PREVIEW: Merritt @ Vernon

Merritt 20-10-2-5 (47 pts) - 2nd in Interior
LAST GAME: 7-4 win over Salmon Arm last night (now won 2 in a row)

Vernon 17-15-1-2 (37 pts) - 5th in Interior (3 points back of 4th place Chilliwack for a playoff spot)
LAST GAME: 4-3 loss to Victoria last night (now lost 2 in a row)

Season Series: Merritt 1-0-1-1 (points in every game, but it's been a really tight series... every game was decided by 1 goal if you discount the last game, a 2-0 Merritt win on Dec. 3 which came with an empty netter... Merritt has outscored Vernon by the slimmest of margins by a total of 8-7... expect this one to go the wire)

-Cents cap off a 3 game road trip tonight before embarking on a 4-game home stand

-no longer can we talk about "road woes" for Merritt, and the conversations about "rink size" can also take a back seat for now. The Cents have won 4 straight road games, and now boast the 2nd best road record in the Interior, 3rd best overall in the league (huge key come playoff time that can give Merritt the edge). Merritt's got 20 win, and they're split up evenly: 10 at home, and 10 on the road

-the Cents will look for their first post-Christmas-break "full 60 minute" game. Even though they're 2-0-0-1 in the 3 games out of the break, there have been lapses in every game and various issues to address each night. But when you're winning and picking up points "with" a few issues, it's a good sign of what can be accomplished once the kinks are ironed out

-offensively, Merritt did just about all you could ask of them yesterday... 45 shots, 7 different goal scorers, every line with at least 1 goal... it will take a similar effort at both ends of the ice against the Vipers, who never take a shift off and usually have 4 lines that come at you in waves. Salmon Arm didn't look too interested in many parts of last night's game, but you can bet the Vipers will be more than interested, and will likely come out flying out of the gate like an angry hornets nest

-the Vipers are easily the more desperate team right now, with much more to prove, so expect them to play with desperation off the opening face-off. It might be a tough adjustment for Merritt after having a relatively easy time against Salmon Arm yesterday. The key for the Cents will be to survive the probable early onslaught and get a couple of big stops from Lino Chimienti to keep them in it. If the Cents can keep it tied through 20, I would expect them to complete the adjustment, find the urgency they'll need and get steadily better as the game wears on.

-the Cents will be helped out by some significant Viper injuries. Vernon has easily had the worst luck, at least in the Interior Conference, when it comes to injuries this year (I think Westside is a close 2nd), and it has hurt both teams in the standings. Vernon is still missing their captain Patrick McGillis, best offensive defenseman in Luke Juha, and now are without the services of newly acquired sniper Ben Gamache and Viper veteran John Knisley. These are big shoes to fill and won't be easy for any affiliate that tries. I don't have Vernon's lineup for tonight, but I believe all 4 will be out of action for a bit still.

-the Vipers do have 2 new bodies in the lineup, one of which is an old body... Dylan Walchuk, who earned a scholarship to Northern Michigan with an outstanding season last year, he has now left the University to rejoin the Vipers. Now earlier last year, he was involved in allegations of bike theft at the University (along with other former BCHL'ers, including former Cents' Jake Baker and Ryan Aynsley). I'm not sure if him coming back is related to that incident or not, but the fact remains, he is a scary weapon, and is capable of much more than the 1 goal and 5 points he has so far through his first 5 games back. The other new body is defenseman Sean Robertson, who has spent his entire BCHL career in Victoria up till now. The Vipers have not received very much offense from the blueline at all this season, with a total of just 5 goals among all their dmen. Sean Robertson came in with 5 goals of his own and 22 points, so he will be a constant on the power play and provides a weapon that the Snakes never had up till now. Though he's gotten off to a bit of a slow start with the Vipes so far, with just 2 assists over his first 6 games.

-Merritt has been quite fortunate with a lack of injuries themselves this season, and the guys that did get injured did not stay out longterm. However, the hockey gods have caught up to Merritt, as the Cents might be without Sean Maktaak for quite some time. He took a vicious head to the head in last night's game from Salmon Arm defenseman Taylor Love when trying to cut into the slot, and never came back to the game. He is out tonight with what I assume is a concussion (hasn't been confirmed), and will likely be re-evaluated over the course of the week ahead, as the Cents don't play again until Friday

*So the lineup for Merritt changes a bit tonight with Sean Maktaak coming out and Ross Mancuso drawing back in after sitting 2 games. He'll be paired with Billy Marshall, and Dylan Chanter will be the 7th "roaming" defenseman if you will. With the 3rd line having a hole, I suspect that Chanter might get another chance to play up front as he did earlier this season. Lino Chimienti will get his 3rd straight start tonight and see action for the 4th straight game after coming in relief of Tyler Steel in the first game after the Christmas break against the Warriors. It might be a bit of a surprise, and perhaps a first this season that Luke Pierce does not flip-flop goalies on back to back games, but Luke indicated on the post-game show yesterday that the reason Tyler is not playing in his hometown today as some would expect is because of an off-ice issue that the team is keeping confidential. But it's not because of a poor outing against Westside, and not because of injury. So that's good news, and I would expect Tyler to have a big-game when he does finally get in, most likely back home against Vernon on Friday (he did, after all, shut them out in the last meeting, that 2-0 win on home ice back on Dec 3rd)

Face-off: 7:00pm / Pre-game show: 6:30pm on Q101 FM in Merritt and online at Q101.ca