PREVIEW: Westside @ Merritt

Merritt 18-10-2-4 (42 pts) - 2nd in Interior Conference

Westside 10-17-1-5 (26pts) - 7th in Interior Conference

Season Series: Merritt 2-1-0-1 officially, but without the reversed decision on Nov. 23, Merritt is 1-1-0-2

-first game out of the Christmas break for both teams, this will be a game that will test the holiday discipline... who ate more turkey? Who found the time to hit the gym or go for a jog once in a while? These questions will be answered for both teams, as every player on the ice will try and find their "groove" after nearly 2 weeks off

-both teams will likely be desperate for different reasons; Cents will look to re-establish an elite status and get some breathing room for 2nd and a playoff spot (they need to hold off the Chilliwack Chiefs and Vernon Vipers who are breathing down their neck for 2nd with games in hand)... after a run of 2 regulation losses in 17 games, Merritt finished their pre-Christmas schedule with an average 4-4-1 record in their last 9 / For Westside, they come into this game on a 3 game losing skid and winless in 4, and for them, the break couldn't have come at a better time. They needed to regroup and recharge, and officially have no room for error. Looking at the standings and making some quick projections, with the Warriors 9 points behind Vernon for the last playoff spot and 27 games remaining, they will likely need to win at least 20 of those to get into a playoff spot (need 47 points to match last season's 4th place total of 73 points)

-after almost 2 weeks off, both teams should be healthy and ready to go; Merritt should have Jakob Reichert back from an injury suffered at practice that forced him to miss the last weekend, and Richard Sabourin will be back after attending his sister's wedding during the last game in Westside. All the other bumps and bruises should have had time to heal. For Westside, they are expected to get their first view of newcomer David Pope, who was acquired in a recently trade that saw Richard Vanderhoek go to Cowichan Valley. Seb Lloyd is a big secondary scoring piece that's been missing for a while and should be almost ready, if not already, as well as Josh Monk, who is one of the best offensive dmen in the league, and who's absence has hurt the Warriors offense both even strength and especially on the power play.

-the Cents need to watch out for a couple of guys who could be real difference-makers for the Warriors in the 2nd half: the first is Max French, who scored his 7th goal and 9th point in 9 games against Merritt since coming back from injury. He's on a real tear. The other guy is Marcus Basara, who was acquired back from Okotoks of the AJHL for leading scorer Tyler Krause, and secured a scholarship just before the break to Alaska Fairbanks. Without that distraction, his potential might allow him to really take off down the stretch.

-This game might get heated. Like I mentioned, both teams are desperate for their own reasons, and this will be the 5th meeting of the season... the last one prior to the Christmas break got very physical and emotional... big hits and even a fight... with the smaller barn in Merritt, expect the intensity to go up that much more, and the passionate Merritt fans to get right into this game, both emotionally and vocally

-the goaltending matchup will be a repeat from Dec. 17: Tyler Steel vs Dwayne Rodrigue. Here are the full lineups:               
               
Merritt Centennials:
               
               
Regan Soquila (93)        Chad Brears (91)             Evan Stack (91)

Silvan Harper (92)        Brent Fletcher (92)           Jakob Reichert (93)

Dustin Lebrun (92)        Brandon Bruce (93)         Sean Maktaak (92)

Payton Schaefer (93)      Brayden Low (94)          Brendan Lamont (94)

               
                         Reece Willcox (94)            Brandon Pfeil (92)

                        Richard Sabourin (92)        Ross Mancuso (92)

                         Billy Marshall (91)              Dylan Chanter (95)
                                                      
                                              
                                              Tyler Steel (93)              
               
                                             Lino Chimienti (91)       

SCRATCHES:

Tyler Martin (93)


Westside Warriors:


Brett Mckinnon (92)    Shawn Hochhausen (92)      Reid Simmonds (93)     
                              
Travis Blanleil (94)        Connor Dempsey (92)        Dru Morrison (92)  
    
Devon Hascarl (93)        Max French (92)               Marcus Basara (93)  

David Pope (94)          Garrett Skrbich (93)             Brennan Clark (95)      

               
                     Izaak Berglund (91)        Peter Macintosh (91)
        
                       Klay Kachur (91)        Michael King (93)

                        Ben Betker (94)        Dustin Cave (94)
   
                                
                                     Dwayne Rodrigue (91)           
               
                                      James Leonard (93)             

SCRATCHES:

Josh Monk (92)
Seb Lloyd (94)