We are officially through the Christmas break and half way through the season. Most divisions are tight and teams are fighting for positioning in the standings. There were several trades executed in the league after the New Year and we will get NAHL fans up to speed as teams are starting to sell off or go all in on the season.
Bismarck Bobcats
Previous 1
Still at number 1 are the Bismarck Bobcats who have continued to have success throughout the season. Head Coach Garrett Roth is making another push to go win another Robertson Cup as the Bobcats recently have added to an already deep roster. Adding 04' forward Louie Kamienski (32 points) from Oklahoma and 04' defensemen Ollie Chessler (Union Commit) from Oklahoma has made this team absolutely loaded moving forward.
Niagara committed 04' goaltender Tomas Anderson is one of the league's best as he has an impressive 17-2-1-1 record with a 94.2 save percentage and 1.48 gaa. Coming back from the break the Bobcats are 1-2 and need to refocus as they face off vs Aberdeen and St. Cloud over the next two weeks.
Lone Star Brahmas
Previous 2
We kept Lone Star at the two spots as they have rattled 5 wins in a row after a tough end to November and early part of December. Like Bismarck, Lone Star has added to an already deep roster as they recently added Junior veteran Christian Venticinque from Janesville.
Lone Star at times has been vulnerable this year but has always bounced back in a tough South Division. If the Brahmas are not focused they can quickly fall out of the top 5 as they face a tricky January schedule including a 3 game set at the end of the month vs Corpus.
Corpus Christi IceRays
Previous 5
We have confirmed that Corpus is for real this season as they have been consistently in the race in the south. They are right behind Lone Star in the standings and will have the ability to take the division lead by the end of January.
Despite having a winning record vs Lone Star this year (2-1) we still have them slightly ranked below the Brahmas because we believe Lone Star's best is better than Corpus's best. However, they have proven us wrong all year and we are fully convinced this is a team that can make their way to the Robertson Cup.
Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Previous NR
Fairbanks has come on very strong in the last six weeks with sweeps over top teams Anchorage Wolverines and Wisconsin Windigo. Much have Fairbanks' success can be contributed to the fact that they are one of the more productive teams 5 on 5 this season. They have recently improved their special teams' play and have two solid netminders that they can rely on night in and night out.
Wisconsin Windigo
Previous 4
Windigo have not been playing great hockey lately especially vs the top teams in the division as they have laid eggs vs Anchorage and Fairbanks. Having a losing record vs Anchorage was almost enough to pull Wisconsin out of the top however we were optimistic on what we saw out of them vs Kenai this past weekend as they swept the Brown Bears. We have confidence that Wisconsin will straighten out the ship as they move through January as they have manageable schedule .
On The Outside, Looking In
Austin
Anchorage
Rochester
Minot
Aberdeen
Division Power Rankings
Central
South
Midwest
East
Latest Player Movement
Minot acquired Janesville forward Noah Gibbs in exchange for Murray Marvin-Corder
Maryland acquired Oklahoma forward Sebastian Speck in exchange for Luke Rubin
Bismarck acquired Oklahoma forward Louie Kamienski and Oklahoma defensemen Ollie Chessler
New Hampshire acquired Janesville defensemen Rhett Kodsi in exchange for Luc Lampert.
