Week 25 of the BCHL season is in the books and the playoffs are starting!
Darcy Huisman of the Powell River Kings completed the season with points in nine straight games for a total of 12 points. The 19-year old played in 15 games for the Kings and had points in 13 of them for a total of 17. Back in 2006/2007 the Smithers resident had 20 points in 40 games for the Spruce Kings of Prince George.
Erik Vos finished the regular season on a seven-game point streak for a total of 16 points. The 20-year old finished with 23 more points, including 16 more goals, than his first year in the BCHL and the Hamilton, Ontario resident is heading off to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts next season.
Darcy Oakes ended his 59-game campaign on a five-game point streak good for 12 points and the Brett Hull Trophy as the league's top point getter. This 20-year old finished with 27 more points than a year ago and the resident of Shanty Bay, Ontario is off to Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut next season.
The Kings closed out the season with five straight victories. Reid Campbell waited until the final game of the regular season to get his first goal to go along with 20 assists in his 57 games played.
Brett Mohler of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs ended the season on a seven-game point streak good for 12 points. The 19-year old rookie has 28 points in his last 21 games after 12 points in his first 34 games. Along the same lines the resident of Anaheim, California has 38 points in his last 36 games after 2 points in 19 first games.
Mitch MacMillan also finished up on a seven-game point streak for a total of ten points after previously not registering a point in four straight contests. Another 19-year old, the resident of Penticton had 45 points in 45 games with the Bulldogs after starting the year in Duncan.
Finally, Evan Witt also finished on a seven-game point streak good for ten points. This 19-year old is off to Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan next season and finished with 25 more point this year than his rookie campaign. The Bulldogs finished the season on a three game winning streak and with points in five straight going 3-0-0-2.
Jonathan Milhouse of the Victoria Grizzlies closed out the year with points in five straight games for a total of 12 points. The 20-year old from Yorba Linda, California had only one point in his previous five games coming into the streak. Derek Lee also finished the regular season on a five-game point streak good for 11 points. The 18-year old completed his third season in the league and the North Vancouver resident will be off to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin next season.
The Grizzlies closed out the season with five straight victories and the Chevrolet Cup for finishing with the most points in the BCHL after going 12-1-0-0 in their final 13 games. Unfortunately it looks like the Grizz will be without the services of Tyler Matheson who is out due to injury.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals open up at home versus the Nanaimo Clippers and Carson Schell of the Clips tells Craig Slater of the Nanaimo Daily News, “I wouldn't say we're the underdogs in this series, but we will be later on in the playoffs. We need to get into it right away.” The rest of a great series preview is here. Nine of the 12 contests on the season between these two teams were basically one goal games with Cowichan getting 15 points and Nanaimo 12 points in the 12 games.
Michael Rhode of the Nanaimo Daily News also takes a great look at the series here. Nanaimo has won all three meetings in the playoffs between the two teams since Cowichan Valley rejoined the league.
Looks like the Clippers will be going Blond once again as Schell tells Rhode “As soon as people get here in September, pretty much the second question is 'Do we have to dye our hair blond for playoffs.' The answer is yes.” The full article is here.
Nanaimo suffered big blows losing Micheal Boivin, Zac Ashdown, and Tyler Mah to injury on the final weekend of the season. Evan Smith will get the start in goal for Nanaimo as Bill Bestwick told Greg Sakaki of the Nanaimo News Bulletin, “I’m hopeful that his experience in that building against that team, his dislike for that team, will lead our team to victory.”
Meanwhile, Colton Cyr of the Clippers talked about the goalie at the other end of the rink. “He lets out lots of rebounds. He’s not the greatest goalie, we beat him last year in the playoffs when he played for Powell River.” The full article is here.
The Langley Chiefs open up at home versus the Surrey Eagles and Milos Gordic of the Chiefs tells Gary Ahuja of the Langley Times, “We have to make Tartaglione’s life hell.” The full series preview is here.
Langley was 7-3-1-1 against the Eagles this season although the last three meetings all went to overtime. Surrey Head Coach Shane Kuss tells Nick Greenizan of the Peace Arch News “It’s safe to say it’ll be a battle, it’ll be a war.” The rest of the article is here.
Congratulations to Langley Head Coach and General Manager Harvey Smyl for coaching his 1000th game on Saturday!
The Penticton Vees open up at home versus the Prince George Spruce Kings and Joe Morgan of the Sprucies tells Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen, “We’re hoping it will be a physical series. We have to get at them, they’re pretty soft. As long as we use our speed and hit them, we’ll be good.” The rest of the series preview is here. The Vees won all six meetings on the season although two of the last three were only by one goal. Goaltender Jordan White of Penticton will be facing the team he took to the RBC Championship Game two years ago.
The Westside Warriors open up at home versus the Trail Smoke Eaters and Warriors defenseman Justin Schultz tells Kevin Parnell of the Kelowna Capital News, “I like this group better than our team last year.” The full article is here. Westside won seven of eight games between the two teams and Trail Head Coach and General Manager Jim Ingram tells Willa Condy of the Trail Rossland News “I think we officially have hit rock bottom. We don’t seem to understand what urgency is about. We have had dozens of meetings. We have had this, we have had that and the guys don’t respond with any urgency in their play.” The rest of the article is here.
Finally, a special thank-you to Tony Mortimer for getting me safely from point A to point B for the last three seasons.
