Oh How "Sweep" It Is! Merritt Finishes Off PG in 4!

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

Lame, I know but it really is a sweet feeling that can't even be described. After so many years of regular season struggles, let alone a lack of playoff success, the Merritt Centennials finished off the Prince George Spruce Kings 3-1 on Tuesday to complete a near flawles 4-game sweep and advance to the Interior finals for the first time since 2000-2001. One thing I can admit to is that even as a broadcaster, it was an emotional night for me and I got goosebumps as the finals seconds ticked down to 0.

With the Cents up 3-0 and coming into the game with no pressure, a lot of people might have wondered just how much motivation, desperation and urgency they would have. Well it was clear this night that they weren't interested in playing another game on Thursday, and had every intention to put the series away. The guys really battled and came up with a superior performance to game 3, though again not without the heroics of Lino Chimienti, who was outright stellar again on this night and the first star of the series.

In the 1st period, both teams played a very loose, carefree and often careless game, trading turnovers and trading a wide array of scoring chances, but the goaltenders (Lino and Ty Swabb again) were extremely sharp and able to keep the game scoreless in what was a wild and entertaining opening 10 minutes. The second half of the 1st period slowed down a bit as both teams got settled down.

After both teams failed to score on their first power play (Merritt really struggled on their 1st while Prince George looked dangerous but couldn't capitalize), the Cents got their 2nd power play and looked very good. After Evan Stack was robbed point blank on a delayed penalty call, and earlier robbed on a shorthanded breakaway, he would make good on his 3rd grade A chance of the 1st period, as Soquila fed a pass behind the goal to Brears and he centered for Stack at the bottom of the right circle; the captain one-timed the puck low stick side on the far post on Swabb to give Merritt the all-important 1st goal in the final 2 minutes of the 1st period. Merritt took the 1-0 lead into the intermission.

In the 2nd period, things got really heated. The physicality and the emotion in the game picked up, and there were plenty of post-whistle scrums and trash talking between the benches. The Spruce Kings hung around and kept pushing for the equalizer, but Chimienti was laser sharp, and very much a calming presence in the Merritt crease, finding pucks through traffic, swallowing shots and controlling rebounds very effectively. He was unnerved this entire series.

The man of the series with the birthday boy guarding the crease        (Ron Gallo/Prince George)

Then Merritt got their 2nd power play opportunity, and a chance to really put the Spruce Kings in a hole. Unfortunately, this power play was equally as unimpressive as the first, and led to a clear-cut Leo Fitzgerald shorthanded breakaway set up by Myles Fitzgerald... Leo made a nice head-fake and snapped a shot blocker side on Chimienti to tie the game at 1 and send the Coliseum into a frenzy. It looked like a big momentum goal, but as it turned out, it would mean nothing.

The big turning point of this game was right after this, when Tyson Witala was trying to chase down a loose puck at center while shorthanded, and appeared to get tripped up by Reece Wilcox... the fans were hollering for a penalty that never came, and seconds later Jarryd Ten Vaanholt got injured on an accidental knee on knee collission (that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2nd period, though he'd be back for the 3rd), and again the whistle didn't blow... both these incidents allowed the Centennials to break in 3 on 1, and they executed the play perfectly.... Reece Willcox (on his 18th birthday) broke in on the left wing, made a perfect cross-crease pass to Stack, who one-timed the pass back door to Brears for a wide open net. It was arguably the prettiest goal of the series that literally ripped the momentum out of the hands of the Spruce Kings, and created a chorus of boos at the Coliseum. The fans were apparently chanting "no goal" but the goal would stand, there was no debate, and Merritt would go up 2-1, a lead they would never relinquish.

(Ron Gallo/Prince George)

Shortly thereafter, the Spruce Kings frustrations got the best of them. After Fletcher and De Jersey collided in the left corner in the Spruce Kings zone, De Jersey came up swinging and after punching Fletcher in the head, he proceeded to cross-check him in the head a couple times after that as well. To Fletcher's credit, he didn't react and allowed his team to go on a marathon power play, as De Jersey was given a 5 minute major for a hit to the head and a game misconduct. At this point, with Betz and Woodley already suspended by the team from the night before, the Spruce Kings were down 3 men on the bunch and completely demoralized. It became clear this was not going to be their night. However, Merritt took their own penalty during the 5 minute power play, and the Spruce Kings were able to kill off the 2 minutes and change after that. So it stayed a 2-1 game until late in the 2nd period.

After both teams had traded a few more chances (again both Chimienti and Swabb looked very sharp for their respective teams), the Centennials would get the insurance marker; after a failed give and go between Shinkaruk, Bruce and Stack that resulted in the play being broken up twice, the Spruce Kings still couldn't get onto the puck, so Carter Shinkaruk skated into the loose biscuit, and his spin-around shot from the top of the 2 circles beat Swabb high to the blocker side. It was a solid shot by Shinkaruk, but one that Swabb had to have for him team, and when he didn't, it was just another sign for the Spruce Kings that it wasn't mean to be this year. Merritt led 3-1 going to the 3rd.

In the 3rd period, the Centennials clearly weren't all that intersted in offense, and did a fairly effective job of clamping down defensively and eating up the clock. It was a very methodical 10 minutes or so of clock-eating where the Spruce Kings were stifled offensively, but in the final 10 minutes, things got a little hairy when the Centennials took back to back penalties and opened a little window for the Spruce Kings to mount a comeback for the 2nd straight night. However, Lino Chimienti was just too much in the zone on this night. He was really peppered in the final 5 minutes, but after making several underrated stops, he then came up with a few beauties, starting with Colantone in the slot and ending by denying Khaira several times in a goal-mouth scramble. He was simply unflappable and determined not to give up anything else. The Spruce Kings would pull their goalie with about 2 minutes left for the extra attacker, and they really pushed hard, but Chimienti stood his ground and the defense collapsed in front of him to preserve the 3-1 win and complete the series sweep.

*Lino Chimienti was the story of this series. He only gave up 6 goals through 4 games, and only 1 that you could consider a bad goal, which was just an unlucky bounce off his stick and in. But he was extremely consistent and Merritt's MVP throughout the series on a night in, night out basis. Although, the commitment to team defense in front of him was top notch as well.

(Ron Gallo/Prince George)

*As I mentinoed with Luke Pierce on the post-game show, I was very impressed with the Cents' ability to frustrate the Spruce Kings into taking bad and costly penalties, while at the same time being able to maintain their own composure throughout the series. Merritt won the special teams battle in games 1, 2 and 4, and it ultimately made a huge difference in this series, just like I said it would at the very start.

*The other keys I laid out at the start of the series was for Merritt to win the goaltending battle, which they did hands down, and to shut down the De Jersey line, which they did almost with ease it seemed, limiting the BCHL's leading scorer to just 1 point through 4 games, and forcing him into taking 6 minor penalties, a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. The "X Factor" for PG was Jarryd Ten Vaanholt, who was supposed to be a key addition at the deadline, and a guy Merritt didn't see until the playoffs. But his story was similar. Lots of undisciplined play with 3 crucial minor penalties, and he was held completely off the scoresheet... pointless. In fact, none of the top players, and nobody overall had more than 2 points for Prince George over the 4 game series. Execution of the game plan to a TEE for Merritt!

An example of the stifling defense that frustrated Khaira and the Spruce kings     (Ron Gallo/Prince George)

 *The series win for Merritt is their first in 6 seasons, since the Zabotel era in 05/06. The sweep is their first since 2000-2001 when they also swept Prince George in the 1st round and then Penticton in the 2nd round (they would go on to lose in game 7 of the Fred Page Cup to Victoria). And although there is one less round to worry about this season, this is the first time since that magical 2000-2001 season that Merritt has advanced to the Interior Conference final. Is this deja-vu? Let's all hope so (with a better ending in game 7 of the finals)

My 3 stars on the broadcast were:

1) Lino Chimienti- 28 saves
2) Evan Stack- 1G, 1A (I thought he would get a 2nd assist on the Shinkaruk goal as well)
3) Myles Fitzgerald- 1A

It is the wee hours of the morning as I post this, as we have just gotten back from Prince George. I have not had the chance to go to the station to put together the highlight package of the last 2 games. But I will try to have highlights up from both games 3 and 4 later on today, as well as my interview with head coach Luke Pierce on the post-game show following Game 4. So check back later for that audio.