After 21 games in 7 short months, the 2023/24 regular season is quickly behind us. There were some exciting moments along the way, and some big individual and team races not decided until the final week of the season, keeping fan attendance up all year long. Most importantly though, I just hope everyone had fun and no feelings were hurt. Speaking of hurt feelings, here is the year-end edition of the NBC power rankings.
Team | Status |
 RANK 1st (↑1) 14-4-3 | Treetops looks to have sparked another one when the calendar rolled over to ‘24, as they are one of the hottest teams in the league since the Christmas break. Going 6-1-2 down the stretch, this team is riding an offence that’s scoring almost 6 goals a game through their last 9. This heater is being powered by offence, as Treetops boasts the 3 highest scoring players since Christmas, with Fletch, Kevin Moon, and Ryan Grayson combining for 59 points over that time. Despite a rough patch before Christmas, this squad has still managed to score almost 45 more goals than the next closest team this season. That’s more goals than Jeff Parsons has scored in his entire NBC career! With all that offensive firepower, and the regular season title in the bag, one thing is certain: this will be the first team eliminated from the playoffs. |
 2nd (↑5) 13-6-2 | TIGGS has been climbing the standings steadily since this season began, finishing 4-2-3 after the Christmas break to secure a playoff spot. Their games have been tight this year, as they scored the fewest goals in the league, barely half of what Treetops registered. However, this squad was also able to keep most opponent’s offenses in check, primarily through a tactic their defense likes to refer to as “aggressive stick checking.” The methods employed by Todd Cadenhead, Mike Mowry, and Jared Lightfoot on defense may not be approved by everyone, but the bruises on opposing forwards indicate it works. Aiding the TIGGS team in their own end has been the steady play of Ben Walmsley, once again finishing in a podium position in the Vezina race. While one can’t be certain, you have to think the consistency in his results is directly related to the volume of his vocal commentary on the faceoff plans of opposing centermen. |
 3 (↑1) 13-6-2 | Carsey Trucking is skidding into the playoffs, with onlookers unsure what to expect. While they managed to secure the highly desirable second seed, their offense has been inconsistent at best. Prior to the regular season finale when Bobby Raine generously gave up a 10 spot, they were scoring only 2 goals per game in 2024. Coach Carsey will need to take control, as he does so often, to get this team pointed in the right direction. Carsey’s first step to bolstering his squad can be found at Foodland in the dairy section, as Motor’s picture has been printed on the side of all milk cartons. Carsey must be hoping Motor surfaces soon, and somehow can regain the form he demonstrated the last time he laced them up (over 3 months ago) if this team is going to have any chance at making a deep playoff run. Carsey may have thought that a hot goaltender could carry this team on playoff weekend, but recent results suggest that may no longer be an option for this team. |
 4 (↓1) 8-10-3 | This team must be a leading contender for the biggest disappointment of the season. Their roster is equipped with a couple of try hards, a decent D core, and the best ringette player this league has ever produced. Richard Kaszarowski would tell you that should add up to a pile of wins, but evidently math is not his strong suit. This group finished the season below 0.500, which certainly isn’t what coach Agar was hoping for in his first season as a Reg Dunlop wannabe. The only glimmer of hope they may have come playoff time is the experience they can lean on to make big plays in key moments. Not the type to concern themselves with regular season statistics, clearly, Gord DeJong, Bob Corbeil, and Dave Metcalfe will have you lining up for a face off at center ice every time, if opposing teams dare leave them alone in front of the net. Look for big numbers from those 3 in the post season, you heard it here first. |
 5 (-) 9-11-1 | The Mortgage Teacher has struggled to make themselves relevant this season, meandering their way to a sub 0.500 season. They lacked any real sense of urgency to push for the playoffs, as they were only 4-5-0 in 2024. Putting up 3 goals per game, while giving up 4 is generally not the formula for success at this level of hockey, but that has been their calling card all year, and it seems unlikely to expect it to change in the post season. The only hope this team has would be to finally get some production out of Brian Pope, Seth Lightfoot, Mike Mullis, and the Berdanimal himself. This group of NBC veterans has combined for an embarrassingly low 12 goals this season (that’s over 84 man games), only managing to net 3 of them since the Christmas break. This, on a team that got to face Erik Cochrane and Trent Wellar at least 3 times each. That type of production just isn’t good enough and look for them to make an early exit from the playoffs if they can’t figure out how to light the lamp a little more often. |
 6 (↓5) 11-7-3 | Brandon Haasen is running this team like his day-to-day business, and clearly he knows how to dig himself a hole. Blue-Con went 2-5-2 in 2024, mustering less than 2 goals per game over their final 9. The lack of wins is directly tied to the performance of some of their “top” players; Stratton, Battin, Barons, and Haasen himself who have combined for grand total of just 3 goals this calendar year. Perhaps the real reason Josh Millar came up short in the scoring race was that he just got too tired of playing with himself…or by himself. Either way, only 2 players on the squad aside from Miller were able to register double digit points on the season, which is worst in the league. Despite their offensive struggles, this team is still in a great position heading into the playoffs, as some outsiders believe they may have the necessary pieces on their roster to have a good shot at winning the banquet. Only time will tell. |
 7 (↑1) 8-13-0 | Justin Graham has been disappointing more than just his wife this year, as APC has also seen his shortcomings on display all season long. Last year’s scoring champ barely cracked the top 20 this year, which obviously was a big letdown for this group of finely tuned athletes. In fact, Justin’s year was so bad that his stats for the entire season would barely get him in the top 3, even if you throw out everyone else’s points from before Christmas. And speaking of people this team couldn’t rely on, Erik Cochrane is their goalie. It may come as a shock to people who have just started playing Sunday mornings this year, but there was actually a period of time this season when Erik had not given up the most goals in the league. Word is that Troy Glover has been trying to boost APC’s playoff chances, scrambling to sign both of Erik’s kids up for out-of-town tournaments on playoff weekend. |
 8 (↓2) 5-12-3 | Assurance Home Health care should probably look at pulling the plug and ending their miserable season now. This team has been on life support all year, finishing with just 5 wins, only 1 of those coming after Christmas. The only impressive thing this team has done this campaign was to convince a guy with a half visor to play goalie. While Dave Grayson may sponsor this team, you can’t possibly believe he should be one of their leaders in anything other than penalty minutes, Jaeger bombs taken, and extra friendly gestures offered in the bar. While Curtis Scholten has a track record of producing in the playoffs, Tyler Jeffries tends to shrink under the bright lights, so the depth on this team will be called on to give them a chance. However, 10 players on this team have scored one goal or less since Christmas, which makes you wonder if they have the ability to turn it on now, or at all. If they can’t, they could be out early. |
That’s it for this season, and our year end edition of the power rankings. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs, and don’t forget to be nice to the referees!
