National Jr. A Power Rankings: No Change At the Top

Welcome to another edition of the National Jr. A Power Rankings.

With some teams playing musical chairs at the top and a couple of teams dropping out at the bottom the National Rankings have a bit of a different look this week. Also making an impact was the Ontario trade deadline that saw a couple of teams make some key additions to fortify their roster.

The largest splashes? Beaches grabbing Josh Mills, a big offensive lefty with silky hands and heavy shot along with St. Catharines moving a number of picks to Burlington for the shifty Chuck Rawson. Two teams trying to track down higher seeds, both becoming meaningfully better.

In BC and Alberta, it’s much of the same with Coquitlam and the Raiders both dominating and nobody else really making any waves. With both of those trade deadlines to come, keep your eyes on who gets aggressive in an attempt to compete for a spot in the Garden City come August. As for now here is how it all shakes out as we move closer to July and playoff time. 

#1. Orangeville Northmen (13-2)

Their victory at Six Nations makes them a lock for the top spot in the Jr. A Power Rankings. That’s a hell of a win against a creative and gifted Arrows team. That defence was suffocating and their production in transition was the difference. Evan Constantopolous looks like a monster between the pipes and they are getting significantly better goaltending than a season ago. Aaron Toguri makes an already smart, well coached back gate even tougher to deal with. While the offence hasn’t looked like it’s been firing on all cylinders it hasn’t mattered all that much with how well this team has limited their opponents. 

#2. Coquitlam Adanacs (10-2)

After a couple of hiccups early in the season the defending champions are rolling. In fact, the Adanacs have won four in a row by an average of 8.5 goals per game! That type of domination sends the message that the BCJALL is theirs to lose and it’s clear they aren’t satisfied with their title run from a season ago. They are defensively sound as always lead by the return of Ty Banks. In recent games the Adanacs are incredibly balanced on offense in terms of production. Currently flaunting four players with 40+ points, they share the ball very well. The biggest challenge for Coquitlam likely will be staying sharp and avoiding bad habits with what looks like a pretty clear path to the Minto on the horizon.

#3. Whitby Warriors (10-4)

Plenty of credit to the Warriors who after a bit of a slide got creative and addressed their needs between the pipes by going out and getting Tyden Redlick from the Edmonton Miners. Since arriving, Redlick has gone 2-0 with a 6.5 GAA and a 87.5 save percentage. Included in that is a big win in St. Catharines on Wednesday night. Everyone knows the Warriors can score, and to this day I will continue to say Lucas Littlejohn is the most under rated player in the country. A player who played a large role in their Minto Cup victory in 2022, he leads the charge. It will be about limiting the goals against for the Warriors so they don’t have to put up 11 every night just to win. It looks as though they’ve started to figure it out. 

#4. Six Nations Arrows (10-4)

In watching that game against Orangeville on Wednesday night the Arrows dictated much of that game. They just couldn’t finish a number of breakaways and point blank looks in the first half of the game and got burnt back the other way a few times in transition. The opportunistic nature of the Northmen was their undoing and that home loss was enough to drop them a couple spots this week. More east-west ball movement with a focus on off ball cuts may have really helped them against the tough defensive and goaltending tandem Orangeville presents. Instead they settled for too many perimeter looks. I’m very curious to see how they respond off this loss with a pretty favourable schedule down the stretch.

#5. Raiders Lacrosse Club (11-0)

The formula is pretty simple but very effective here. A tenacious, relentless defence, goaltenders that play positionally sound and don’t beat themselves, and an offence that has a number of pin point shooters from the perimeter. A lot like an analytical darling in basketball, they play excellent defence and hit their three’s at a very high rate. Much like Coquitlam, there doesn’t seem to be much in their way in terms of winning the province. Quality coaching will help with that. Part of me wonders if the Mountaineers might get aggressive and try to add 2-3 pieces to close the gap. Traditionally however that’s just not how they operate. The Raiders have already locked up the 1 seed in Alberta.

#6. Toronto Beaches (10-5)

Beaches represented Ontario the last time the Minto was hosted by the OJLL and they appear determined to return. Already boasting the country’s best player in Willem Firth they have added pieces around him to give Toronto the type of offence that can create chances almost at will and often hit double digits on the scoreboard. For the Beaches to get over the top in the playoffs though they will need the best that Saskatchewan Rush goaltender Thomas Kiazyk has to offer. While alarming that they just gave up ELEVEN goals in the third tonight to Burlington they at least still managed to win the game. I have always liked the energy this team brings to games and they will be a formidable opponent come playoff time. 

#7. St. Catharines Athletics (9-6)

The Minto hosts seem to be able to punch up going 3-1 combined against the Northmen and Arrows. That alone provides them a spot in the Top ten of these power rankings. Rawson should help an offence that can get bogged down at times and their could be more help on the way. The defence is solid but they can have a tough time getting the ball up the floor at times. There is no question this team can knock anyone off in a one game elimination type setting and they are going to be this year’s dark horse when it comes to the playoffs and national championship.

#8. Peterborough Lakers (7-7)

The Lakers seem to be in every game but have been falling to the countries best teams pretty consistently. When the Lakers offence is on its very difficult to deal with and they have some horses on that roster. The best news for the Lakers as they prepare to play the role of underdogs in the playoffs? Four of their final six games take place at home inside the Memorial Centre where they play their best ball. 

#9. Nanaimo Timbermen (6-4)

No team in the country has a more striking dichotomy in terms of home/road splits. While Nanaimo has yet to lose at home they also hadn’t won a single game on the road until this past Sunday at Queens Park against a struggling New West side.To further show that home/road discrepancy the Timbermen have displayed, they are a +28 at home and a -10 when traveling. Showing that they can win outside the confines of Frank Crane will be the biggest step in becoming a legitimate contender. However as they showed a couple weeks ago against their island rivals, they probably have the highest ceiling and most potential to push the Adanacs in the playoffs.The time is now for a team that graduates almost all of their key players.

#10. Victoria Shamrocks (8-4)

The Shamrocks appear to be a bit of an enigma but look to have found their stride in recent games. A dominant home win this week against Delta may be signs of things to come. I’m looking forward to seeing if they can grab some wins against Coquitlam and Nanaimo down the stretch to signal they are a real threat in BC. Victoria is a team that typically adds at the deadline and I’d expect them to supplement their roster in some form in the coming days. 

The playoff brackets are coming into focus and rosters are being finalized as we begin to go down the stretch of the regular season. You can find me on twitter at Mj_9 and on Instagram at m.jomha. As always, it’s been a pleasure talking lacrosse and until next time, enjoy the games. 

Check back next week for another edition of the National Jr. A Power Rankings!