Movement from the month of March includes a new team at the top
World Hockey Hub’s latest rankings are out and the 2005-birth year saw plenty of movement, with teams shuffling throughout the Top 25. We’ve got a new team atop the rankings, another cracks the Top 10 for the first time and two prep schools making moves as well.
For the first time this season, a Russian-based team takes the top spot as Dynamo Moscow moves us from the No. 2 spot. Dynamo dominated the Championship of St. Petersburg, going 5-0-0 and outscored its opponents 3-to-1 against top competition in the region. There are four more games in the month of April that will decide the champion and Dynamo is currently second in the standings with a game in hand. Makar Khanin leads the way, with 20 goals and 42 points.
Fellow Russian team Avangard Omsk gets a nudge from fifth to No. 4, after more than doubling its win total from eight to 18 and just two defeats. Avangard earned top honors after going 8-0-0 in the Ural Region Championships.
The Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers moved up the rankings for the third consecutive month. Ranked 21st in December, got a small bump to 20th in January, then 12th in February and now cracking the Top 10 at ninth. Ignore the 7-6-0 record during the month of March because four of those defeats came at the hands of teams in the Top 15.The Jr. Rangers lost a three-game series to No. 2 Chicago Mission 2-to-1 and split a four-game set with No. 11 Florida Alliance.
A pair of prep schools continue inching their way up the ranks as well, with Mount St. Charles up to No. 15 and Shattuck-St. Mary’s to 18th. Both programs were also part of a major announcement in the youth hockey world, with the unveiling of the Prep Hockey Conference earlier this month.
Be sure to check out the complete 2005 World Rankings, and text us your thoughts on who’s too high, too low or who we’re sleepin’ on at 603-541-7772.
