Tuesday notes

Another light day news-wise, it seems.

Story in the Vancouver paper about Evan Pighin joining the Bruins. Sounds like he will be stepping right onto the top line there with Santorelli and Moller, which means we should fairly soon see him eclipse his point totals (3g-8a) from last year in Red Deer. Considering the Rebels gave him up for basically nothing during the summer, this is another deal (like the Poulter one) which is probably rather quickly going to look bad on Brent Sutter.

After a frustrating injury-plagued start to his WHL career, Giants defenceman Stefan Schneider finally got to make his WHL debut on Sunday.

The Rebels think they may have a lucky Penny. (Bad joke, I know).

As promised, a look at the average age of each team, compared to their winning percentage. Usually you would expect older teams to be higher in the standings, and younger teams lower. Obviously this isn't a hard-and-fast rule since quality of the players is more important than their age, but typically the best players in the league are older ones and so older rosters should be expected to do better, on average.

The numbers: (number in brackets after age and win% is league rank in that category)

Spokane: Avg age: 18.087 (T-6); Win%: 0.806 (1)
Vancouver: Avg age: 17.875 (T-18); Win%: 0.725 (2)
Tri-City: Avg age: 17.875 (T-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 (T-9); Win%: 0.625 (8)
Chilliwack: Avg age: 18.125 (T-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 (T-12); Win%: 0.579 (12)
Seattle: Avg age: 17.826 (T-20); 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 (T-3); Win%: 0.5 (16)
Kootenay: Avg age: 17.958 (16); Win%: 0.476 (17)
Kamloops: Avg age: 18.087 (T-6); Win%: 0.406 (18)
Prince Albert: Avg age: 18.043 (T-12); Win%: 0.368 (19)
Saskatoon: Avg age: 17.913 (17); Win%: 0.324 (20)
Red Deer: Avg age: 17.826 (T-20); Win%: 0.286 (21)
Portland: Avg age: 18.08 (T-9); Win%: 0.167 (22)

You have to be impressed by the performance of teams like Vancouver and Tri-City, who are 2nd and 3rd in the league in the standings despite being in the top-five youngest rosters as well. Conversely, teams like Kamloops and Prince George are amongst the older rosters in the league but find themselves at the bottom of the standings. And despite being an expansion team, Edmonton is actually the 2nd-oldest team in the league....which explains their modest success so far this year.