PREVIEW: Vernon @ Merritt

Merritt 21-10-2-5 (49 pts)- 2nd in Interior
LAST GAME: 3-1 win over Vernon on Saturday (won 3 in a row, points in 5 straight, and 5 straight road wins)

Vernon 17-16-1-2 (37 pts) - 5th in Interior (3 pts back of 4th and a playoff spot, but Chilliwack has 1 game in hand)
LAST GAME: 3-1 loss to Merritt on Saturday (lost 3 in a row)

Season Series: Merritt 2-0-1-1 (tight season series continues, even though Merritt has gotten points in every game... they've outscored Vernon 11-8, but two of those goals were empty netters)

-Cents are starting their busiest stretch of the season: tonight marks the first game of a 3-game weekend and a 4 game home stand, and it's also the first of 7 games in 10 days (capped off next weekend on the island road trip)

-Merritt is finding their groove again after a month of .500 hockey... they have now won 3 in a row (5 straight on the row), and overall have 9 of a possible 10 pts in their last 5 games.

-Vernon is on the opposite trend having lost 3 in a row and battling for their playoff lives, as we get close to the last third of the season

-while the Centennials have been relatively fortunate with injuries this season (only a few, and none longterm), the Vipers have been the most plagued team by injuries. Captain Patrick McGillis just came back in the last game for the first time in 3 months (and looked like one of Vernon's best players), but that game saw star rookie Adam Tambellini suffer the latest injury. He came back in the game in the 2nd period and will not suit up tonight. But that is not because of is injury. Adam is okay, but he is on a fly-down to the US to check out a scholarship opportunity, so Merritt can hopefully take advantage. Meanwhile it's a pretty significant blow to a desperate Vipers squad, who are already without their big acquisition Ben Gamache, as well as John Knisley and offensive defenseman Luke Juha. The Centennials remain without the services of Sean Maktaak, who suffered a concussion on a hit by Taylor Love last Friday in Salmon Arm (Love received a 2 game suspension for the hit). Maktaak will not play this weekend, but has a chance of coming back Wednesday vs the Warriors.

-the trading deadline has come and gone, and every team in the Interior Conference did something. Most notably, the Penticton Vees (winners of 21 straight) acquired the 4th leading scorer in the league, Wade Murphy, from the Victoria Grizzlies, and now have 6 of the top 7 scorers in the league. The Prince George Spruce Kings (6 points back of Merritt for 2nd with a game in hand) acquired Jarryd Ten Vaanholt who's an elite scorer as well, also from Victoria, and the Chilliwack Chiefs were able to acquire secondary scorer Kody Dhaliwal in a 3-way trade with Salmon and Flin Flon of the SJHL. As for the Centennials, some people are surprised that they didn't do very much. There was one subtraction, and one addition. They sent 19 year old forward Dustin Lebrun (5 goals, 5 assists in 38 games) to Sherwood Park of the AJHL for future considerations, and brought in 20 year old forward Carter Shinkaruk (8 goals, 5 assists in 38 games) from Powell River.

-With the absence of Sean Maktaak on the 3rd line, and the departure of Dustin Lebrun, tonight Shinkaruk will take Lebrun's spot on the 3rd line with Brandon Bruce, and Dylan Chanter remains the rover in the picture as the 7th dman. Last game he scored a goal playing up front on the 3rd line, so Luke Pierce might be inclined to put him in that role once again, beside Brandon Bruce and Carter Shinkaruk.

-The season series has been extremely low scoring so far, with the Centennials averaging a victory of just under 3-2 (empty nets included), and if you look at the last 2 games, Merritt has outscored Vernon 5-1 (with 2 empty netters). So 3-1 makes both teams look very good defensively, and leaves a bit to be desired offensively. Expect another tight-checking, low-scaring contest tonight

-Since the Christmas break ended, the Centennials have struggled putting together a full 60 minutes, but have been coming closer and closer with each game, culminated by a 50 minute effort on Saturday, where they were pinned in their zone and outshot badly in the first 10 minutes, but found their legs after Dylan Chanter opened the scoring at the 12 minute mark. Tonight the goal will be to not have any lulls, and push the limits from the opening faceoff, not allowing the Vipers to generate any life or confidence. Vernon is looking for any excuse to regain their mojo and get on a run, the task for Merritt tonight will be to make sure that doesn't happen. The Vipers are down, the Cents can't allow them to get back up

-Merritt has always been competitive on home ice, but the last few years have been miserable on the road. Now with 5 straight road wins and 11 of 21 wins away from Merritt, tonight the Cents will look to transfer their road success back home to the small confines of the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. With the beginning of a 4 game home stand, this is a great chance to put together a real good run for the Cents and re-establish the "elite" status they had earlier this season. A win tonight would put them 14 points up on Vernon, and give them a 14 point cushion for a playoff spot. Even though the Vipers would still have 2 games in hand, you have to think this gap would be too much to overcome for the Vipers, and the fight for Merritt would become no longer to just "make" the playoffs, but to make sure they secure their 2nd seed.

-Lino Chimienti is slated to get his 4th consecutive start (no goalie has started this many games in a row this season) and 5th straight appearance since coming in relief of Tyler Steel in the first game after the Christmas Break. Luke Pierce has indicated that Lino is playing because of an off-ice situation with Tyler, but he also said that Tyler will get back in goal soon and regain his role in the rotation. With a busy 3-game weekend, I would expect that Tyler will start tomorrow vs Chilliwack, and then they'll go back to Lino Sunday afternoon vs Langley.

-Coach Luke Pierce seems to like what he sees in his juggled lines, so Brayden Low will continue on the 2nd line with Jakob Reichert and Silvan Harper, while Brent Fletcher will continue to center the 4th line with Payton Schaefer and Brendan Lamont (who are coming off 2 of their best games of the season)

-Vernon has backup Danny Todosychuk pencilled in to start tonight, but he was also pencilled as the starter on Saturday, and it turned out to be Kirby Halcrow. Kirby had a great game giving up just 2 goals, so I would expect him to get the start tonight as well.

-The Vipers injuries have forced them to call up former Prince George Spruce King affiliate Eric Chore (has a twin named Patrick Chore) from the North Okanagan Knights of the KIJHL, who has 31 points in 31 games so far(Patrick has 35 points in 25 games). With 7 healthy dmen and a shortage of forwards, defenseman Turner Lawson will once again play up front on the 3rd line (much like Chanter likely will for Merritt, also on the 3rd line). This game will also see the debut of new Viper forward Colton Cyr (14 points in 29 games), who, after spending 4 and a half years in Nanaimo, was moved to the Vipers in a 3 way deal that saw Clayton Chessa go to Nanaimo, and Trail wind up with "future considerations". Cyr will center the 2nd line with Colton Sparrow and Aaron Hadley.

*Make sure you listen to the pre-game show tonight beginning at 7 o'clock, as I will have head coach Luke Pierce talk about the deadline that was, and try and get a chat with newcomer Carter Shinkaruk as well. I will try to post that audio on the blog later on.

Here are the projected lineups for both teams tonight:

MERRITT:

Regan Soquila (93)         Chad Brears (91)         Evan Stack (91)
              
Silvan Harper (92)          Brayden Low (94)       Jakob Reichert (93)
  
Brandon Bruce (93)        Carter Shinkaruk (91)
            
Payton Schaefer (93)       Brent Fletcher (92)       Brendan Lamont (94)

              
                           Reece Willcox (94)        Brandon Pfeil (92)

                         Richard Sabourin (92)        Tyler Martin (93)

                            Billy Marshall (91)        Ross Mancuso (92)
 
                                              Dylan Chanter (95)    
      
      
                                              Lino Chimienti (91)      
                        
                                                 Tyler Steel (93)      
         
SCRATCHES:

Sean Maktaak (92) INJ  


VERNON:

Mike Zalewski (92)        Darren Nowick (91)       Patrick McGillis (91)
     
Colton Sparrow (93)       Colton Cyr (91)            Aaron Hadley (93)
               
Brendan Persley (93)       Jedd Soleway (94)        Turner Lawson (94)

Riley Hunt (95)                                                      Eric Chore (93)- AP


                   Brett Corkey (92)            Max Mowat (93)

                   Marc Hetnik (92)          Geoff Crisfield (93)
      
                     Ryan Renz (93)          Sean Robertson (91)

                              
                                 Danny Todosychuk (94)       

                                    Kirby Halcrow (91)                                

SCRATCHES:  

Luke Juha (93)
John Knisley (92)
Adam Tambellini (94)
Ben Gamache (91)

Opening face-off tonight is at 7:30pm. Pre-game show at 7:00pm on Q101 FM in Merritt or online at Q101.ca

"Meet the Cents" with Silvan Harper

In this latest edition of "Meet the Cents", we catch up with the longest serving Centennial, 3rd year forward and fan favourite Silvan Harper. Silvan discusses his time in Merritt and extreme obsession with the Vancouver Canucks (there are worse obsessions that a hockey player can have). Enjoy!

BCHL Roundtable Episode 2

In this week's edition, Powell River Kings broadcaster Alex Rawnsley hosts a discussion with Penticton Vees voice Fraser Rodgers and Westside Warriors voice Jon Zacks about a very busy BCHL trading deadline. They discuss all the big deals, some small deals, and the implications it will have on the teams that made them. Enjoy!

BCHL Roundtable Episode 2 by agreb21

Cents Make Room for Shinkaruk, Deal Dustin Lebrun to Sherwood Park

If you haven't heard about it already, a very popular Centennial is headed to Alberta. With the addition of Carter Shinkaruk from Powell River, 3rd line forward Dustin Lebrun, who has showed flashes of brilliance through his one and a half years in Merritt, is the unfortunate odd man out. He has been sent to the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations (either a player after this season or cash).

After a promising rookie campaign that involved 11 goals (many of them early) last season, this season Dustin has struggled to find his groove, with just 5 goals and 5 assists through 38 games. But he is a guy who, night in and night out, brings it. His emotion and dedication is unmatched by many. He's got good speed and a wicked shot; a shot which unfortunately far too often went wide, got blocked, or didn't find the targeted corner of the net. But the way Dustin plays, every game it seems like he could break out any minute. Hopefully he finds the success he's looking for with Sherwood Park, joining former Cent Steven Wall as well (though I believe Wall has been injured since early this season). The Crusaders are having a great season with a record of 37-23-0-4, but sit 5th out of 8 teams in a very competitive North Division. It's worth noting that if the future considerations coming back to Merritt are financial, then Lebrun would first have to clear waivers in the BCHL before the trade to Sherwood Park could be processed.

Dustin has been a very well-liked individual in his time in Merritt. He's a true "good guy". He's been through many highs and lows, gone through tough stretches of being scratched, but never seems phased by what's happening, always has a smile on his face and a joke to share. He's very approachable, friendly, and respectful, as I'm sure his billets, and many of the team's fans who have met him could attest to. Last year as a rookie, Dustin would often sit behind me on the bus, so I've had many chats with him, this year as well, and he is just a fun guy to be around. I also had a chance to meet his parents this season, who seemed like great people. And so in a situation like this, it's always tough to see a guy go, especially when you feel you know them quite well. I know many Cents fans will miss having him around, so on behalf of everyone in Merritt, I'd like to wish Dustin all the best in Sherwood Park. And him being from Coquitlam, perhaps we can see him back in the BCHL if not this year, then next, to play once again in front of his friends and family.

So there was quite a flurry of activity at the deadline, including Penticton adding the 4th leading scorer in the league, Wade Murphy, Prince George adding an above point a game player in Jarryd Ten Vaanholt, and Chilliwack adding a solid secondary scorer in Kody Dhaliwal. It seems like every team in the Interior playoff picture has made significant moves to try and give themselves an advantage over each other, but Merritt was easily the quietest team at the deadline.

To break it down: Merritt loses a 19 year old forward with 5 goals and 5 assists, and gains a 20 year old forward with 8 goals and 5 assists... so they're losing a year, but gaining 3 goals. That's the simple way of looking at it. We'll see how it all pans out, but clearly Luke Pierce feels like his club should be rewarded for their remarkable 2/3 of a season so far, and hopefully it will pay off and again make the trading deadline seem overrated come playoff time.

Cents Add a Veteran Presence from Powell River

After plenty of speculation as to whether or not Luke Pierce would make a move at the deadline, the answer has been revealed. In a move that was made yesterday and processed today, the Merritt Centennials have brought in 20 year old forward Carter Shinkaruk from the Powell River Kings in exchange for future considerations.

Shinkaruk is a native of Langley who grew up playing major midget hockey for the Valley West Hawks, so this move brings him closer to home, family and friends. Those friends and family will likely make the trip down the coke on a few occasions to watch Carter play.

From all accounts, Shinkaruk is a very good character kid, someone who was well-liked in Powell River, was great in the community, and will be a natural fit in the Centennials locker room. His offensive stats don't jump out at you, with just 8 goals and 13 points through 38 games this season, but last season he had 26 points in 57 games as a 19 year old. So obviously there is more potential there, and Cents fans will look forward to hopefully having Carter realize his potential in a new setting.

Here is what Power River Kings play by play broadcaster Alex Rawnsley had to say about Shinkaruk:

"Carter has been a solid member of the Kings organization for 3 years now, and has been a great addition to the program. Carter has played mainly on the Kings 2nd line this year, and has also killed penalties and been on a powerplay unit recently. He creates well down low and is good along the boards. I'm excited to see what he can do in Merritt, and I'm glad he's heading to a great program and a playoff-bound team."

Carter Shinkaruk celebrates his trade to Merritt (only one of his teammates seems happy for him)

But stats aside, I'm sure the number one thing that attracted Luke Pierce to Carter was his overall experience. He has been a regular in the Powell River lineup for 3 seasons now, and comes with 151 career regular season games under his belt (including 1 game, the only game he played in 08/09 with his hometown Langley Chiefs and scored a goal) and 16 games in a long playoff run to the BCHL finals last year, during which he contributed 3 goals.Shinkaruk automatically becomes the most experienced Centennial on the roster. Silvan Harper (longest serving Centennial) has played 6 more regular season games than Carter, but Shinkaruk's 16 playoff games gives him 167 total to Harper's 165 total. The playoff experience of going to the BCHL Championship is obviously invaluable, and no other Centennial can claim that they know what that feels like or what it takes to get there.

Here's the statement from Powell River Kings head coach and general manager Kent Lewis:

“Carter has been a great kid for our program. We are in a position where we had to make some adjustments and it effected our 20 year-olds. Carter will be going to a quality program in Merritt and we wish him nothing but the best. We thank Carter to his dedication and loyalty to the Powell River Kings while he was here.”

Now Carter wore number 14 with Powell River, which is currently the number owned by Brandon Bruce, so it appears that he will wear Jeff Jones old number 11. Shinkaruk will replace a departing Centennial, who has yet to be named. The Cents are currently sitting with 22 roster players and are only allowed 21, so somebody has to come off the roster, and we'll have to wait and see who that is. It will be interesting to see where coach Luke Pierce slots Shinkaruk into the lineup. It's hard to see anybody in the top 6 come out, but it's also hard to envision a 20 year old forward playing on the 3rd or 4th line. Though that's what Blaine Bokenfohr did last year for Merritt, and he turned out to be a great addition. I guess much of it will depend on who is leaving the Centennials roster to free up space for Shinkaruk.

Keep in mind that the deadline is 6pm tonight, and the Centennials now have five 20-year olds on the roster, so are still able to add one more (though it would require another subtraction as well) to help them make a run come playoff time. We'll keep you up to date.

I'm out of the city right now, but will try and get coach Luke Pierce and Carter Shinkaruk before the game vs Vernon on Friday, and will post that audio on my blog as soon as I get the chance.

***I just received confirmation that Carter Shinkaruk will arrive in Merritt tomorrow (Wednesday) and he will be in the lineup on Friday, wearing number 11 for the Centennials.

In the meantime, feel free to post your own thoughts and reaction on this deal underneath...

Coach & Captain's Thoughts at the Trade Deadline

Well, here we are... in case you're not aware, the final carding/trading deadline is tomorrow (Tuesday, January 10th) at 6pm pacific time. This is the final chance for teams across the league to decide their path... either they go for it this year and load up, or they build for the future... or in some cases, potentially in Merritt's case, teams might decide that what they have isn't worth changing and they'll stick with the status quo.

From where things sit right now, Penticton obviously looks like the team to beat in the Interior. With the addition of Bryce Gervais, they have won 21 games in a row and are clearly the team that others in the conference have to stack up to. Much easier said than done of course, but they clearly look like the team to beat to even get to the finals. And whoever gets to the finals from the Interior might run up against another powerhouse. Pending an upset, 1st place Cowichan Valley look like the run-away leaders on the Coast after the addition of Richard Vanderhoek and most recently Brett Knowles. Because these 2 teams appear to be on another level, you can expect that coaches/GM's around the league, at least the playoff teams, will look for ways to be able to match them in a 7 game series. That should make for an interesting string of deals at the deadline.

With all this in mind, I had a chance to speak with Luke Pierce on Friday and captain Evan Stack on Saturday about their opinion on this very important (but sometimes overrated) part of the season. Here's what they had to say:

Luke Pierce on the Deadline by agreb21

Evan Stack on the Deadline by agreb21

Cents Continue to Roll, Take the Sting out of the Vipers

Dylan Chanter celebrates his 1st period goal with teammates

A heroic effort would be a fitting way to describe this game for the Centennials in Vernon, as they found scoring from unlikely sources, received great goaltending from Lino Chimienti, and picked up their 3rd straight win (an amazing 5th straight on the road), taking out the Vipers by a 3-1 final.

-the 1st period started exactly as expected, with the Vipers coming out like the desperate team they are, and establishing momentum early with a 7-2 lead on the shot clock. Lino Chimienti looked a bit nervous to start after a rough night in Salmon Arm on Friday, but he would settle down. And it didn't take the Centennials long to rebound, in fact only about half a period before they found their legs and matched the Vipers stride for stride. Nobody ever really had the upper hand, but it was definitely a game with plenty of momentum swings both ways

-with Sean Maktaak out of the lineup due to a suspected concussion, there was a vacant spot to fill on the 3rd line, and 16 year old rookie defenseman Dylan Chanter filled it quite nicely 12 minutes into the hockey game: after a dominant shift in the offensive zone, Chanter parked himself in front, and Brandon Bruce made a remarkable, behind the back, no look pass to Dylan who buried a one-timer from just on top of the crease, top shelf on the blocker side... looked like a true goal scorer's type of goal. And with Merritt taking the 1-0 lead, they would get a big momentum boost and looked like a different team in the 2nd half of the first frame. Surprisingly, there was next to no emotion or physically in the opening 20, outside of a couple big Merritt hits... hardly any post-whistle scrums, which is something you almost expect on a regular basis, and is noticable when it doesn't happen.

-in the 2nd period, the two teams were once again very evenly matched, although the Vipers had the better scoring chances... they hit 2 posts on the night, one of them by Vernon captain Patrick McGillis, who looked outstanding in his first game back from injury after 3 months off the ice. The Centennials were able to go up by 2 on a bit of a strange play: with the puck tied up just outside the Vernon blueline in front of the Merritt bunch and battle for the loose biscuit, Lamont was able to poke it free and skate in on a 2 on 1 down the right wing with Soquila... in a great give and go, Lamont dropped the pass off for Regan, cut to the front of the net, Regan saucered it back to him, and Lamont one-timed a perfect shot high to the blocker side past goaltender Kirby Halcrow. It was only his 2nd goal of the season, but his 2nd point in as many nights after a 19 game pointless drought. Once again, looked like a true goal-scorers goal. Lamont was again very effective on this night, and looked quite good along with Schaefer and Fletcher on the 4th line.

-the Vipers didn't have a whole lot of puck luck in this one, as several sure-fire chances wound up staying out, either kept out by Chimienti, blocked, or simple going over/wide of the goal. But just when it looked like Merritt would cruise into the 2nd intermission with a 2-0 lead, the Vipers received a late power play, the first power play for either squad, and a nifty 3-way passing play from Walchuk to Mcgillis to Sparrow wound up in the back of the net... an easy tap-in for Sparrow in front to cut the Merritt lead to 2-1 through 40 minutes.

-in the 3rd, there was again little to separate these two teams, with both of them trading chances and both goaltenders standing tall. It was a good rebound for both Lino and Kirby Halcrow, who had a tough night Friday as well in a 4-3 loss to Victoria. One of Vernon's best chances came on a bit of a broken play, their 2nd post of the game, and Chimienti, along with his defense, were able to shut the door the rest of the way. With the goalie out for the extra attacker in the last minute, Billy Marshall lobbed the puck to an open Soquila at center, who caught it perfectly (almost a football play), dropped it to his feet and skated in on a breakaway to seal the game at 3-1 for his squad

It was a real team effort defensively, but Chimienti led the way between the pipes

-this was another great "team" win, where I'm sure guys walked away feeling good about themselves, and feeling good about the overall effort put forth, which was a solid 50 minutes, minus a bit of a shaky start. But it was great to see Chanter and Lamont play hero, and Lino bouncing back remarkably with 35 saves. Lots to smile about on this night

-the only thing that didn't go Merritt's way was the special teams, with their PP going 0 for 2 (now 1 for its last 11 after a red-hot stretch of going 10 for 21) and their PK surrendering the lone Vernon goal on 3 power play chances. But it seems like when their special teams were on fire, the team was off and on. Now, just like during the 17 game streak where they lost just 2 in regulation, it seems like Merritt is finding success with a less than stellar special teams.

-Merritt didn't always look "great" since the Christmas break, but you can't argue they've been effective. Tonight might have been their first complete game since the break, with not too many defensive lapses and nobody taking anything for granted offensively. All 4 lines were rolling again. And going back to the "results" aspect, Merritt now has 7 of 8 points after the break, winning 3 straight and going 3-0-0-1 during that stretch. Their 5 straight road wins also give them 11 total road wins on the season, which is, *gulp*, more wins than they have at home. And that's a GOOD thing, since Merritt's home record and their play at home has been nothing to shake a stick at... this is just an overall reflection of how good the team has been this season

*The Merritt win and Chilliwack loss tonight to Cowichan Valley gives the Cents a solid 9 point cushion on 4th place Chilliwack (Chiefs still have 3 games in hand), a 6 point lead on 3rd place Prince George (through the Spruce Kings hold 1 game in hand), and a gaudy 12 point lead on the 5th place Vernon Vipers (Vernon still with 2 games in hand).

-The Cents now start a 4 game home stand on Friday with a highly anticipated rematch against the Vipers, and this a chance to build a real special streak and get back to the dominance they displayed earlier this season. Hopefully the fans will respond to the success and come out in droves to support the boys Friday night, the first or a busy weekend that sees Merritt play 3 games in 2 and a half days (Chilliwack on Saturday and Langley on Sunday)

In the meantime, here are the highlights from a very exciting and entertaining game at the Wesbild Centre in Vernon:

Merritt @ Vernon Jan 7 Highlights by agreb21