Now less than four weeks away from the dance, the field has started to narrow significantly. While there have been a couple intriguing series so far, the teams who were supposed to win have mostly just rolled. Of the eight opening round series, FIVE were sweeps and if the Mountaineers beat the Miners at home Friday night that will have finished in five games.
Meanwhile in BC, Coquitlam continues to glide through as the island teams battle for the right to challenge them in the BCJALL finals. And out East Orangeville continues to smother people and Whitby pulls a big Game One upset on the road at Beaches. So how does it all shake up as we near the end of July?
Welcome to another edition of the Jr. A Power Rankings!
#1. Orangeville Northmen
Poised and patient would be the best way to describe this year’s Northmen team. Not flashy but extremely consistent they continue to be too much for opponents over sixty minutes. It also helps having one of the very best in the country in Liam Matthews to go to in key moments of games. To me the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s team is the goaltending. Evan Constantopolous is an imposing figure between the pipes and he looks as though he gets in the heads of shooters at times. Assisting him is a Orangeville defence that also looks better than it did a season ago, a unit that doesn’t allow much access to the middle of the floor or across the crease. That compact and composed type of play makes them the favourite as we hit late July.
#2. Coquitlam Adanacs
The Adanacs swept the Delta Islanders, who I don’t think even planned on being in this year’s four team BC playoff field after selling off a little bit at the deadline. The Adanac defence continues to be its calling card holding the Islanders to 17 goals over the course of the four games. For those who don’t enjoy Math, that’s just a fraction over four goals/game allowed. Jaxon Dillon has been putting up monster levels of production and when his outside shot is on it opens up so much more for his teammates as well, as the defence is forced to step further out. The Adanacs should be rested and prepared for whoever prevails on the island in what has been a hard fought series between the Timbermen and Shamrocks.
#3. Toronto Beaches
Without being able to actually see Game One it would appear Toronto was not quite ready for the step up in class from their first round series with Mimico. Compare their situation to Whitby who was fresh off being pushed to the brink by a St. Catharines team who had them down 2-1 in their best-of-five before coming back. A big game by mid season acquisition Tyden Redlick in between the pipes held a potent Beaches offence to three markers. The Beaches rebounded nicely last night, taking a 6-5 contest in overtime to bring the series back even.
#4. Whitby Warriors
Copy and paste much of what I said above regarding Beaches and their current OJLL semi-final with the Warriors. Whitby showed a lot of composure in round one after falling down to St. Catharines 2-1. Whitby has some real size on their offence and do a wonderful job of getting to the inside of the floor in the two man game and with slip picks. With the likes of Lucas Littlejohn and Nolan Byrne, this offence has been elite all season. Now that they’ve drastically cut down on their goals against they have become a true threat to not only make the Minto but bring the ultimate prize home in August.
#5. Raiders Lacrosse Club
The first round felt like a formality as the Raiders look to sharpen up for what should be a better RMLL final than I think most people suspect. At times it seemed the Raiders were bored and not firing on all cylinders in this series as the SWAT hung around for long stretches. Now it will really ratchet up for the boys in red and I expect their game to follow.
There are two elements to this team that will keep them in almost every game they play and that is their pin point perimeter shooting along with their athletic aggressive defence. There are plenty of guys on this team with longer wingspans which really comes into play when talking about getting leverage when shooting, on loose balls, and getting into shooting lanes defensively. Ultimately it’s the balance of this roster that make them the favourite to represent Alberta.
#6. Peterborough Lakers
I expected the Lakers to have a better fastball to offer the Northmen and that just hasn’t been the case so far in their OJLL semi-final series, currently down 2-0 in a pair of games controlled by Orangeville. The biggest issue right now for the Lakers is the commitment and willingness to open up space inside. With the shear size of Constantopolous and the disciplined nature of the Northmen defence relying on shots from 30-40 feet out isn’t going to work out. I would imagine a Peterborough defence with plenty of size and athleticism will try to increase their levels of physicality and intensity as they try to deal with slippery players like Matthews, Deere, Krueger and Sanderson.
#7. St. Catharines Athletics
Their playoff run is done but the Athletics still have the Minto to prepare for as hosts. They didn’t go quietly into the night either as they fell in the fifth and deciding game on the road at Whitby despite a late rally. Chuck Rawson is a baller and the level to which all the additions fit together will largely determine what level of damage St. Catharines can do at this year’s Minto. One thing I will say I’m still not sure what the identity of this team is or what they want it to be. I think we will learn a lot more about this team come their first game or two at this year’s national championship.
#8. Victoria Shamrocks
What a ‘ice in the veins’ win Monday night in Nanaimo. Down 7-6 and in danger of falling down 3-1 in the series, the Shamrocks got two late tallies to pull the game out and even the series. Now up 3-2 Victoria has enjoyed superior goaltending from Grayson Manning, as the University of Denver netminder has had a breakout campaign. Another attribute of this team that stands out is their perimeter shooting where multiple guys including Carter Quested can burn you. If they do advance, they’ll need to have more of an ability to get inside off ball and their special teams to stand out.
#9. Nanaimo Timbermen
Built on veteran talent out the front gate, Nanaimo may have had the series slip through their fingers at home in the always important swing game that is game four. Now they’ll have to win consecutive games to salvage the season and their Minto hopes. It was almost like the heart break of game four resulted in two losses as they did not come out with much urgency in game five, a resounding 13-4 victory for the Shamrocks. The good news for Nanaimo, game six is back home inside Frank Crane where they’ve been dominant all season. Can the law firm of Bowman and Boas lead the charge to extend the hopes of a team that’s all in for 2025? Saturday afternoon should be a great watch.
#10. Calgary Mountaineers
The Mountaineers aggressive defence has served then well for the most part this season until they hit these sections of games where they seem to take their foot off the pedal. In each game of their RMLL semi final the Mountaineers have been up 3-6 goals only to give it back and have to expend that extra amount of energy to just win those games. Early last Sunday, it caught up to them and they were extended to game five by the Miners (who side note deserve some credit for the resilience they’ve shown in this series despite being down 3-1). Dexter Hannigan has been an absolute problem including in a game three where he went off for SIX markers in Edmonton. Now the Miners have pushed back it will be fascinating to see what type of game we get on Friday night from Stu Peppard in Calgary. One more win for Edmonton and all the pressure shifts back onto Calgary. Don’t miss it, 8:00 Mountain Friday Night!
As we get closer to naming the field and the final four that will attend this year’s Minto Cup the battle for each league title is heating up. Make sure you’re getting out to these arenas to take it all in and as always if you can’t make it out, jump on a stream! Thanks for taking the time to read another edition of the Jr A Power Rankings.