Mariners-Blizzard: a battle til the end!

Captains of the top two MHL teams, Kyle Ward (Blizzard; 21g-13a-34pts in 27gp) and Aaron Maillet (Mariners; 20g-19a-39pts in 36gp) during their head-to-head on November 19 in Edmundston. The two teams will face each other for the last time this season at the Jean-Daigle Centre on February 18th. Yarmouth won the first two games so far. Photo archives Olivier Chiasson

EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – The Canadian Junior Hockey League has unveiled its weekly rankings. The Edmundston Blizzard is again ranked 19^th. But this time, the team has in its rear view mirror the Yarmouth Mariners who have just climbed to the 20^th place after six consecutive Mondays with honourable mentions.

A glance at the rankings of the two divisions of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MHL) shows how close the battle is. Five teams total at least 50 points overall. Edmundston comes first on the list (59), followed by Yarmouth (57), South Shore (54), Summerside (51) and Amherst (50).

The regular season will en on March 11 for all teams who still have between 10 and 13 games to play. The Blizzard played 39 of its 50 games. Seven of its remaining 11 games will be played on the road.

If one can say all the games in this league are to be taken seriously, the Blizzard will certainly have a closer look at three major clashes: Summerside (February 8), Yarmouth (February 18 at the Jean-Daigle Centre) and Amherst (March 3).

The Blizzard is getting ready for a streak of three games on the road: Wednesday in Truro, Thursday in Summerside and Saturday in Woodstock.

The Blizzard has a record of 28 wins, 8 losses and 3 overtime defeats, earning them first place in the EastLink North division and the MHL’s overall standings. The Blizzard leads the Summerside Western Capitals by eight points in its division.

The Yarmouth Mariners (28-11-1) lead South division with 57 points.

Positions 1 to 3 in Canada remained unchanged. The Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL, 42-4-1-3) are first overall, followed by the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL, 40-6-2) and the Nipawin Hawks (SJHL, 34-5-2-3).

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 (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).

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