For the last few years the Chester Clippers have been the class of the Nova Scotia Junior C Hockey League.

 On January 2 the team extended that class nationwide by being ranked the best Junior C team in the country by http://leaguelineup.com/juniorhockey.

 The website ranks the nation's best junior teams by winning percentage. The Clippers have the best winning percentage in the country having won their first 20 games of the season.

 Team president and general manager Jehad Assaff said his team has worked very hard to get to this point and is honoured by the distinction.

 "Being ranked as the number 1 Junior C team in Canada is pretty special, obviously the fact that we are the only remaining undefeated team makes it seem pretty incredible and something to be proud of," he said. "It's really nice to see our players getting some recognition for their efforts. The players on our team give 100 per cent effort in every game regardless of the opponent and they never back off from playing hard at any point in the games and I believe that is why we have been so successful thus far."

 That said, the Clippers aren't about to take anything for granted.

 Last season another organization, the website Junior Hockey Rankings (http://www.juniorhockeyrankings.com), had named the Clippers the seventh-best team nationwide and the best in Nova Scotia by a wide margin.

 But that distinction didn't translate into a championship.

 "As I mentioned, any time you are ranked nationally, it is special," Mr. Assaff added. "Having said that, we still have a job to finish. The majority of the team are returning players from last season and they still have that bitter feeling of losing last year in the championship series, so the team is well aware of our past mistakes and the players are very committed to finishing this season off strong and if everything goes to plan, we will be Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canadian champions.

 "Being ranked first in the entire country is great motivation for our players. It gives them recognition for their previous accomplishments this season, and it also gives them added motivation and pressure to continue that strong performance that put them into the national rankings. Also, for most of the players, the motivation to continue to play hard is to take care of some unfinished business from last year."

 After 20 games the Clippers lead the league with a 20-0 record, good for 40 points. That's 14 more points than second-place Spryfield. The Clippers have also scored almost 100 more goals than their closest rival (192-93 over Spryfield) and have allowed more than 50 fewer goals (23 versus 79).

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 The next Clippers home game is scheduled for January 14 at 7 p.m. in Chester.

posted on 01/11/12