Tuesday Morning Update

I'm going to steal a few items from other bloggers around the league... but they are nice items and I wanted to share.

Alan Caldwell did a quick study of winning percentage as it relates to the average age of the teams in the WHL. One would think that age would have a correlation to winning percentage (and for Seattle that is the case) where older teams have better records... There are however a few exceptions such as Vancouver and Tri City. I knew the Tbirds were a bit on the young side, I had no idea they were the 2nd youngest team in the league. This probably explains a lot about the inconsistency thus far.

http://smallatlarge.blogspot.com/2007/11/tuesday-notes.html

The numbers: (number in brackets after age and win% is league rank in that category)
Spokane: Avg age: 18.087 (7); Win%: 0.806 (1)
Vancouver: Avg age: 17.875 (19); Win%: 0.725 (2)
Tri-City: Avg age: 17.875 (18); Win%: 0.722 (3)
Medicine Hat: Avg age: 18.077 (11); Win%: 0.684 (4)
Swift Current: Avg age: 18.091 (5); Win%: 0.658 (5)
Regina: Avg age: 18.083 (8); Win%: 0.650 (6)
Moose Jaw: Avg age: 18.042 (14); Win%: 0.647 (7)
Calgary: Avg age: 18.08 (9); Win%: 0.625 (8)
Chilliwack: Avg age: 18.125 (3); Win%: 0.611 (9)
Brandon: Avg age: 18 (15); Win%: 0.605 (10)
Everett: Avg age: 18.217 (1); Win%: 0.588 (11)
Lethbridge: Avg age: 18.043 (12); Win%: 0.579 (12)
Seattle: Avg age: 17.826 (21); Win%: 0.567 (13)
Kelowna: Avg age: 17.783 (22); Win%: 0.529 (14)
Edmonton: Avg age: 18.19 (2); Win%: 0.528 (15)
Prince George: Avg age: 18.125 (4); Win%: 0.5 (16)
Kootenay: Avg age: 17.958 (16); Win%: 0.476 (17)
Kamloops: Avg age: 18.087 (6); Win%: 0.406 (18)
Prince Albert: Avg age: 18.043 (13); Win%: 0.368 (19)
Saskatoon: Avg age: 17.913 (17); Win%: 0.324 (20)
Red Deer: Avg age: 17.826 (20); Win%: 0.286 (21)
Portland: Avg age: 18.08 (10); Win%: 0.167 (22)

Also out today was the weekly WHL Rankings: Seattle was voted 13th which is also probably about right at this point. Rankings are courtesy of Gregg Drinnan http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com/2007/11/mondays-notes.html

The Western Major Junior Hockey Writers weekly rankings of WHL teams, showing last week’s ranking, first-place votes and total points (22 points for first-place vote, 21 for second and so on):

1. (2) Spokane Chiefs (15) 393
2. (1) Vancouver Giants (3) 378
3. (4) Tri-City Americans 360
4. (3) Medicine Hat Tigers 331
5. (6) Regina Pats 326
6. (8) Swift Current Broncos 297
7. (5) Calgary Hitmen 289
8. (9) Moose Jaw Warriors 255
9. (12) Brandon Wheat Kings 249
10. (11) Everett Silvertips 235
11. (7) Chilliwack Bruins 224
12. (13) Lethbridge Hurricanes 199
13. (10) Seattle Thunderbirds 196
14. (15) Kelowna Rockets 152
15. (18) Prince George Cougars 143
16. (16) Kootenay Ice 138
17. (17) Edmonton Oil Kings 105
18. (14) Kamloops Blazers 95
19. (19) Prince Albert Raiders 73
20. (21) Saskatoon Blades 57
21. (20) Red Deer Rebels 40
22. (22) Portland Winter Hawks 19

(Voters: Everett Herald, Seattle Times, Spokane Spokesman-Review, Chilliwack Progress, Kamloops Daily News, Kelowna Capital News, Kelowna Daily Courier, Kootenay NewsAdvertiser, Calgary Sun, Red Deer Advocate, Lethbridge Herald, Swift Current Prairie Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Prince Albert Daily Herald, Brandon Sun, Moose Jaw Times-Herald, Prince George Citizen, Medicine Hat News.)