One Final Party
The regular season is over and a housecleaning is beginning in Alberni Valley. The first casualty is Head Coach and General Manager Bryant Perrier. After taking over as GM midway through the season, his record was certainly respectable and in the games I witnessed down the stretch the players played hard right down to the wire.
We’ll see what the organization does in the coming weeks but for now I want to share what I saw on the last Saturday of the season.
With 60 minutes of hockey left in their season the Bulldogs took to the ice against the Nanaimo Clippers and played as good a first period as I’ve seen all year. They were energized and looked deadly on their attack.
Maybe the best news is that the guy that led the charge, Brett Mohler, is slated to come back next year. He had three points in the first and was actually held pointless only once in his last 15 games. The other player that stood out was leading scorer Evan Witt — he had a pair of goals in that first period too. This appears to the end of the line for Witt in the BCHL as he has secured a scholarship to Michigan Tech next year.
From there the Dogs cruised to a 5-2 win on home ice, much to the delight of their fans. It was a classy move by the organization to allow both goalies to play half a game in their last two outings as both Matthew Wong and Colin Rundell will be moving on from Junior A next season. It was also the last night for captain Eric Fraser and forwards Chris Moulson and Brian Kang. Moulson is moving on to Cornell next season and I don’t know if a lot of people realize that Brian Kang wrapped a long career with 280 games played.
There was lots of emotion in the building after the game as the players gave the jerseys off their backs to the fans. The feeling inside the arena was special and in an era where you about some players sitting out or demanding to be moved it was refreshing to see how that group stuck together and fought to the end, knowing full well they were not going to the post season.
It’s maybe little consolation for not making the playoffs but the Dogs went out in fine style and had at least a point in their last five regular season games. There’s a lot to work with for the new regime with possibly 16 or 17 returnees and from what I saw in the final game of the 08/09 season – the fans are still behind this team.
Dan Marshall, the radio voice of the Nanaimo Clippers, will be blogging the BCHL's Island Division during the 2008/09 season. Check back often for Dan's insights and the latest news from Vancouver Island.
