The puck drops on the British Columbia Hockey League’s 50th season Friday night at seven rinks around the province. There are several rivalries being rekindled right out of the chute and here is a brief look at all the matchups.
Langley Rivermen @ Surrey Eagles– The two most closely situated teams in the league lock horns for the first of a home-and-home set. Fans will get their first look at Langley’s game uniforms since the team’s renaming. Ryan Bakken captains the Rivermen and the team will look for production from Darnell Dyck. Tyler and Brandon Morley will be counted on in Surrey and forward Brandon Tanev, younger brother of Canucks defenceman Chris, will get lots of attention.
Merritt Centennials @ Prince George Spruce Kings– A pair of teams seemingly on the rise, the Cents and Spruce Kings finally get to show the gains they’ve made. Merritt has exciting young players in forward Regan Soquila and defenceman Reece Willcox, both just back from the Team Canada West evaluation camp for the World Junior A Challenge (WJAC). Prince George features a lot of players that look alike in triplets Gerry, Leo and Myles Fitzgerald and twins Scott and Spencer McHaffie.
Penticton Vees @ Coquitlam Express– Penticton will be without captain Logan Johnston who is currently appealing a suspension. Joey Benik gets the ‘C’ in the interim and will try to best his 30-goal season of last year. NHL draft picks Mario Lucia, Steven Fogarty and Mike Reilly will garner interest. Coquitlam features talented youngster Alex Kerfoot up front and veteran power-play QB Clinton Atkinson on the blueline.
Salmon Arm SilverBacks @ Vernon Vipers– Perhaps the most heated rivalry in the whole league, the North Okanagan-Shuswap neighbours tangle at Wesbild Centre. Fans will be keen to see how Vernon performs with Jason Williamson taking over behind the bench. Returning forwards Patrick McGillis, Michael Zalewski and goalie Kirby Halcrow give them a good core. Salmon Arm has a new coach too in Colin O’Hara and feature last year’s top rookie in Bryce Gervais and playoff top scorer Brett Knowles.
Cowichan Valley Capitals @ Victoria Grizzlies– Regional rivals once again square off in the B.C. capital. Len Barrie will be running the bench this year for the Grizz and he’ll need production from Michael Colantone, Wesley Myron and recently acquired Jarryd Ten Vaanholt who had 50 points last year in Salmon Arm. The Caps missed out on the playoffs last season and will be hungry to get back. Devin Gannon should lead the attack and Steven Iacobellis’ development will be key.
Westside Warriors @ Trail Smoke Eaters– The Warriors have a lot of questions to answer as players such as Shawn Hochhausen, Brayden Sherbinin, Michael King and Dru Morrison take on larger roles. The addition of sniper Richard Vanderhoek will help too. Trail copes with the loss of some serious point-getters but has solid goaltending with Matt Larose and good blueline pieces in Nicholas Wong, Rajan Sidhu and Clayton McEwan.
Nanaimo Clippers @ Powell River Kings– Powell River is the three-time defending Coastal Conference champ so opponents won’t need much more motivation. They had five players – forwards Matt Scarth, Evan Richardson, Teagan Waugh, defenceman Jordan Paddock and goalie Sean Maguire – at the WJAC evaluation camp so they’re full of young talent. Nanaimo returns all-star blueliner Graeme McCormack and picked up Josh Bryan to join him. Andrew Gladiuk should provide scoring and Trevor Fitzgerald’s experience with Vernon last year will help him.
