BCHL Team Reports
March 08, 2012
BY BRENT MUTIS /
There may be a bit more jockeying for position amongst the playoff-bound clubs, but as of this writing, seven of the eight teams were known. Vernon had an outside chance as of March 6 but a loss to Chilliwack would have finished them. Here is a look at the teams destined for the BCHL’s second season.
Coastal Conference
Surrey Eagles
With one game remaining on their calendar, Matt Erhart’s crew held a three-point edge over the Powell River Kings but the Kings had two games in hand. It’s conceivable the Eagles might be bumped from the top of the standings but if all remained as it was in the first week of March, Eagles would be preparing for a first-round meeting with the Coquitlam Express. If that were to happen, it would be the second straight year the two clubs meet in the first round but the Express are vastly improved from the team that was swept in four games by the Eagles last season.
Powell River Kings
Finishing up the schedule with three straight road games, the Kings don’t have the easiest of paths to wrap up the regular season. But each of the games is against a team lower than them in the standings including one against the plummeting Victoria Grizzlies who had gone 2-8 in their last 10. The other two contests are against an able Nanaimo Clippers club but back-to-back wins over Surrey recently seems to indicate the Kings are in top form right now. Deadline pickup Teal Burns gives the team a third point-per-game player in addition to Cohen Adair and Evan Richardson.
Cowichan Valley Capitals
The return of team MVP candidate Matt Brown righted things for the Caps in early February and the Duncan-based club has been as hot as anyone in the Coastal Conference with an 8-2 mark in their last 10 games. A first-round meeting with the Kings wouldn’t be ideal as Powell River went 5-1-1 against the Caps in the regular season but Cowichan Valley won the most recent meeting of the two teams, 3-2 on March 2.
Coquitlam Express
As hot as the Express have been, 8-2 in a recent 10-game stretch, they haven’t gained on Cowichan Valley who posted an identical mark over the same time span. Captain Alex Petan has been at his best down the stretch with 16 points in his last eight games. Meeting Surrey in the first round wouldn’t intimidate the Express as they fashioned a 3-2-2 mark against them in the regular season.
interior Conference
Penticton Vees
The story about The Streak is well known by now with the Vees going for their 41st consecutive win March 6 against Trail. The injury to Connor Reilly, who had led the club in scoring much of the year, is a blow but Fred Harbinson knows his team has the depth to compensate for that. No team will be eager to face them in the playoffs but it would be interesting to see the Vees response should someone defeat them once or twice as part of a seven-game series.
Merritt Centennials
It appears destined that the Cents will face the Prince George Spruce Kings in the opening round of the playoffs as the teams were tied with 70 points apiece as of March 6. The only thing to be decided is who would finish second behind Penticton and thereby have home ice advantage in the opening round. The Cents have a favourable finish to the regular season with two games against Trail and one against Salmon Arm.
Prince George Spruce Kings
A 7-3 mark over a recent 10-game span has alA 7-3 mark over a recent 10-game span has allowed them to catch up with Merritt but the Cents have a game in hand on PG. The Spruce Kings only two remaining games are against the Penticton Vees so they shouldn’t count on accumulating many more points in the standings. The Spruce Kings finish up at home though and have an 18-9-0-1 mark at Prince George Coliseum. PG has a 2-4-1 mark against Merritt this season but has not played them since Dec. 9.
*Chilliwack Chiefs
A win over the Vernon Vipers March 6 will have vanquished the Snakes but Vernon came up with a 7-3 win over Prince George on March 4 which was their first win-or-die game of the season. Forward Kody Dhaliwal has done an outstanding job as a fill-in defenceman on Harvey Smyl’s blueline but the preference would be to have captain Tyler Miller back in the lineup to perform his normal role as shut-down specialist.
*Vernon Vipers
The Snakes looked like a good bet to sneak into the playoffs when they acquired veterans Colton Cyr, Sean Robertson and Ben Gamache and got captain Patrick McGillis back from injury in the second half of the season but after a 4-0 start to February, they’ve gone 3-6 since.
*Not guaranteed playoff spots as of March 6
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