EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – For a tenth week in a row, the Edmundston Blizzard is in the top 20 of the best junior A hockey teams in the country. This week, Edmundston is ranked 19th, a slight decline of one spot compared to January 8th.
After an impressive start with seven consecutive wins, the Blizzard kept pace throughout the season, prompting experts working on behalf of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) to rank the Blizzard among the top 20 teams fro 14 weeks out of 15. Edmundston has not suffered two defeats in a row so far this season.
Blizzard’s record is 25 wins, 6 losses and 3 overtime defeats. With 53 points, Edmundston leads the Summerside Western Capitals (20-12-1-0) by 12 points at the top of the EastLink North division of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MHL). And that’s 6 points better than the Yarmouth Mariners (23-9-1-0), leaders of the EastLink South division and who received an honourable mention in the national rankings.
The Blizzard won two of its three games last week. Victories came against the Campbellton Tigers (6-3 on Wednesday) and the South Shore Lumberjacks (5-4 in OT on Sunday). On Friday, Edmundston lost 5-4 to the Miramichi Timberwolves.
The Carleton Place Canadians (38-4-1-3), of the Central Canada Hockey League, are the new leaders of the Canadian rankings. They dethroned the Thief River Falls Norskies (28-3-0-0), of the Superior international Junior Hockey League, who lost their two games last week.
Here is the ranking of the Blizzard in the country week after week, since last September 25 marking the beginning of the regular season for the teams (16th, 6th, 2nd, 13th, not ranked, 20th, 12th, 19th, 14th, 20th, 17th, 19th, 14th, 18th, 19th).
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