Blizzard concludes the national rankings in 19th place

Gabriel Vanier is on a streak. He scored a goal in the last five Blizzard’s games. During the sequence, Vanier totaled six goals and two assists. Photo archives Digiphoto

EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – Despite its current run of six straight wins and nine wins in its last ten games, the Edmundston Blizzard finishes the 2017-2018 Canadian Junior Hockey League’s weekly compilation in 19^thplace.

The Blizzard still has three games in its final week before the end of the regular season. The Blizzard remained stuck in 19^th place in the last eight weeks. Yet Edmundston is 13^th in the country with a 77,7% efficiency. Is the Maritime Junior A Hockey League weaker than the other nine leagues in the country?

In the MHL, Edmundston has a record of 35 wins, 9 losses and 3 overtime losses for 73 points, two more than the Yarmouth Mariners (35-12-1-0) who have only two games to play by the end of the calendar. The Mariners earned an honourable mention in the last national rankings.

The Blizzard won both of its weekend games in Nova Scotia, a 4-1 win over the Valley Wildcats (Friday) and a 4-3 win over the Amherst Ramblers (Saturday).

Ryan Salvis’ squad will play its next game on Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 pm at the Jean-Daigle Centre. Edmundston will host the Miramichi Timberwolves. The Blizzard will complete its regular season with two games this weekend, Saturday (7 pm) in St. Stephen against the Aces and Sunday (3 pm) against the Woodstock Slammers at the Jean-Daigle Centre.

On the national scene, the top three positions remained unchanged. Here are the top 3 for the season: Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL, 52-5-1-3), followed by the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL, 52-6-2) and the Steinbach Pistons (MJHL, 48-8-2-2).

Here is the ranking of the Blizzard in the country week after week (22 weeks in all), since last September 25 marking the beginning of the regular season for the teams (16^th, 6^th, 2^nd, 13^th, not ranked, 20^th, 12^th, 19^th, 14^th, 20^th, 17^th, 19^th, 14^th, 18^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th, 19^th).

Picked by an independent scouting service, the weekly rankings are based upon a variety of factors, including winning percentage; win-loss record; point totals; goals-for versus goals-against ratio, etc., and the league they compete in.

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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone