Alright everybody, put your shoes back on; you don't need your toes to count the remaining games for any team. As the regular season starts to wind down, here comes the rush to find a playoff spot.
The remaining days of the regular season are sure to see some interesting games and some good battles. In both conferences, there are games that are looking more and more like first round playoff previews.
Perhaps the most telling of those will be a mini series between the Langley Chiefs and the Surrey Eagles. The two Mainland teams that are seated in the second and third spot will play a total of three games against each other. Starting on Friday February 6, the mini-series will also feature a home-and-home set the following weekend.
In the Interior Division there is still a real possibility of shuffling the deck as far as the final standings are concerned. The Westside Warriors find themselves just three games plus a point from stealing a first round bye from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Penticton wants a piece of that action as well and that sets up an interesting three team round-robin as the Silverbacks will have to face their Interior Division rivals a combined five times after returning home from a Mainland Division road trip.
The Prince George Spruce Kings are still very much in the hunt to rise a notch in the Interior Division as well. The Spruce Kings have a few interesting games remaining where they could catch the Trail Smoke Eaters. Of course nobody can forget about the proverbial spoilers in all of this jockeying for position.
In the Coastal Conference the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and the Burnaby Express as well as the Interior Conference Merritt Centennials and Quesnel Millionaires already know when their season will end. Don't count those teams out of the mix as they are playing for pride and for next season. Perhaps the Bulldogs and the Express won't have much of an impact as far as shaking up the final standings play out. For sure though, both teams could do a lot to undermine confidences with big wins over playoff bound teams.
In the Interior Division however, where just handfuls of points separate teams, the Merritt Centennials and the Quesnel Millionaires can earn that title of spoiler. The Centennials have a pair of games remaining against the Trail Smoke Eaters and also a pair against the Penticton Vees as well as singles against the Spruce Kings and Vipers.
Sprinkled in with games against teams that are vying for a better position in the Interior Division, the Prince George Spruce Kings also have to deal with their thorn, the Quesnel Millionaires. The final weekend of the regular season will feature a home-at-home series between the two. Penticton still has to deal with the Millionaires one more time and this time it will be in the Vault. The last time those two teams met, there were fireworks with a full out line brawl that resulted in several suspensions.
There were also casualities on both sides with the news that Denver Manderson may be out of the lineup for the remainder of the season and the parting of ways between bench boss, Tom Bohmer and the Quesnel Millionaires.
So put your shoes back on and get down to the rink … this is as close to playoff hockey that you are going to get with games still remaining in the regular season.
Ron Gallo, the voice of the Prince George Spruce Kings, will be blogging the Interior Conference during the 2008/09 season. Check back often for Ron's insights into the latest news from the BCHL's Okanagan and Northern-based teams.
