With less than 20 days left in the NAHL regular season schedule, playoff races are heating up, and teams are beginning to establish themselves as contenders for the Robertson Cup. Get caught up with updated Power Rankings, playoff race updates and highlight videos !
Oklahoma Warriors 42-11-0-1
Previous 2nd
Blowing past Lone Star in the South Division are the Warriors of Oklahoma, who currently sit with a 10-point lead at the top. Oklahoma is a deep team that can win in different ways, but they feature three lines of consistent scoring and arguably the best defensive core in the NAHL. Their defensive core is filled with tons of junior experience and Division 1 talent. Air Force Commit 02' Owen Baumgartner is averaging near a point per game from the blue line and is top 10 in the league for defensemen point total. Oklahoma finishes the regular season vs Shreveport, El Paso and New Mexico.
Lone Star Brahmas 34-12-2-5
Previous 1st
The south is tough and teams really cannot afford to take nights off or you get passed pretty quickly in the standings. Lone Star learned that this year after a 4 game losing skid in mid-winter which all but pushed them to second place. Lately they have found their groove as they took 2 of 3 from Oklahoma and 3 of 4 from New Mexico. Overall, Lone star is much closer to Oklahoma than their current standing suggests.
Much like Oklahoma, Lone Star has a solid defensive group which includes Two TSA Athletes, Shane Carr and Antti Autere who are both having great rookie seasons. The biggest question for Lone Star moving forward is can they get enough scoring in crucial situations?
Maryland Black Bears 37-15-4-0
Previous 3rd
Maryland has been consistent splitting with the Titans, Generals and Rebels. A recent sweep of Johnstown all but secured a division title as it does not appear the Titans will be able to catch the Black Bears. With four games remaining they will need to stay sharp as the Titans, Nordiques and Northeast figure out their position standing for playoffs. RIT commit 03' Forward Christian Catalano is 3 goals back of the league lead in goals (56GP 29G 27A), look for the Black Bears to give him the puck a lot down the stretch.
Austin Bruins 33-13-3-5
Previous 4th
Sitting in first still are the Bruins, they have maintained distance from the rest of division with 74 points. They have proven to be the top team in the Central and have some of the best talent in the league. Rookie 04' Goaltender from Fargo Davies High in North Dokata, Trent Wiemken has been fantastic of late. In his last 9 starts he has posted a save percentage of over 90 in all but one game. UMass Lowell commit 03' Defensemen James Goffredo, orginially from New Jersey is having a fantastic rookie year with 35 points and is getting a lot of USHL interest.
Shreveport Mudbugs 32-15-2-5
Previous 8th
Making their steady climb through the rankings are the Mudbugs of Shreveport. Their climb started back in February and they have been playing at a ridiculously high level. In March they went 7-1 with their one lone loss coming to Odessa. Part of their success has been the growth of their young forward group, as they are starting to see secondary scoring. Veteran forwards Drake Morse and Garrett Steele have been know to play with high levels of compete and provide timely scoring.
TSA Athlete Logan Heroux 03' Defensemen continues to climb the league defensive scoring list and now has entered the top 15. Sitting 4 points back of Lone Star with six games remaining do not look for Shreveport to coast into playoffs, they want home ice advantage.
Outside Looking In
6) Wisconsin Windigo
7) New Jersey Titans
8) New Mexico Ice Wolves
9) Minnesota Wilderness
10) Maine Nordiques
Playoff Races Heating up
Central Division
Minot sits 4 points back of Aberdeen for the final spot, 6 points back of St. Cloud and 7 points back of North Iowa. North Iowa has been one of the hottest teams in the league going 8-2 in their last ten which all but solidfied their playoff spot. Minot and Aberdeen faceoff this weekend, Minot needs to find a way to split. They finish up with Austin, which maybe resting guys before playoffs. Minot can get lucky and get in, Aberdeen and St. Cloud will be beating up on each other as they play four times down the stretch.
Midwest Division
A wild playoff race is taking place in the Midwest. Wisconsin surge has put them at the top of the division with the Minnesota Wilderness sitting in second. The Wilderness have been the most consistent team in the division all year and will be a threat in the playoffs. Kenai has gotten hot as well going 8-2 in their last ten which jumped them over state rival Fairbanks.
Speaking of Fairbanks, they have been in downward spiral and currently sit 1 point behind Chippewa for fourth. Anchorage is the X factor as they have a three game set vs Chippewa and 4 games vs Kenai, they have potential to knock both teams down. Chippewa and Anchorage both have 3 games in hand on Fairbanks.
South Division
Oklahoma, Lone Star and Shreveport are all set. The only question is if Shreveport can catch Lone Star for second place/home ice. New Mexico sits 4 points in front of Amarillo. Amarillo needs a lot of help but they need to take care of Corpus this weekend in a sweep to have a fighting chance in the final two weekends of the season.
East Division
The East is Pretty much all set at the top with Maryland holding strong with 9 points on the Titans. The Titans have an outside chance of the division crown with 3 games in hand on Maryland. Seeds 2-4 are the Titans, Nordiques and Northeast with Johnstown fighting to get back into the playoff picture. Titans, Nordiques and Generals are separated by 6 points and are fighting for home ice.
Michael Young - ‘02 Forward - New Jersey Titans
Commit : Princeton University
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