POWER RANKINGS: Bellies top first edition

The 2017 Power Rankings are here.

Intended to be a glimpse into how each team is faring in any given week, the BCJALL Power Rankings are written with an unbiased view and takes multiple factors such as scores, personal achievements and more into account. A team may be 4-8 and be second place in that week's edition, possibly because they won both their games or are trending in the right direction. These rankings should be taken with a grain of salt as lots will change as we move through the season.

Without further adieu, here is our first edition: 

1. New Westminster Salmonbellies (4-0)

LAST WEEK: W v. Delta, 11-5; W v. Victoria, 16-4

THIS WEEK: Host Langley, Tuesday, 8 PM

The 'Bellies are off to one of their better starts in years, and last week culminated with a drubbing of the visiting Shamrocks. While we can discuss how short-handed Victoria might have been playing the second half of back-to-back and traveling to the Lower Mainland to do so, a 16-4 win is a 16-4 win. There probably won't be many more performances more dominant than what New West did to the green and white on the wood floor at QPA. 

They have a big test tonight with the Thunder coming to town, but regardless, New Westminster immediately looks like one of the strongest teams in the league. They have scoring, defence and goaltending. Erik Kratz leads the BCJALL right now in both GAA (4.26) and Sv % (.890) and has looked superb doing so. New West's special teams have also been dominant; they score on a little more than half of their PP opportunities, and the man down unit has killed off more than 80 per cent of opposition power plays. 

2. Langley Thunder (4-1)

LAST WEEK: W @ Coquitlam, 9-6 (OT); W v. Burnaby, 11-5; L @ Victoria, 16-14

THIS WEEK: Visit New West, Tuesday, 8 PM; Host Victoria, Saturday, 4:30 PM 

Despite losing to the Shamrocks over the weekend, Langley has already de-throned the Coquitlam Adanacs, ruining another potential perfect regular season before the dream took off down the runway. 

Langley is one of the more dangerous offensive teams, and they have waves of players who can score goals on anybody in the league. They made Coquitlam's Christian Del Bianco look like a mere mortal between the pipes, putting nine goals past him on just 32 shots. They have two big tests against New Westminster and a rematch with Victoria, and if they can even split those two games, they will be sitting pretty in the top half of the BCJALL standings.

3. Coquitlam Adanacs (4-1)

LAST WEEK: L v. Langley, 9-6 (OT); W v. Port Coquitlam, 15-10; W @ Nanaimo, 10-6

THIS WEEK: Host Burnaby, Wednesday, 7:30 PM; Visit Delta, Saturday, 7 PM; Visit Victoria, Sunday, 2 PM; Visit New Westminster, Tuesday, May 23rd, 8 PM

It's a pretty rare sight to see the purple and gold in third place for anything that has to do with the BCJALL. But a tough loss to Langley preceded by some pedestrian games against Poco and Nanaimo (by their standards) has them starting the season in a bit of an unfamiliar position. 

But with four games on the slate over the next week, including a weekend back-to-back in Delta and Victoria, will test the team's mettle and show Pat Coyle and his coaching staff what they have here. They already know what they have in most, but it'll be interesting to see how kids coming back from school and new additions will mesh. It likely takes a while, and Coquitlam was one of the more short-handed teams to start the year. 

A strong start from Thomas Semple (7 goals, 10 assists in 4 games) and Dennon Armstrong (13 goals, 9 assists in 5 games) has set them up well offensively. 

4. Victoria Shamrocks (4-3)

LAST WEEK: W v. Langley, 16-14; L @ New Westminster, 16-4

THIS WEEK: Visit Langley, Saturday, 4:30 PM; Host Coquitlam, Sunday, 2 PM 

Victoria can score boatloads of goals, but evidently, they can't seem to stop them from going in either.

Granted, the 'Rocks have already played almost half their schedule, but they lead the BCJALL with 81 goals in seven games - that's good for 11.5 goals per game. But they're also allowing more than 10 per game, and so the team is playing with a high variance. It was clear this week when they beat one of the more complete teams in Langley, then turned around and got ran out of Queen's Park by the Salmonbellies.

Individually, Cole Pickup is starting right where he left off last season. He leads the BCJALL with 29 points and 18 assists. In fact, the top three in both of those categories are all 'Rocks; Brian Robb has 28 points (12 G, 16 A) and Ben Preston has chipped in 24 (10 G, 14 A) of his own. But in terms of save percentage, goalies Will Kinnaird and Spencer Erwin are middle of the pack with sub-.700 save percentages. 

5. Nanaimo Timbermen (2-5)

LAST WEEK: W v. Burnaby, 10-7; L v. Coquitlam, 10-6 

THIS WEEK:  Host Burnaby, Saturday, 4:30 PM; Visit Port Coquitlam, Sunday, 2 PM

Who would've thought the Nanaimo Timbermen would be here a quarter of the way into the regular season? Many, included myself, didn't. But if there's crow I'll eat, it's when a team exceeds expectations. 

That's the T-Men right now. They scrapped all the way back to beat the Burnaby Lakers and gave Coquitlam a real game, and a much better contest than the first game of the season where the A's drubbed them 16-5. A lot of that can be attributed to head coach Dave Bremner's renaissance of the culture of Nanaimo lacrosse, and they're putting in a true team effort in front of Darian Claxton, who has been outstanding. 

Claxton sits 5th in save percentage, stopping 80 per cent of the rubber he sees. But he's also faced 35 more shots than the next closest goalie (Burnaby's Uema-Martin), so that's a great number. He's also played almost a full period more than Christian Del Bianco. If there's a team MVP given out at this point, it would unanimously be handed to Claxton. 

6. Burnaby Lakers (2-4) 

LAST WEEK: W v. Delta, 13-11; L @ Langley, 11-5

THIS WEEK: Visit Coquitlam, Wednesday, 7:30 PM; Visit Nanaimo, Saturday, 4:30 PM 

It's been an up-and-down start to the season for Burnaby, but the chance to pull even at .500 just a third of the way into the year means the team is right there battling every night.

They've gotten pretty varied offensive contributions from across the roster, one of their main problems so far into the year is a lack of luck on special teams. They sit with a power play that scores just 21 per cent of the time, and the short man isn't much better. If they can stem the bleeding in little areas like that, you could see Burnaby catch a roll and challenge for the playoffs. 

7. Port Coquitlam Saints (0-4) 

LAST WEEK: L 15-10 @ Coquitlam

THIS WEEK: Host Delta, Friday, 8 PM; Host Nanaimo, Sunday, 2 PM

The Saints were one of the teams hardest hit by players being away at school at the start of the season. While going 0-4 isn't the start any envisions, they will be well served by getting guys like Ryland Rees, Clark Walter and Ty Goff back into the lineup. 

Even with key guys still missing, the team still played Coquitlam competitively last week and busted out of their scoring slump, putting double digit goals past the best goalie in the league. The lack of top-end players also let depth players grow into their roles a little more, and now head coach Kelly Scott probably has a much better idea of who he has in players like Nick Agnoletto and Jake Bye. 

Two winnable games are on the board for the black and yellow this weekend too. If they can pull to 2-4 and join Burnaby and Nanaimo in chasing down the teams with four wins already, they will be in good position.

8. Delta Islanders (1-3)

LAST WEEK: L 11-13 @ Burnaby; L 10-7  @ Nanaimo

THIS WEEK: Visit Port Coquitlam, Friday, 8 PM; Host Coquitlam, Saturday, 7 PM

After doubling up on the Timbermen in the season opener, the Islanders have dropped three straight, but reinforcements are also coming. It brightens a bleak picture a little bit knowing a transcendent talent like Tre Leclaire will come back to the club, but the focus has to be on not letting this season get out of control.

If there are positives so far, it's the individual play of some of their top players. The triumvirate of Ryan Jones, Dawson Trimble and Liam Macdonald have been stellar for Delta so far. Jones was solid in a couple of appearances last year, and Trimble seems to have started right where he left off last year in Intermediate A. They'll need to get some improvement out of Roman Rose in goal, though, if they want to stay competitive in most games.