1. (1) Las Vegas Bulls
This team experiments a lot in the preseason with lines and prospects so it was no surprise their record wasn't as good as expected, and what it will be in the regular season.
2. (2) Vancouver Voodoo
Vancouver used preseason as a tuneup for the regular season, icing all of their regular season players and lines. The only possible weakness on this team is depth.
3. (4) Quebec City Corinthians
Best team in what now may be the weakest division in the league. You can't really say anything bad about a 9-1 team.
4. (8) HC Slavia Praha
Absentee landlord approach aside, this is a good team that usually underachieves in the regular season and overachieves in the playoffs. Box of chocolate team.
5. (3) Calgary Dropkicks
Will the real Dropkicks please stand up? Good team, great personnel and excellent management could finally lead to breakthrough season.
6. (7) Winnipeg IceDogs
If the Stallions are the new Bears then the IceDogs are the new Stallions. I watched them play the other night and I swear I could hear them aging. Luckily they have more youngsters in the pipe than the Stallions ever did.
7. (10) Rocky Mountain Express
Along with the Bulls and Dropkicks, this is probably my favourite team from a management perspective. They had a so-so preseason but they tried plenty of new things.
8. (5) Chicoutimi Sparrows
Another team that uses the preseason in a traditional sense: trying new players or youngsters to see what they have. Solid team, nothing more and nothing less.
9. (11) Detroit Cougars
6-4 with 44 goals scored. That's not too shabby. This team surprises me... but I don't think their stay in the top ten will be for very long.
10. (18) Saskatoon Enforcers
Enforcers like the Krushers/HC Slavia have a somewhat checkered past. I would be surprised to see them hang with the big boys come regular season but I would also be surprised to see them slip much further than this.
11. (13) Anchorage Orcas
Another team that is a whale of surprise... their goals for and against ratio is a bit of a worry, but they could be this year's Islanders and nab a playoff spot from a team that falters.
12. (20) Boston Hawks
This is a team I really don't like the look of. Although they were .500 in the preseason and destroyed the Shenanigans 16-4 in their last game, they did allow their fair share of goals as well. Could be a very streaky team, as they showed by losing 5 straight and then winning 5 straight.
13. (9) Seattle Saints
Relative disappointment in the preseason with a 5-5 record. I expect a lot more from this team. Good balance but they seem to have a bit of the Dropkicks in them.
14. (12) Hudson River Hensch
If the The Express, Bulls and Dropkicks are teams I like I would group the Hensch with the Hawks as teams I don't. I just don't see a team that can contend or will contend.
15. (6) Toronto Stallions
Have no fear the Stallions won't stay in this position on the power rankings for long, they will dip much further, say 23 or 24. Just a bad team. They are taking the concepts of "rebuilding process" and "going for the number one draft pick" to a whole new level. Never before had we seen firesales start one game into preseason.
16. (14) Victoria Islanders
Not a great stretch by any imagination at this point. But they do seem to win their share of games. I see them as a .500 at best. They finished the preseason on a strong note.
17. (21) Portland Timberjacks
Not nearly as poor a team as a lot of people would think and they are only going to get better. They are making progress as a team and I can see them sticking in at around this point in the power rankings, which isn't too bad considering where they are coming from. Injuries will hurt them on opening night with three of their regular forwards sidelined.
18. (19) South China Sea Taipans
This team should not be poor but guess what... they are. There is no scheming about them this year they simply underacheived in the preseason and I don't foresee much of a change for the regular season.
19. (17) Waterloo Lunatics
A 2-6-2 record in the preseason doesn't help but there is no way this team should be that poor I would expect for the active Stumpf GM to get a little more out of his team than this. Look for Ribeiro to finally make his WHL debut.
20. (16) Mississauga Vipers
Sadly this is a team that is a right mess. Their 4-6 record in the preseason was great for them, and I would expect more of the same coming for them: a sub .500 team.
21. (15) Trail Smoke Eaters
Personnel-wise this team doesn't seem to have any business this low in the poll but what can you say about the results. They finished strong, but it isn't a good sign when your leading goal scorer is a rookie on the third line.
22. (24) Kelowna Cats
They did better in the preseason than I thought and they have made some good trades. We will see how things develop over the next few weeks, as GM Minton actively works on shaping up this team that had been left to themselves way too long.
23. (23) Edmonton Vikings
This isn't any news, this is one of the worst two or three teams in the WHL. They have not improved the WHL product from last year. They'll have a helluva WFHL ranking though.
24. (22) DC Shenanigans
Where has the management of this team gone? Left to their own devices they are abysmal. This team could easily find themselves slipping into the abyss that the Cats/Bears have been in for years. This team just needs some TLC to move up in the rankings, but there isn't much to work with.
©2004 Web Hockey League