In a game the Centennials absolutely had to have, the boys started strong, and found just enough energy to hold off a late onslaught to edge out the Warriors 4-2.
It was a game that, in a lot of ways, appeared to be the first game after a break, rather than the last game before a break. The first period presented its fair share of chances both ways, but they were more as a result of strange bounces, turnovers and broken plays than either team creating the chances. The game could have been a lot different had the Warriors capitalized just 15 seconds into the game, when Shawn Hochhausen took advantage of a turnover behind the Merritt goal and found himself with a point blank chance between the face-off circles, a snap shot that was stopped by the edge of Tyler Steel's glove and deflected over top of the goal (not the kind of shot any goalie wants to see as a warmup, especially 15 seconds into a game). After that save, the Cents managed to throw a bunch of shots towards the other net, and Steel didn't see a puck for well over 5 minutes after that, but provided that crucial early save. With the period winding down, Regan Soquila drove down the right wing, centered from the right corner to Evan Stack, who's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle was kicked out by Dwayne Rodrigue, right onto the stick of Dylan Chanter, who buried his first BCHL goal. This was a great storyline on this night, as Chanter had a rough night Friday vs Salmon Arm, but bounced back with a very solid overall game on Saturday. Through 20 minutes, the Cents led 1-0 with a comfortable 15-8 edge on the shot clock.
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| "Don't even think about giving that goal to anyone else... 7 all the way!" |
The Cents would add to their lead early in the 2nd with a dominant shift by the top line (who were great all night long) along with Pfeil and Wilcox on the back end, who were relentless in making sure the puck never left the Warriors zone... Wilcox and Pfeil both had a couple of blocked shots, but Pfeil stuck with it, got another shot on net, and Regan Soquila shoveled in the rebound. Though I don't think he had any clue that it was in, because his celebration was literally non-existant... no arms in the air, no fist pump, nothing. He just skated to the bench to high five his teammates and that was that. The top line would help extend the lead once again late in the 2nd, when Evan Stack drove the right wing and threw a perfect shot on goal from the top of the circle, forcing Rodrigue to kick it out with his right pad, landing right on the stick of Brayden Low at the bottom of the left circle, who one-time the puck off Rodrigue's pads to the back of the net for his first non-empty-net goal of the season, giving the Cents a very comfortable 3-0 lead. But keeping with the theme of the season, instead of running away with the game and cruising to a comfortable victory, the Cents were pushed to their limit. Tyler Steel looked so strong, that it seemed like nobody could beat him on this night, but with just over a minute left in the 2nd frame, a point shot deflected onto the stick of Max French to the ride of a sprawling Tyler Steel, and French, who has been scorching hot since coming back from injury (9 points, 7 goals in 9 games) shoveled the puck over Steel who was down and out, for his team-leading 12th goal of the season (having played 6 less games than Connor Dempsey who has 11 goals). So suddenly the Warriors had life, as it was 3-1 going into the 3rd. And the period didn't end without fireworks, as Brent Fletcher dropped the gloves with Warriors captain Izaak Berglund. After a bit of a standoff, Fletcher jumped in with 2 quick right-handers to take down Berglund, and the linesmen came in quickly to separate the two.
In that 3rd frame, the Cents had their fair share of chances to expand on the lead, but Dwayne Rodrigue was very good between the pipes for the Warriors, robbing Brandon Bruce point blank (2nd time that night) and holding down the fort for his team, giving them a chance. And the Warriors would take advantage, as midway through the 3rd, Brett McKinnon (who went down with what looked like a very serious right leg injury early in the 2nd period) shoveled a backhander towards the goal from the right circle, that deflected off of Garrett Skrbich and in, despite the fact that Steel got a big piece of the puck. Suddenly, a 3-0 lead was a 3-2 lead, and the heat was on. The Warriors could clearly smell blood, as they came on extremely hard and pushed the Cents against the ropes with great shifts in the offensive zone. As it turned out, the only power play for either team came to the Warriors (despite a missed high stick that cut open Evan Stack in the 2nd), and after coming close, their best chances came on the same shift just as the power play had expired, but Tyler Steel and his teammates did everything they could to keep the puck out, including Low having to glove the puck out of mid-air as it was bouncing towards the back of the net. The Cents were able to kill clock all the way until the final minute of the game. At that point, with less than a minute left, and a neutral zone face-off in the Merritt side of center, the Warriors decided to pull their goalie and go 6 on 5, but that quickly backfired, as Chad Brears won the face-off sideways for Billy Marshall, and this sniper of a dman threw the puck from his own blueline, dead center in the middle of the open net for his 10th goal of the season (tied for 3rd among dmen in goals) to ice the game for the Cents, 4-2.
It was great to see the Cents pull out a tough road victory at the end of a very busy schedule, that saw them play 8 games in a span of 15 days. It was also nice to see a classy salute at the end of the game to the fan bus on hand, a bus that comprised some of the most passionate and supportive fans in the Nicola Valley.
Westbank was a fitting place to wrap up the pre-Christmas schedule for the Centennials, as many of the players were picked up by friends and family to go home for the holidays to various locations around the Okanagan. Evan Stack and Chad Brears also left to the airport in Kelowna on their way back to Alberta for the holidays, along with trainer Kyla Knox who was headed home to Winnipeg. There were lots of holiday wishes, hugs and kisses (minus the kisses) as the guys parted ways, showing an obvious tightness and unity that has developed not only this year, but over the past 2 years for most of the players. The bus ride back home consisted of only 13 players, so there was lots of leg room, and it was a fun atmosphere heading back to Merritt for the holiday break.
Below is an audio montage of the game in Westside (something I'd like to make a tradition when time allows it, kind of like the Hockey Night in Canada Replay on CBC, but just audio, since I don't have video editing capabilities... the others will likely be much shorter), followed by an interview I conducted with Luke Pierce on the postgame show.
Cents Dec 17 highlights by agreb21
Luke Pierce postgame Dec 17 by agreb21
***Unfortunately, with Chilliwack and Prince George also winning on this night, the only thing this win did was allow the Cents to keep pace and hold onto their 2nd place standing. Fortunately for the Cents, the following day on Sunday, Vernon defeated Chilliwack (with a goal and an assist from Dylan Walchuk, who came back from college; bad news for everyone in the Interior) and Surrey defeated Prince George. So at the break, despite everyone chasing them having multiple games in hand, the Merritt Centennials are still able to maintain that all-important 2nd spot in the Interior Conference... and for the time being, home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The 2 games coming out of the break will no doubt be monumental, especially Friday, December 30th in Chilliwack.
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