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| ROUND 1... FIGHT! (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald) |
Merritt: 34-18-2-6 (76pts) - 2nd in Interior
LAST GAME: 5-2 win over Trail (3rd straight win)
Prince George: 33-21-2-4 (72pts) - 3rd in Interior
LAST GAME: 5-2 win over Penticton (snapping the Vees 42 game win streak)
Season Series: Merritt 5-1-0-1 (each team won 1 OT game) - Merritt outscored PG 27-24
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| (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald) |
Merritt: 194 Goals For (3.2 per game) / PG: 218 Goals For (3.6 per game)
Merritt: 171 Goals Against (2.85 per game) / PG: 185 Goals Against (3.1 per game)
Merritt: 19-6-0-5 @ home / PG: 19-10-0-1 @ home
Merritt: 15-12-2-1 on the road / PG: 14-11-2-3 on the road
Merritt: PP 13th 18.3% / PG: PP 9th 18.9%
Merritt: PK 9th 79.6% / PG: PK 6th 81.5%
- this matchup features the 2nd best defensive team in the Interior Conference (Merritt) vs the 2nd highest scoring team in the Interior (PG). However, the Spruce Kings are very well-rounded, and have given up the 3rd fewest goals in the Interior next to Merritt, while the Cents are tied with Chilliwack for the 4th highest goal total in the Interior
- with the addition of Jarryd Ten Vaanholt, Zack Rassell and Michael Betz, the Spruce Kings are left with the Fitzgerald triplets on the 3rd line, proving that they have plenty of firepower on the top 3 lines, and Merritt's top priority in this series will likely be to keep the puck out of their own net
- scoring won't be an easy task either for the Centennials, as the Spruce Kings are expected to go with the man who finished the last 2 games vs Penticton, Ty Swabb, someone who looked very good in the last meeting between these teams back on Dec 9th. Prince George lost 4-3, but Swabb was perfect for more than half the game to start and looked like a goalie who can steal games
- another big challenge for Merritt in this series will be to penetrate through the intimidating Spruce Kings blueline, 5 of who are well over 6 feet tall and well over 200 pounds. Prince George will look to use their size to wear down the Cents, while Merritt will try and use their speed to get past the slower Spruce Kings dmen
- in a series where Prince George's top 3 lines are full of weapons, this might require Merritt's 4th line to step up and make a difference against the Kings 4th line. Their last 2 games were the best of the entire season. Led by AP Scotty Patterson, his line with Schaefer and Lamont were dominant in the final weekend vs Trail scoring 2 goals on Friday and 2 on Saturday
- game 1 will be full of excitement and energy, and most importantly, adrenalin! "RED TOWEL POWER" will be in the building, as the team has ordered 1000 red towels to accommodate every fan that walks through the door. The atmosphere will be electric, and that might be the biggest key in helping Merritt prevail in game 1
- both teams are as healthy as anyone can hope to be for a playoff push. The Centennials will get back defencemen Dylan Chanter and Tyler Martin from injury, meaning that Brent Fletcher, despite doing a great job filling in on the back end on Saturday, will move back up front, and somebody will be the odd man out as a healthy scratch. In fact, there will have to be 2 scratches, as Scotty Patterson has joined the team full-time for the playoff push, and has earned his spot in the lineup. Meanwhile the Spruce Kings only had 1 injury at the end of the season, that to defenceman Cody Bardock. But with 5 days off to rest, he might be ready for game 1 as well
*The lineups might not be released until game time, especially the decision by Luke Pierce and Joe Martin as to who will start game 1 between the pipes
Opening face-off for round 1, game 1 is Friday night at 7:30pm at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in Merritt. The pre-game show starts at 7pm. You can tune in online at Q101.ca or on the BCHL fanzone through BCHL.ca
HERE ARE MY "3 KEYS TO THE SERIES", WHICH CAN BE SEEN IN THURSDAY'S EDITION OF THE 'MERRITT HERALD':
1. DERAIL DE JERSEY
The BCHL`s leading scorer did most of his damage vs the Centennials this season, collecting points in all 7 of the head-to-head games, and 14 points total (1/7th of his 98 points on the season). His linemates only played in 6 of the 7 head to head games, with Jujhar Khaira (10th in BCHL scoring with 79 points in just 54 games) picking up 8 points and Michael Colantone (14th in BCHL scoring with 74 points) picking up 10 points. All in all, the Spruce Kings top line has scored 15 of the 24 goals (62.5%) vs Merritt, and combined for a jaw-dropping 32 points. As they go, so goes the team, and shutting them down, starting with De Jersey, will be the biggest key in holding the Spruce Kings offense at bay. If Merritt can do that, their depth should win them this series. Though it will be a little tougher with the Spruce Kings offense spread out. Prince George finished the season with De Jersey and Colantone on the top line, Khaira and Ten Vaanholt on the 2nd line, and the Fitzgerald triplets on the 3rd line.
2. THE ``MEN`` BETWEEN THE PIPES
This is a unique series where neither team has a defined starter, and both teams have goaltenders that can steal games. Shockingly, both Kirk Thompson and Ty Swabb for PG have identical stats with a 2.83 GAA and .906 SV%. But Ty Swabb has a much better winning percentage (12-6-1) than Thompson (15-14-1), and has started the last 2 games vs Penticton, including the historic 5-2 season finale win that snapped the Vees 42 game win streak, indicating that head coach Dave Dupas might be leaning towards the 6`3 Edmonton native to start the postseason. In the 1 game we saw Swabb, his 2nd game with PG, he played very big, poised and confident, and seemed like the bigger threat in the crease. What`s even more ironic is that Lino Chimienti`s stats are almost a mirror image of the Prince George goalies, with an 18-14-1 record, a 2.86 GAA and .907 SV%. As the 20 year old vet, he might get the first chance to run with the ball, but Tyler Steel (4th in the league in both GAA and SV%) is more than ready to step in and make a difference if needed. The bottom line is, it`s too tight to say who will make a difference, but any of the 4 netminders could, and it`s up to Merritt`s tandem to outplay Prince George`s.
Lino Chimienti vs Prince George: 3-1-0 (including an OT win), 3.92 GAA, .877 SV%
(Lino's stats are a little skewed by the opening night 6-3 loss in Prince George)
Tyler Steel vs Prince George: 2-0-1(OT loss), 2.55 GAA, .918 SV%
3. SPECIAL TEAMS, THE ``X FACTOR``
Even though Merritt won 5 of the 7 games in the season series (both teams won 1 in overtime), they outscored Prince George just 27-24. In a series with 2 teams that are so evenly matched offensively (goals for), defensively (goals against), in goal and in the standings (separated by 4 points), special teams is very likely to make a huge difference. The Cents special teams have been either red hot or ice cold all season, and near the end of the season, it was trending towards the cold side, going 3 for 24 (12.5%) over the last 4 games, including 3 games vs the worst PK in the league (Salmon Arm and Trail). Their PK, meanwhile, has given up goals in 6 of the last 7 games (5 of those games vs the Interior bottom-feeders again, Salmon Arm and Trail), but has been on par for their average during this stretch going 80.6%. However, they had an earlier stretch of going over 90% for a quarter of the season. They need to find some consistency in the postseason. Meanwhile, Prince George, after struggling on the power play for much of the season, were red-hot down the stretch, going 9 for 22 (40.9%) in the 5 games through March (including 2 games vs Penticton). At the same time, their PK struggled, giving up goals in 4 of the 5 games, and going 11 for 16 during that stretch (68.8%). At the conclusion of the season, Prince George had a slightly better power play and penalty kill than Merritt, but again it`s very tight (like almost every other aspect of this series), so whoever can win this battle will very likely win the series as well, even if it winds up going the distance.
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