BROOKLYN HARBOR RATS

At the halfway point of the year the leading team in the Craig Conference is the Brooklyn Harbor Rats. They lead the conference with 57 points and 26 wins. Right behind them with 26 wins also is the Antioch Crusaders. Taking a closer look at Brooklyn it is odd to see their leading scorers do not come close to a point a game.

They are lead offensively by Brad Richards and Jarome Iginla. Oddly each has only 28 points in 41 games. Hardly the offensive dynamo you expect when you see a conference leading club. Third in team scoring is offensive dman Marek Zidlicky. Joe Pavelski is their leading goal scorer with 16, followed by Iginla with 14, Mike Cammaleri with 13, and Richards with 12.

So if it is not offense that is propelling this machine is must be defense. Closer inspection sees that Tim Thomas has a whopping .943 save percentage and backup Antero Niitymaki is at 0.912. That would explain the lead in the conference. Both goaltenders share the duties and each has 13 wins. To support their goaltenders Marek Zidlicky has an 8.2 defense rating, followed by Shea Weber's 7.9 and Jay McKee's 7.1. Looks like if this team is to win their conference and advance to the finals, defense will come first.

Tim Thomas looks like the key to the Rats wins.

Rats point leader Mike Richards

Rats goal scoring leader