deer Rebels. Edmonton has been struggling and disappointing so far with a sub 500 record after a lot of experts picked them to battle with Calgary and possibly Medicine Hat for the Central Division title. Rounding out the Conference is Lethbridge and Kootenay are tied with 12 points.

The USA Division has 2 really strong teams in Tri-City and Portland which are at 26 points with the Americans leading the Conference on goal differental of +25. B.C. has been a lot more balanced with the Vancouver Giants having a 5 point lead on the surging Chilliwack Bruins who have won 4 of their last 5, which include strong showings against Tri-City and Calgary. They in a tight battle with Kamloops and Kelowna as are just 1 point seperating.

As for the bottom of the west is starting to get away from them very quickly, as the Spokane Chiefs, Seattle Thunderbirds and Prince George Cougars may be fighting to get in to the playoffs this season. The T-Birds and Cougars have looked dreadful as both teams have Goal Differental of around -40.

Eastern Conference

1. Saskatoon 17 GP 12-3-2 26 PTS 67-42

2. Calgary 18 GP 13-5-0 26 PTS 64-48

3. Moose Jaw 17 GP 11-6-0 22 PTS 75-57

4. Brandon 19 GP 10-7-2 22 PTS 67-57

5. Medicine Hat 19 GP 9-6-4 22 PTS 88-75

6. Swift Current 17 GP 9-7-1 19 PTS 60-61

7. Prince Albert 17 GP 9-8-0 18 PTS 57-62

8. Red Deer 17 GP 8-9-0 16 PTS 57-67

9. Edmonton 18 GP 7-9-2 16 PTS 48-62

10. Regina 17 GP 6-9-2 14 PTS 58-62

11. Kootenay 17 GP 6-11-0 12 PTS 46-59

12. Lethbridge 18 GP 5-11-2 12 PTS 54-74

Western Conference

1. Tri-City 16 GP 13-3-0 26 PTS 62-37

2. Vancouver 17 GP 10-4-3 23 PTS 59-47

3. Portland 18 GP 13-5-0 26 PTS 78-56

4. Chilliwack 17 GP 7-6-4 18 PTS 59-57

5. Kamloops 18 GP 8-8-2 18 PTS 57-76

6. Kelowna 16 GP 8-7-1 17 PTS 62-56

7. Everett 12 GP 8-4-0 16 PTS 49-34

8. Spokane 13 GP 6-6-1 13 PTS 43-40

9. Seattle 17 GP 4-11-2 10 PTS 35-73

10. Prince George 15 GP 3-12-0 6 PTS 31-74


Ontario Hockey League

Out East, it's 2 teams that are running away from the pack as the Barrie Colts and Mississauga St. Micheals Majors that if it weren't for the Divisions, would easily be 1 and 2 and are running away with the Central Division. Out in the East Division, it's going to be a huge fight between Kingston, Oshawa and Peterborough.

The Central Division champion will be the #2 seed in the playoffs, but they would be a sizeable underdog against either Mississauga or Barrie. Elsewhere out east, it's going to be a battle for the 4th and final spot for home ice in the 1st round as the 4th through last spots are only seperated by 5 points, so it's going to be critical to win the Central to avoid having to face off either against Mississauga or Barrie in the post season.

Out west, Windsor has clearly got away from the slow start to lead with 27 points through 19 games. However, Kitchener is starting to get a battle going as they just 2 points back of the Conference Lead. Just like last year, the Spitfires have 2 players in the top 5 in scoring with Taylor Hall leading the way with 38 points (17G 21A).

The rest of the Western Conference from top to bottom is a lot stronger out west as London, Saginaw and Plymouth as they are making up the next tier as the battle from 3rd through 5th with the Knights currently in 3rd and have played well in Mississauga recently with a 3-2 win back on October 11.

In the bottom half of the West is very tight with Guelph, Sault St. Marie and Sarnia and Owen Sound are just 2 points which seperates 6th through 9th, while the Erie Otters sit last with just 13 points, 6 points back of the last playoff spot out last.

Eastern Conference

1. Barrie 17 GP 12-4-1 25 PTS 76-51

2. Kingston 17 GP 8-8-1 17 PTS 55-63

3. Mississauga 16 GP 12-4-0 24 PTS 57-36

4. Oshawa 16 GP 7-7-2 16 PTS 63-64

5. Peterborough 17 GP 8-9-0 16 PTS 57-65

6. Niagara 18 GP 6-9-3 15 PTS 54-67

7. Sudbury 17 GP 6-10-1 13 PTS 51-66

8. Brampton 15 GP 5-8-2 12 PTS 44-48

9. Ottawa 16 GP 4-9-3 11 PTS 53-66

10. Belleville 17 GP 5-11-1 11 PTS 43-74

Western Conference

1. Windsor 19 GP 13-3-3 29 PTS 100-61

2. Kitchener 16 GP 12-1-3 27 PTS 68-44

3. London 16 GP 11-4-1 23 PTS 54-49

4. Saginaw 16 GP 10-4-2 22 PTS 70-50

5. Plymouth 16 GP 10-6-0 20 PTS 63-55

6. Guelph 16 GP 9-6-1 19 PTS 55-58

7. Sarnia 17 GP 9-7-1 19 PTS 59-64

8. Sault St. Marie 17 GP 9-7-1 19 PTS 54-53

9. Owen Sound 20 GP 7-10-3 17 PTS 67-84

10. Erie 17 GP 5-9-3 13 PTS 49-74


Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

When the season started in the West Division, Gatineau was getting off to a fast start, but recently the Rouyn-Nornda Huskies with a strong run have pulled ahead by 1 point. It's going to be between these 2 as the Huskies and Olympiques are looking like a battle for the Division. The big difference is the Olympiques goaltending is among the best in the Q by only giving up 39 goals so far while the Huskies have giving 73 goals.

Gatineau Goalie Maxime Clermont is one of the best goalies in the league right now with a 2.22 GAA and a .917 SV%. Montreal is looking strong is looking quite average right now as they will be better than Val-dor but probably won't catch up to Gatineau and Rouyn-Nornda to make a serious charge in the West this season.

The Central is looking the strongest from top to bottom as defending champion Drummondville currently has the 2nd best record only behind St. John and have been pretty high in the Major Junior rankings the entire season so far.

Victoriaville and Shawinigan will be battaling for 2nd in the Central as the Tigers Tomas Kubalik is 4th in the league in assists with 17 and has great passing game and is a huge set up man on the PP. After a great start for the Maineiacs, Lewiston has cooled off with a 9-8-0 record and are currently last in the Central Division.

Quebec City is in position to run away with the East, having a strong 10 point gap on Rimouski and with 79 goals, have the best offense in the league right now. For the Ramparts, 5 players are in double digit assists that can help them set up a lot of goals. Surprizly only 1 player is in double digit goals as Marc-Olivier Vallerand leads the team with 10.

The rest of the division is going to fight for 2nd as Rimouski and Chicoutimi are going to be back and fourth with 18 and 19 poits so far through 18 games. Baie-Comeau is going to be at the foot of the Division with a 5-11-2 record .

With Halifax being just dreadful and only the bottom 2 teams not making the playoffs, the Drakkar will be battling with teams like Val-dor, Acadie-Bathrust to make sure they play in the post season this year.

With the exception of Halifax, the Atlantic is going to be tough. St. John is opening up a 5 point gap on Moncton. The battle between 2nd and 4th is going to be tight with Moncton, Cape Breton and P.E.I. are all trading punches with each other in the Division. Steven Anthony is leading the charge for the Sea Dogs with 10 goals while Galiev, Kirkpatrick and Gagne are leading the way on assists.

Halifax may be one of the worst major junior Teams in a long time as just 1 win through 19 games and a -42 GD are just terrible. The only stat will be looking for as where they will finish on the worst teams of all time when the season ends in March.

West Division

1. Rouyn-Nornda 22 GP 11-8-3 25 PTS 75-73

2. Gatineau 17 GP 12-5-0 24 PTS 72-39

3. Montreal 18 GP 9-8-1 19 PTS 58-54

4. Val-dor 21 GP 7-12-2 16 PTS 77-97


Central Division

1. Drummondville 17 GP 14-2-1 29 PTS 71-39

2. Victoriaville 19 GP 11-7-1 23 PTS 76-55

3. Shawinigan 19 GP 9-8-2 20 PTS 62-76

4. Lewiston 17 GP 9-8-0 18 PTS 49-55


East Division

1. Quebec City 19 GP 13-3-3 29 PTS 79-55

2. Rimouski 18 GP 8-7-3 19 PTS 61-70

3. Chicoutimi 18 GP 7-7-4 18 PTS 46-64

4. Baie-Comeau 18 GP 5-11-2 12 PTS 46-77


Atlantic Division

1. St. John 20 GP 15-4-1 31 PTS 77-56

2. Moncton 20 GP 12-6-2 26 PTS 73-51

3. Cape Breton 20 GP 11-6-3 25 PTS 67-67

4. P.E.I. 20 GP 10-7-3 23 PTS 60-60

5. Acadie-Bathurst 20 GP 7-10-3 17 PTS 48-67

6. Halifax 19 GP 1-17-1 3 PTS 46-88