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| LET THE WAR BEGIN! (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald) |
Merritt vs Penticton Round 2 Game 1 Intro by agreb21
The Interior Conference Final starts Tuesday night in Penticton with Game 1. Face-off is at 7pm. Q101 pre-game show starts at 6:30pm. You can also tune in online at Q101.ca or on the BCHL fanzone through BCHL.ca
INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION: Back in 2000-2001, the Centennials finished the regular season with just 30 wins and 29 points behind the Penticton Vees (featuring current NHL'ers Duncan Keith and Chuck Kobasew). They swept the first round vs Prince George (notice the parallel yet?) and then went on to sweep the heavily-favoured Penticton Vees in the Interior Final, en-route to a heartbreaking game 7 loss in Victoria in the Fred Page Cup finals. Deja-vu? The fans sure hope so, this time with a different outcome in "the final game."
No, it wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody predicted Merritt to have the kind of regular season they had, to set the records they set, and certainly nobody expected them to dismantle the Spruce Kings in 4 straight games the way that they did. But... it happened! So I think the doubters and the critics have been silenced for now, and are all, along with the rest of the BCHL, eagerly awaiting and anticipating what could be a legendary Interior Final between the 1st and 2nd best team in the Interior Conference.
Now on paper, there's simply no denying it. This is a big mismatch and Merritt will come in as big of an underdog as anyone else would in a 7 game series with Penticton, where the Vees have up to 4 games at home. Penticton finished the regular season 34 points ahead of Merritt. In a normal season, there might not be that much differential between a 1st place team and a last place team in the conference, but this season is far from a "normal" season. For all the personal franchise milestones that Merritt set, the Vees garnered national media attention for eclipsing any and every record you could dig up. Their 54-4-0-2 record marked the best season in BCHL history, which was highlighted by a national record 42 game winning streak and a BCHL record 21 straight road wins.
Now let's see... the Vees averaged a league-best 5.6 goals per game and a 2nd-best 2.2 goals against per game. They had 7 of the top 9 scorers in the league (9 of the top 15). They have a league-best 15 scholarships (3/4 of the team), including to their 3 NHL draft picks; Mario Lucia, Steven Fogarty and Mike Reilly. Not to mention the goaltender with the best GAA and SV% in the league, Michael Garteig. But that's where this series might have a twist...
The Penticton Vees were dealt a couple of significant injury blows late in the season, with then-leading scorer Connor Reilly suffering a season-ending reported knee injury, and starting goaltender Michael Garteig suffering what was reported to be a high ankle sprain. When I last spoke to Vees coach Fred Harbinson on March 1st, the indication was that Garteig should be back for game 1 of the playoffs. But the reality is, not only did he not play a single game, he wasn't even healthy enough to suit up as a backup. So his regular backup Chad Katunar got the call. And despite a shaky start to the series, Katunar really came on and had a heck of a finish, culminating in a 4-0 shutout in game 6 to defeat the Chilliwack Chiefs 4 games to 2. But make no mistake, despite Katunar's impressive playoff numbers, he is no Michael Garteig. Katunar is expected to start the series in goal, with Garteig still listed as "day-to-day", but if Garteig can't play at all in this series, that could play a big factor, and you'll see that in the numbers breakdown further down below.
For the Merritt Centennials, they finished the regular season averaging 3.2 goals per game, which was tied with Chilliwack for the lowest among playoff teams. They know coming in that they are heavily outskilled on paper. After all, their leading scorer, Regan Soquila (70pts) would be 10th on the Vees in scoring. How's that for a wake-up? But come the playoffs, that "paper" only means so much.
In round 1, the Centennials boasted some of the most impressive numbers in all facets of the game, and with 7 wins in a row dating back to the regular season, they are not only hotter than the Vees (who have lost 3 of their last 7), but they are the hottest team in the league. They've averaged the 2nd most goals per game in the playoffs (3.5 vs Surrey's 3.6) and have averaged the least goals against of anyone (1.5). They have the best power play and the best penalty kill, as well as the best goaltender (Chimienti) through the first round.
With all that said, the Centennials know they aren't going to win by trying to compete in a run-and-gun style. This series will be all about slowing down the pace for Merritt and grinding it down; playing physical (but smart and disciplined), getting some big, timely saves, and scoring that big, clutch goal that they had trouble scoring in the 8-game season series.
The numbers side by side don't look pretty for Merritt, but if you're a glass half-full individual, look at it this way: in 8 games, 3 of them went to overtime and the last meeting of the season was a one-goal game as well (5-3 loss with an empty netter). So realistically, half of those games could have gone either way, and it proves that the Centennials can stay competitive with the high-flying Vees.
REGULAR SEASON
MERRITT:
34-18-2-6 (76pts)
Goals For: 194 (3.2 per game)
Goals Against: 171 (2.9 per game)
Power Play: 18.3% (13th)
Penalty Kill: 79.6% (9th)
PENTICTON:
54-4-0-2 (110pts)
Goals For: 334 (5.6 per game)
Goals Against: 133 (2.2 per game)
Power Play: 31.4% (1st)
Penalty Kill: 85.8% (1st)
PLAYOFFS
MERRITT:
4-0
Goals For: 14 (3.5 per game)
Goals Against: 6 (1.5 per game)
Power Play: 26.7% (1st)
Penalty Kill: 92.9% (1st)
Lino Chimienti: 4-0, 1.47 GAA, .949 SV%
PENTICTON:
4-2
Goals For: 20 (3.3 per game)
Goals Against: 10 (1.7 per game)
Power Play: 16.7% (5th)
Penalty Kill: 88.9% (3rd)
Chad Katunar: 4-2, 1.64 GAA, .936 SV%
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Merritt: 1-5-0-2 (4pts)
Penticton: 7-0-0-1 (15pts)
Penticton outscored Merritt 37-14 (average of 4.6 to 1.75 goals per game)
Merritt PP: 4 for 35 (11.4%)
Penticton PP: 16 for 42 (38.1%)
Merritt PK: 26 for 42 (61.9%)
Penticton PK: 31 for 35 (88.6%)
Merritt Goaltending:
Lino Chimienti- 0-4-0-1, 5.33 GAA, .843 SV%
Tyler Steel- 1-1-0-1, 2.65 GAA, .925 SV%
Penticton Goaltending:
Michael Garteig- 6-0-0-1, 1.33 GAA, .957 SV% (only loss was a 3-2 OTL on Nov. 5, giving up just 1 goal on 18 shots after taking over for Katunar starting in the 2nd period)
Chad Katunar- 1-0-0-0, 3.75 GAA, .891 SV% (5-3 win in Merritt Mar 1; before that 10 saves on 12 shots in the 1st period on Nov. 5; overall stopped 41 of 46 shots)
MERRITT'S KEYS TO THE SERIES
1) SUCCESS AT THE SOEC
This is just a fact that can't be avoided. However it will be the toughest challenge of the series for Merritt. The Vees had a basically flawless regular season at home, winning 29 games and dropping just one, in overtime, to Merritt, back on Nov. 5. However, it's noteworthy that they had 5 of their top players out of the lineup that night (at the World Junior A Challenge) and played with 5 AP's. Nobody else has even taken a single point from the South Okanagan Events Centre (Merritt did have another one in an earlier 5-4 OT loss). The only other game the Vees have lost at home was in the playoffs, also in overtime, a 3-2 loss in game 2 vs the Chilliwack Chiefs. In the 4 head-to-head meetings in Merritt, the Vees won all of them. Oh, and they also won 21 straight road games overall at one point. So it's hard to expect Merritt to sweep their 3 games at the NVMA. If they win 2 of 3 at home, that leaves a "must-win-2" scenario in Penticton. Considering the Vees lost just twice (including playoffs) at home in 6 months, and Merritt might need to win twice there in 9 days, this will be a daunting task for all of the above stated reasons. But the playoffs are a whole different story, and Merritt will have to get it done in Penticton!
2) KEEP YOUR COOL & KEEP YOUR FEET MOVING
That's what Merritt will need to do to stay out of the box, and that is a must for them to have success. The Vees take no prisoners when it comes to the power play. They obviously have the best power play in the league, but it's been more lethal against Merritt than anyone else, going an astounding 16 for 42 (38.1%). That's an average of 2 power play goals per game. To put it in perspective, Merritt has only scored 14 goals in the season series, averaging less than 2 goals per game in any capacity. That means the usual suspects, big man Jakob Reichert and pests Silvan Harper and Sean Maktaak (top 3 in minor penalties in the regular season and playoffs) will have to really be careful to not go over the edge and cost their team.
3) FINISH! FINISH! FINISH!
The number one thing that people look at when it comes to the Vees is their intimidating depth up front and ability to score goals at will. While that may be true, they pride themselves on being equally as good defensively, and rightfully so. The Vees rarely give up more than 30 shots in a game, and of those shots, very few are quality scoring chances for the opposition. Chilliwack had some great opportunities to break the game open in games 5 and 6 which I saw, but were thwarted by the Vees tenacious defense and even backup goaltender Chad Katunar, who turned into a star in that series. As a result, the Vees found the "momentum goal" in both games and never looked back. Penticton will not give up much, meaning that Merritt has to find the determination to bury whatever chances they get in this series, and not leave anything to chance. If they don't, they might be left wondering "what if" and the "coulda/shoulda/woulda" cliche will come into play.
4) 4-LINE FEROCITY
Considering the fact that Penticton has ultimately three 1st lines (lines that probably any team would take as their 1st line), the Centennials will not be able to win this series without all hands on deck, every game, for every shift. They certainly had that vs Prince George, but the Vees are a different animal. And despite a great series by all, the 4th line for Merritt was held off the scoresheet. Now granted, they're not expected to score, but against the Vees, they might have to. It starts with being more hungry and winning puck battles (for every line), but it eventually needs to end with a puck in the net. If the 4th line can even get 1 big goal in this series (they have potential for much more considering they scored 4 times in the last 2 regular season games), it might make the difference in a single game; and that single game could very well be the difference in this series.
5) GOALTENDING GREATNESS!
Let's be honest now... no team in their right mind can or will beat the 2011/2012 Penticton Vees without elite goaltending. Again, the good news is, Lino Chimienti was stellar in all 4 games vs Prince George. But the bad news is, Penticton is not Prince George, and Chimienti has had his struggles against the Vees. With a GAA of over 5 and a SV% of under .850, Lino has given up 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 goals in his games vs Penticton. It's very unlikely that Merritt will be winning games 4-3 and 5-4. They'll need to win 2-1 and 3-2 type games, which means that Lino will need to carry over his success vs Prince George against Penticton. But if he doesn't, Tyler Steel has had 3 great games vs Penticton to fall back on, and he could very well step in, steal a couple games and make a difference himself if need be.
*The Centennials are taking a fan bus to both games 1 and 2 in Penticton. $40 for 1 game or $75 for 2 games. That includes roundtrip, your game ticket, pizza and prizes on the bus. Reservations must be made with marketing manager Rachael Sanders prior to 6pm Monday night: Call (250) 315-7224
This is the official release
THE CENTENNIALS AREN'T MESSING WITH A GOOD THING! THEIR LINEUP FOR GAME 1 REMAINS IDENTICAL TO WHAT WE SAW VS PRINCE GEORGE. LINO CHIMIENTI GETS THE START, TYLER MARTIN AND SCOTTY PATTERSON REMAIN AS THE SCRATCHES, AND THERE ARE NO CHANGES TO THE LINE COMBINATIONS!
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