The Halfway Point
The Halfway Point. With November now in the rearview mirror, every team in the Island Division has hit the halfway point of the season with the exception of Nanaimo. In order it’s Victoria, Nanaimo, Cowichan and Alberni – with some separation in between each seeding.
The Grizzlies have had the lead the entire way so far and other than a six game losing streak have been fantastic. With Courtnall, Lee and Pighin on offense and the likes Stuart and Baldwin on defense their lineup is the deepest. Heading into the last weekend of the month Victoria had points in 9 consecutive games with a record of 7-0-0-2. They are the team to beat in this division even with the departure of Jonathan Millhouse and long term injuries to Mike Hammond and Jordan Heywood. Talking with GM Jackson Penny I get the sense he will try and be active around the December 1st cut down.
Nanaimo has added some new bodies recently in the form of Nick Chartier, Colin Dueck and Stephen Simms. All three of the newcomers have added points in their first few games with the Clippers and the hope is they will give the second place team a spark. They have only one regulation win in the month of November heading into the final weekend with a record of 4-3-0-1. In the standings it appears at first glance that Nanaimo is quite far behind Victoria but the gap is only 6 points with Nanaimo holding 2 games in hand. They also have 2 games in hand on Cowichan with a 5 point lead. It should be noted that Nanaimo was tied with the fewest regulation losses in the BCHL with 7, and surprisingly 5 of those came at Frank Crane arena where the team had won only 7 of 14 home games as of November 27th.
It was supposed to be the toughest week of the season for the Cowichan Valley Capitals with four games in four days in the Interior but after the first two contest the Caps had gained four points on both Nanaimo and Victoria, assuring themselves of no worse than a .500 road trip. At the midway mark of their road trip they had won 4 games in a row overall, two against Alberni Valley and one versus each Penticton and Trail. The acquisition of Anthony Perdicaro has made them tougher to play against and he brings the experience of a Fred Page Cup last season. Strangely enough before the four game winning streak the Capitals had not won more than two games back to back at any point of the season. Will they have enough to surpass Nanaimo and Victoria for home ice advantage in the playoffs? In the first nine games against those two clubs Cowichan has only 2 wins. There are still 15 more games to go head to head with the Clippers and Grizzlies so they need to start collecting victories in those matchups.
All the changes in Alberni Valley are starting to pay some dividends. That may be putting a bit too much of a rosy spin on things but in the last 8 games heading into the last weekend in November the Bulldogs were 2-5-0-1. Compare that to the first 22 games where the team was 2-18-0-2 and you can see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. You can’t expect this team to make the playoffs but fans can expect to see the team improve. If Ryan Depape indeed doesn’t report he should be a good bargaining chip to add some talent now or down the road in a trade.
I wouldn’t be surprised if every team makes some kind of a move for the December 1st cut down. That day every team has to be down to a combination of 25 players and cards. The more players on the roster the fewer options for change heading into the January 10th trade deadline.
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.
