Haas' Hub
Week 6 of the BCHL season is now in the books and a couple of teams are rolling right along. Nobody is hotter than the Victoria Grizzlies as Justin Cournall and Evan Pighin are both on eight-game point streaks with 12 and 13 points respectively. Pighin has a point in every game since joining the Grizzlies and Victoria has also won all eight games. Myles MacRae is on a six game point streak.
The Trail Smoke Eaters have jumped to the top of the standings and Andrew Pickering is on a six game point streak good for ten points while his team has won five games in a row. The Smoke Eaters are a league best 5-1-1-1 in one goal games this season.
Meanwhile the Vernon Vipers have won four in a row and six of their last seven games to tie with Trail for top spot in the Interior Conference.
Chasing down those two teams are the Salmon Arm Silverbacks with Mark Zengerle who is on a ten game point streak for a total of 21 points. The Silverbacks have points in six straight games going 5-0-0-1.
On the other end are the Quesnel Millionaires as goaltender Jeff Malcolm from Lethbridge, Alberta will be out long term due to injury. Malcolm had just secured a scholarship to Yale and was in the top six of the league in save percentage at 90.6. Quesnel is also now winless in their last nine games going 0-7-0-2.
The Nanaimo Clippers are 7-0-0-1 this season when they score first and 1-3-0-1 when not scoring the game's first goal. General Manager and Head Coach Bill Bestwick wasn't happy with a recent loss as he told Craig Slater of The Nanaimo Daily News, “If we have to face any adversity like we did tonight, and that's the best effort we can generate in our own building, then that's pretty unacceptable . . . and quite embarrassing.” The rest of the article can be read here.
Similarily the Penticton Vees' are 6-0-0-1 when scoring the game's first goal and 1-3-0-0 when not tallying first. Ryan Viselli of the Vees is on a six game point streak after having no points in his first five games.
The Surrey Eagles' Spencer Bennett is on a five game point streak good for eight points after only one point in his first eight games.
Good things are happening in Pringe George with regards to attendance as Spruce Kings' General Manager and Head Coach Ed Dempsey tells Alistair McInnis of the Prince George Free Press, “We're just drawing fabulous,” Dempsey said. “We're really happy with the support that we're receiving and the crowds have been just great.” The rest of the story is here.
Finally the quote of the week goes to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs assistant coach Chris Shaw as he told Dwayne Stern of the Alberni Valley Times, “We're back on the ice Monday afternoon,” said Shaw. “Get the turkey out of us, and the stuffing out of us. We'll get back to video against Nanaimo, figure out our game plan. I think if we stick to what we're preaching to these kids we'll be successful against Nanaimo and we know we can be successful against Victoria. Victoria does not like playing against us. We've established ourselves as probably the hardest working team in the league.” The full article can be read 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.
