Haas' Hub
Week 7 of the BCHL season is now in the books and some newly acquired players are off to great starts with new teams.
The Powell River Kings traded for goaltender Carsen Chubak in a three-way-deal and he had an impressive debut going 3-0 over the weekend with a 2.33 G.A.A. and a .919 save percentage. The Kings were outshot in a game for the first time this season on Saturday as in their 18th game Surrey outshot them 27-26 but Powell River still won the game 3-2. The Kings have now won six games straight.
Newly acquired Ben Payne of the Quesnel Millionaires had three points in 13 games with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs this season but already has five points in three games with his new team.
Trade winds continue to swirl in the league and the Westside Warriors Head Coach and General Manager Mark Howell told Kevin Parnell of the Kelowna Capital News, “Maybe we have to look at our personnel and say we have to find guys who play harder. If you don't play hard and compete hard you're not going to be successful. Maybe we have to adjust our lineup because every week we're talking about the same thing. Maybe now it's become a personnel issue.” The rest of the article can be read here.
Another guy making an impressive debut is Jimmy Geerin of the Cowichan Valley Capitals who missed the first ten games of the season with an injury but has returned and after not getting a point in his first game he has ten points in his last four games as a defenseman. Head Coach Scott Robinson told Kevin Rothbauer of The Cowichan Valley Citizen, “Holy cow!” said Robinson. “I don't anticipate that he'll keep scoring at that rate, but my, oh my. He's solid defensively, he skates well and he gets you out of your own end. Any time you get offensive contributions from your defence it's a good thing.” The rest of the article can be read here.
Speaking of defensemen, Brandon Clark of the Trail Smoke Eaters has three overtime winners as the Smokies are 3-1-1 in extra time this season. Ironically enough, Clark used to play for Cowichan while Geerin closed out last season with the Smokies.
In Burnaby the Express are looking for healthy bodies as they had six forwards miss their last game. The battered list included Jacob Verheyden, Max Grassi who has 13 points in 13 games, Garrick Perry with 10 points in 14 contests, Brodie Reid notching 6 points in 5 games, Anthony Collins, and Luke Challier. The injuries have resulted in the Express being 0-5-0-1 in their last six games.
The interesting stat of the week goes to the Prince George Spruce Kings who have been tied after the first period in half of their 16 games and in those games their record is a very impressive 6-1-1-0.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks are now 9-0-0-1 in their last ten games and have three players on extended scoring streaks. Mark Zengerle is on a 14 game point streak good for 33 points, defenseman Matt Grassi has points in eight straight for a total of 14 points, and Conor Morrison is on a seven game point streak good for 14 points.
Evan Pighin of the Victoria Grizzlies has at least a point in all ten games he has played this year for a total of 16 points.
Finally, the Quote of the Week goes to the Surrey Eagles Head Coach Shane Kuss, who told Michael Booth of Surrey Now, “…Thank god we left the last goal to the final second to win it so they wouldn't have a chance to come back and tie it.” The rest of the article is here.
Patrick Haas, the voice of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, takes a weekly look at the top news from around the BC Hockey League. Each week, Patrick will review the headlines that have fans of the league's 16 teams buzzing.
