Team ODIN

Since the last episode of the power rankings ODIN still remains the top dogs. They haven’t lost in regulation since 10/25 but they have received three losses in the shootout. Really if you’re looking to take points away from them, the shootout is your best bet. These guys haven’t lost in regulation since October. The shootout could I guess be considered their “weakness” but it doesn’t matter when you’re only there once every four games, especially when you win the other three out of four games in regulation. ODIN is still firing on all cylinders and I believe they’ll stay at number 1 through the end of the season.

Phantoms

The Phantoms are tied for second with two games in hand on everyone but the Biohazards (but right now they don’t seem like a threat for second). They boast the lowest goals against with 39 and they’re one of the three lucky teams to have beaten Team ODIN in a shootout. In a seven-way tie for 18^th in scoring is their lead point getter Nick Meade with 14 points (8g, 6a). While he’s not setting the world on fire, he is providing a reliable scoring punch for a team that mostly relies on its defense.

SHIce

Wow, the S in SHIce must stand for Streaky. They hit a cold streak with four losses in a row followed by a hot streak of three wins in a row, then two losses and most recently two wins. Despite the negative win loss ratio (from these streaks) they find themselves in 4^th place. They can attribute this to their ability to win in regulation as opposed to going to the shootout. With the second most goals for it is no surprise that the team can win games in regulation, what’s surprising is that the offense almost non-existent some nights. They beat a team 11-3 and then put up 13 goals in the next 3 games combined. If they want to make an impact they have to stay out of the box and play with some consistency on O.

Flames

Two forfeits don’t make a team bad; however, the standings don’t care about skill. The standings only care about numbers. Since the beginning of the season this team has been about 50/50. With those two forfeit losses they’re one under—without, one over. Their 65 goals are about on par with the rest of the league. Their leading scorer Chris Pallante has been involved with about a third of those goals but has only played in 7 of their games… he also holds the 7 spot in scoring… oh and also this team has 7 wins currently. Sign of better things to come?

The Moose

2^nd place in the standings might get you a better match-up in the playoffs, but erase their two forfeit wins and they have 20 total points which is less than the Flames. Besides their league low penalty minutes, these guys haven’t really done anything to prove that they’re second place material anyway. They have more goals against than for, and without the forfeit wins they would have more losses than wins. But I gotta admit… the jerseys are dope.

Biohazards

This group has gone exactly .500 in wins and losses, however, that’s not going to make much noise in this league. The reason I put them higher than Green Brook is because they’ve won a game since the calendar turned to 2018. They also have 7 more goals in one less game. To top it off their MVP Larry St. Denis has one more total point than Green Brooks’ top scorer. I can’t say for certain, but I imagine penalty minutes are the reason this team is so low in the standings.

Green Brook Berets

If Green Brook had kept up a 50/50 pace after their three win streak to start the season they’d probably be in second. But they took their early season success and traded it in for a plane slowly spiraling into a nosedive. Defense is still their strong suit… when they win, of their six regulation losses, half of them have been games where they allow at least eight goals (two of those games against teams below them in the standings). They currently are riding a three game losing streak and really need to pick it up lest they drop lower in the standings and power rankings. Zach Ulloa has been their All-Star (as always) but he can’t do it alone.

Reapers

Oh my goodness, after scorekeeping for so long and having to write Rink Rats penalties for so long it looks like penalty minutes are finally getting in the way of the Reapers winning games. They’ve had three separate streaks this season, two extended losing streaks, and one two game winning streak. That certainly isn’t the way to climb the standings. With all joking aside the Reapers have had some tough luck. They’ve been able to stay in most games with the occasional 4+ goal defeat, but everyone knows they’re a tough team to play against. This is evidenced by Hugo Beja and Gary Nigro leading the league in scoring with 33 and 26 points respectively. But they’ve also let up more goals than any other team, in fact, they’ve let up more goals than ODIN and the Phantoms combined… only by one, but still! C’mon guys!

Blue Tribe

Throughout the season these guys have been pretty disappointing, they ended one losing streak just to get on a longer one. HOWEVER, in their last 4 games they’ve earned 7 of a possible 12 points. Is this team finding their groove right before the playoffs?? In all 3 of those games they’ve kept their opposition to 4 goals or less. Now that they’ve found a winning formula, maybe they can ride their defense to a championship. But, of course, they’ll be taking the toughest road there.

As December comes in to full swing, so do the second D3 Power Rankings! Enjoy!

DIVISION 3

Storm

The Storm are still the cream of the crop, the king of the hill, the pig among guinea pigs. However you want to say it, the Storm are dominating Division 3. Since the season started they have not taken their foot off the gas. They have the second most goals for of all teams but they don't have a single player in the top 15 point scorers. What that means is ALL of their players are capable of producing points. Watch out D3, these guys look like they're on a crash course for the championship.

Puck Pimps

So last time I gave these guys a little too much credit. I put them second in the Power Rankings thinking they’d take the first place spot by this version of the Power Rankings. While they didn’t live up to those expectations, their offensive firepower is by far the most deadly. They lead the league with 72 goals. The next closest are the Storm with 58 goals. Not exactly a contest, especially considering the Puck Pimps have one less game played. The reason they still sit at in the Power Rankings is because of their record against the actual second place team Ooff! is a perfect 2-0.

Ooff!

Ooff! jumped up from 6 in the last Power Rankings to 3 in this Power Rankings, maybe the last ones were too early in the season to be able to rank this team accurately because with 12 games now under their belt they are now in second place. While there is no real contest for first place right now, Ooff! will be fighting to hold on to second place as teams are nipping at their skate blades to take their place. While Ooff! is tied for third in goals for, they have the fourth most goals against. They are hoping Milton Solis can keep the points coming as he is tied for second most in the league and of course their leading point scorer. 

Pterodactyls

The Pterodactyls are in an interesting position. Only a point behind the Puck Pimps with a game in hand and 3 points behind the second place Ooff! with 2 games in hand. Really they control their own fate. They sit tied with Ooff! in goals scored, but the cool thing is that every player on the team (including goalie Jeff Leidner) has scored at least one point. With a game coming up against the lower placed Admirals they could make the jump to second, however, with the following game being against a tough Archers team they could fall right back down. It’ll be interesting to see the standings by the end of December.

Archers

The Archers are a tough bunch to pencil. They’ve beaten and lost to teams above them, and they’ve beaten and lost to teams below them in the standings. Captain Jason Fischbach remains as one of the league leaders in points and also leads the team, but the main problem they’re seeing is their lack of consistency. The Archers have yet to win more than two games in a row. That could change though with their next game against the Puck Pimps who they just defeated in their last game. This win would give them a nice jump in the standings but more importantly, it’d create some more separation between them and the teams below them. As we enter the second half of the season, let’s see which half of the standings the Archer’s end up in.

Vudoo

Vudoo are in a similar position as Ooff! without the prestige of second place. They have the ability to move up and have shown they can hang with the top guns, even though they have lost to all the teams above them, they haven’t been blown out. The major comparison to Ooff! is that the Archers are below them in the standings, but beat them in their only meeting. This has put them in a vulnerable spot as the Archers are only three points behind with two games in hand. They could be passed in the standings as early as tomorrow. Their stats are very similar to the Pterodactyls, but they’ve played one more game than them and unfortunately for them their extra game was a loss. With two games coming up against the lowly, undisciplined Rink Rats, maybe they can keep the Archers at bay and jump over the Pterodactyls.

Sewer Rats

The Sewer Rats started the season with two losses, lucky for them, starting with two losses is only a championship curse in the NFL (I’ll save you the time – 93’ Cowboys, 01’ Pats, and 07’ Giants are the only teams to do it). Basically, the Sewer Rats still have a chance. They are making the rest of the league aware of it by making the most of this chance. Since starting 0-2 the Sewer Rats have gone 4-4. While splitting games isn’t ideal, it’s an improvement that I’m sure they are building on. This is especially true since they don’t have a key scorer to lean on. As they improve on their team work, their record will also improve.

Admirals

The Admirals are much better than their record shows. The team has had some major attendance problems that have held them back, but leading scorer Tom “The Chipmunk” Whitney’s almost 3 points per game has kept the team in games time and time again (when he shows up).  Something the team should be really proud of is the fact that in none of their losses have ended with a running clock. Moving forward though, I’m sure they’d love some running clock games where they’re on the winning end. While the Admirals have yet to beat any teams in the upper half of the standings, the games have all been close.

Rink Rats

The Rink Rats are killing it right now… is what I would say if the Rink Rats were actually doing well. I’m not going to say they are at rock bottom, but they are vastly underperforming. I don’t think anyone would have guessed that these guys would start the season 0-4, but wow, that was a wake-up call. Unfortunately the wake-up call only lasted a few games. In the 4 games following that abysmal start, they went 3-1. Even though they only beat other basement dwellers, it was looking like a different team. Then they were brought back to reality. In the 3 games since then they are winless. This includes a loss to the lowly Perch. The only reason these guys aren’t below the Perch is because the season series was split at one game apiece and both goal differentials were the same Also the fact that the Rink Rats have won two more games than them.

Perch

Stop the presses! The Perch have won a game since our last Power Rankings. I know I must sound like a broken record at this point, but the Perch just can’t gain foothold in the PTAHL. The new roster was looking like it might be what they needed to survive, but an 0-9 start to the season says that, that is absolutely not the case. I will say this however, the win over the Rink Rats was huge. I’d rather watch a close game between two lower ranked teams than an offensive clinic by two teams on opposite ends of the standings. Look, I’m a Browns fan, I know every loss holds a lesson, but unless these guys can’t go another 9 games without a win and expect to make any noise in the post season. Hopefully this is that elusive step they’ve been searching for.

Happy November everyone, as we approach turkey day I’m going to predict now that there will be a drop off in scoring in the few days after Thanksgiving… here are the first edition of D1 Power Rankings

DIVISION 1

Ice Men

The Ice Men have been putting on a show for the league; while they sit in second place in the standings they have two less games played than the first place team and sit only one point behind the first place Whack-a-Mole. The boast the second highest goals per game with 7.14 and Matt Torstrup is tied for first in points. Actually the only difference in the two player’s stats are that Matt has one more game winning goal compared to the player to be mentioned later. Scoring has come from all over for this team, with all but 3 players having registered at least one point. If they can all continue to contribute this team will vie for the championship

Whack-a-Mole

Whack-a-Mole currently sits in first place in the standings, but not comfortably. The Ice Men are breathing down their neck and have shown their ability to beat them as evidenced by their last meeting. The teams meet twice more this season but the main focus of Whack-a-Mole should be taking the season one game at a time. While they have won a majority of their games, they have been proven vulnerable by teams more established in the PTAHL. The boast the most goals total at the moment, but they also have the highest goals against total. However, on the bright/dark side, they have at least two more games played than the rest of the teams in the league.

Laffy Taffy

Laffy Taffy is absolutely electric. They’ve played the least amount of games played but they have the third highest goals for total. They average the highest goals per game and currently have the least goals scored against total. Captain Steve Osvold leads the team in scoring with 18 points. Tyler Mischenko follows closely behind with 15 points. The team has the potential to make a deep playoff run, but with one forfeit already this early in the season you have to wonder if forfeits are going to be what slows them down.

Fine Freddy’s

The combination of Fine Pines and Freddy’s HC hasn’t been too great, but also hasn’t been awful. They sit at .500 on the season with one forfeit win. Chris Keresztes currently has the highest amount of points on the team. The next highest point getter is Dave Sanders both of the former Fine Pines. The team has beaten Whack-a-Mole showing that they can hang with the big boys but has lost to teams lower than them in the standings. Currently they are riding a two game winning streak as we fully come into November. They face a tall task in Laffy Taffy that will definitely test their defense. Until these guys can put more goals on the board they’re going to struggle.

MuskRays

The MuskRays have been… uninspiring, to say the least. They sit just above the Predators in the standings but that’s not saying much. Oddly however, they are only a -1 in goal differential. Steve Doherty leads the team with 5 points—all goals, which involves him in a quarter of all goals scored by the team. The season is long though and they have plenty of time to fix their problems, hopefully before they dig themselves in too deep of a hole.

Predators

Wow, what can I say about the Predators that hasn’t already been said behind their back. So the Predators have a non-existent defensive corps. In all the games they’ve actually shown up for they’ve given up at least 6 goals. Matthew Fox leads the team in points with 7 meaning he’s been involved in 7/17 total points (curse you prime numbers!). But they have won only one game and it was against Fine Freddy’s, meaning, one of the lower half teams right now. I would say that these guys should, “do their ****ing jobs” but they hardly ever go to their own games. Right now teams that go up against them have a 50% chance of winning by showing up. The Preds have the least goals for, but are also the second lowest penalized team. This is partly because of discipline, but mostly because they haven’t played half their games. They will sit in the cellar under the basement of these Power Rankings until the show up and win a few games.

Hi everyone, happy to be writing Power Rankings for the PTAHL, as a player in the league I know we love to compete and we're all here for fun. I'm gonna be honest but won't be too much of a jerk. Enjoy the GATWPR... I'll come up with a better acronym...

Division 3

Storm

The Storm are doing pretty well for themselves right now. Through their first three games they are undefeated. While they aren't an offensive power house, their defense is solid. They have allowed a league low 8 goals and the only time they allowed more than that was when they had a substitute goalie. While it is a long season and anything could happen, it looks like this group can go the distance on the shoulders of goalie Rob Imbriaco.

Puck Pimps

You're probably seeing this team here and thinking "But Gabe, the standings show them in 3rd! Why would you put them 2nd?" Well reader let me answer that for you with three different answers. 1. This is my Power Rankings, not yours. 2. The Puck Pimps are the only other undefeated team in the league. 3. I'm watching them as I write this and I see a team that works together and possesses the puck well. It doesn't hurt that Chris Kazlauskas is fifth in the league in scoring either.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Pterodactyls

The Pterodactyls are a storied franchise in Protec history. The last few seasons haven't brought them back to their former glory, but they are definitely on the right track. Team leader in points Zach Zaklowski has shown potential to be a key piece of the offense, however 5 of his 7 points came in one game. If he can be a multi point per game player this team could jump up to first in the standings and power rankings.

Archers

The Archers are a prime example of how one or two players cannot make a team. They have the top two point leaders but even they couldn't help beat the first place Storm. There are no new faces in the locker room but some players who were putting up the numbers last season are still struggling to find their game this season. This team can beat any team in the league, they just have to start playing like it.

Vudoo

Vudoo had a hot start to the season going undefeated in their first two games, but then they met with the Pterodactyls and simply could not keep up. Their goals for and against are just barely positive but one stat they can definitely be happy with is their league low 4 total PIMS. Against less disciplined teams this will surely make a difference especially if they can continue to convert on the power play. 

Ooff!

Had Ooff! played another game before these rankings were made they would be either higher or lower on here, however this is not the case so they will sit here in the middle as the only .500 team. If Ooff! Wants to move up this list, not only will they have to carry momentum from their game against the Perch, but also try and stretch that out for the whole season.

Sewer Rats

The Sewer Rats defense has been abysmal. Tied for worst in the league they’re not looking good in their end of the ice. It doesn’t help that they have the third least goals for as a team. Their 3 leading point scorers have only 3 points each. That would be fine if there were more players contributing either with points or helping on the defensive end, but that isn’t the case. The season is a long one however and only 3 games have passed so there is definitely time to turn it around. Part of that will be cutting down on their league leading PIMS.

Rink Rats

The Rink Rats are currently the lesser of the two Rat teams. They haven’t won a game yet and their offense has also been lacking. They are one of two teams to not cross into double digit goals yet. I refuse to believe that this team can’t compete with the other teams in the league, but Nick Graham can’t do it all himself. Through two games he is second in the league in goal scoring with 6 (two thirds of their total goals) but tied for dead last in assists with 0. This next game against the Puck Pimps will be a good test.

Admirals

The Admirals have yet to win a game in their new division, neither their offense or defense is particularly bad, but their offense isn’t good enough to make up for their defenses short comings, or vice versa. Tommy Whitney leads the team with 5 goals but thus far has been ineffective on the Power Play.  They have kept games much closer than some below .500 teams with more wins but have yet to reach the elusive W.

Perch

The Perch are still struggling to find their footing in the PTAHL. Having a revamped roster, it will take time for chemistry to develop, but until then, they will remain basement dwellers. They have a league low 4 total goals for, and Jimmy DiPaolo leads the team in goals with 2. The team has potential in this large division, but they have to shore up the defense.

Happy October Everyone! As you start to hear advertisements for Pumpkin Spice things and watch your Tree Houses of Horror, I bring you the first edition of PTAHL Fall DII Power Rankings. Enjoy!

P.S. It's just a game

DIVISION 2

Team ODIN

Team ODIN has taken it to another level this season. Through five games they are still undefeated and Captain Jason “SEAbastian” Fischbach has dominated. Through those five games the team has put up 25 goals total, he has been involved in 15 of these tallies. The team is also tied for first in goals against with 11; this is no small feat as they are one of five teams to have played in five or more games. Goalie Mike Davison has been playing some of his best hockey thus far. If both players keep it up, this team has a bright season ahead.

Green Brook Berets

Have you heard that defense wins championships? Well, the Green Brook Berets definitely have. Tied with ODIN for the league low in goals against, however, goalie Nuno Costa playing in four of the five games his team has had. In those four games he allowed six goals total. Without him in net, Green Brook let up five goals. While their offense is potent, nobody stands out like on Team ODIN. Zach Ulloa leads the team with nine points which is also third for the league. He doesn’t have to carry the team, but he can do it if needed.

SHIce

In their last game against the Reapers, SHIce showed just how dominant they can be. While it seems as though most teams have beat up on the Reapers, this was dominance. They’ve proven their offense can be electric, but they haven’t proven they can consistently put up the points. While there is no doubt that this team is able to compete, other teams are seeing their losses as proof that these guys can be exposed. While they lead the league in goals, they haven’t scored more than four goals in either of their losses. Their next game against Team ODIN will tell us more about this team.

The Moose

The Moose have both beaten and lost to teams above them in the standings and Power Rankings. They are on the borderline of being number three on this list but I need a bigger sample size before I make further judgment. They sit at 4th with a negative goal for/against as a team, but that was almost all due to the rough outing they had against the Green Brook Berets. They’ve been tested against two of the three teams above them, but they looked like a completely different team in each game. So which team shows up for the rest of the season? The Moose that played against Green Brook? Or The Moose that played against SHIce? For their sakes, I hope that Green Brook game was a fluke.

Biohazards

This group plays a lot of close games, except their last one against an underperforming Phantoms team. The only problem is that they were on the wrong end of that one. The team has a lot more PIMS than they’d like with 43, but it’s something that could be managed if they can find a way to score more goals. Right now their 18 total goals puts them in the bottom half of the league and their 23 goals against do the same.  Larry St. Denis leads the team with 7 points, which would be fine if the rest of the team was putting up the necessary points, but the person with the second most points also has more than a third of the team’s penalty minutes… clean that up and maybe they move up the Power Rankings.

Flames

The Flames are listed behind the Reapers right now in the standings, but I believe if they had the same amount of games played the Flames would be ahead. The head to head against them was as close as it gets and even though the Reapers beat them, the Flames beat them in every other stat. Their goal differential is -1 compared to the Reapers -11 and the Flames have only 14 PIMs compared to the Reapers 62. The Flames only win was against the last place Blue Tribe, but their losses have been close enough to put them here in my Power Rankings. Once they figure out how to finish games they’ll be a solid team in the top half of the standings.

Reapers

I feel like I’ve been bashing these guys a lot in this rendition of the Power Rankings, but they have no one to blame but themselves. Hugo Beja and Gary Nigro lead the team with 9 points each but the team just can’t get out of their own way. They lead the league in PIMs with 62 and I’m no wizard but I can guarantee that one of the reasons they have the most goals against (37) is because they can’t stay out of the box! Maybe they just want to talk to the scorekeeper? This team has proven formidable in past seasons but if they keep up like this they might end up mourning this season.

Phantoms

The Phantoms are underperforming. There’s no other way to slice it. The Phantoms are a championship caliber team but they’ve lost to two of the top teams. While they were close losses, they opened the new season with those two losses. They went on to top the Biohazards by 5 and their next game is against the only team below them in the standings. These will be the games where the Phantoms are able to get the gears going for the rest of the season. If that is to happen though, goalie Tony Bucci needs to get back into form.  

Blue Tribe

Well Blue Tribe might as well learn sooner than later about how tough the PTAHL is. They are the only team to not have won a game thus far. Most of the games are close, but they have yet to score more than 3 goals in any of their games. Pat Alvarez leads the team in scoring with six points, meaning, he’s been involved in over half their goals. Six would be fine if the rest of the team were also be putting up points around the same rate, but that is not the case. So either the team rallies around Pat Alvarez and feeds him the puck as much as possible, or everyone starts producing. While I won’t count them out this early, they need to step it up if they want to win in this league.