PREVIEW: Langley @ Merritt

Merritt 23-10-2-5 (53 pts) - 2nd in Interior
LAST GAME: 5-1 win over Chilliwack yesterday (won 5 in a row)

Langley 13-23-1-3 (30 pts) - 8th on the Coast (tied with Alberni Valley, but played 2 more games)
LAST GAME: 5-4 OT loss in Salmon Arm yesterday (lost 5 in a row, 2 in overtime)

-This is the first and only meeting of the season between these two "non-rivals"... considering there is no built-up hatred for each other and Langley has nothing to play for, you have to wonder how much passion there will be in this game on either side

-fatigue will be a factor for both teams, as both will be playing their 3rd game in 2 and a half days. Conditioning will be tested bigtime and we'll see who's in what shape as the game progresses.

-coming off 5 straight wins, the Cents will get a pretty good shot to extend this run to double digits, as their next 5 games (in 8 days) are all against against teams that are out of the playoffs, and Nanaimo will be the only team that is even above .500 on the coming schedule. The key for Merritt is to stay focused and motivated and not to allow themselves to relax thinking that these wins will fall into place on their own. It's easier said than done when you're playing a team for the only time in a season, but if Merritt can approach these games with the same mentality they did against Vernon and Chilliwack, they could build something magical here that will all but assure them a 2nd seed and home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs

-considering that Merritt has won 5 straight and Langley has lost 5 straight, the key for the Cents in this one is simply not to reverse momentum... they can't give the Rivermen any life, because every team loves the role of spoiler, and guys are still playing for scholarships and jobs next year. The Rivermen likely don't have much confidence right now, which the Cents will try to ensure with another quick start like the one against Chilliwack. If they can do that, Langley might just get demoralized and subconcsiously roll over, allowing Merritt to ride the cruise control for the 2 points

-Langley's biggest problem is defensively, where they average 4 goals against per game, and have averaged 6 against over the 5 game losing skid. This is a very young, inexperienced team that are learning on the fly, and the goaltenders haven't been good enough to bail them out. With that in mind, the Cents can help themselves by firing rubber from everywhere, because the 2 goaltenders (James Barr and Jim Kruger) are a little shell-shocked right now and likely fragile with their confidence. Meanwhile the Cents have gotten plenty of balanced scoring of late, so they have a lot of guys with confidence they can score goals right now

-Offensively, Langley averages well under 3 goals per game, which is worst in the Coastal Conference and 2nd worst overall in the league after Trail, but they do still have some weapons up front, including 20 goal scorer Mario Puskarich, set-up man Darnell Dyck and big-bodied Mike Tebbutt on the 1st line. There is some decent offense on the 2nd line as well, but a big drop-off from lines 3 and 4, and only 5 goals from their entire blueline combined. The Cents simply have much more depth, better defense/goaltending and better special teams

-amazingly, despite all these seemingly major differences, Darnell Dyck is the only point a game player for Langley, and Regan Soquila is the only point a game player for Merritt

-despite this similarity, Merritt is at the peak of their game right now and have opened up a double digit lead on the 2nd seed in the Interior Conference. With that in mind, and 1/3rd of the season left (20 games), the Cents are in a very luxurious situation where they basically have a couple of months to warm up and perfect their game come playoff time. And let's be honest, if they're ever looking at a 7 game series vs Penticton, they could use as much practice as possible. Right now might be the best, most convenient time to challenge them based on how the Cents are playing, but they'll first have to show their ability to win games that they should win, before getting an opportunity to knock off a team that nobody can picture losing another game at this point.

UPDATE: As expected, Lino Chimienti will get back in the crease for this matinee. Lino comes into this game having won 4 straight games, 2 of them shutouts, and another one where he gave up just 1 goal to Vernon. There are no other lineup changes from last night for Merritt, as Sean Maktaak remains out with a concussion. Everything seems to be working from every angle, so no need to mess with a good thing

Meanwhile, here's Langley's roster for this game:

Mario Puskarich (92)    Mike Tebbutt (92)       Darnell Dyck (91)
               
Derek Sutliffe (92)        Austin Plevy (94)         Chris Tracy (92)

Peter McMullen (93)    Evan Campbell (93)     Ben Greiner (93)        
               
Danny Vlanich (93)      Sebastien Pare (93)     Jackson Playfair (94)


                         Thomas Nitsche (92)        Ray Bell (93)

                       Richard Coyne (91)        Ryan Bakken (91)

                           Valik Chichkin (94)        Bo Pellah (95)

                                          Nicholas Gushue (94) 


                                             James Barr (93)
   
                                             Jim Kruger (92)   

SCRATCHES:

Scott Moyer (92) INJ

Opening face-off for this game is at 2:00 pm at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. I will have the pre-game show starting at 1:30 pm. You can tune in on Q101 FM in Merritt or online at Q101.ca