What the heck happened!
Eight days ago, the Merritt Centennials were tied for the top of the BCHL’s Interior Division with a 5-1 record. They had allowed just eight goals in their first six games and were +14 in goals-for versus goals-against. Their special teams were rolling, and the team’s netminders were ranked one and two in the league. The Cents had even climbed to 10th place in the CJHL’s weekly ranking of Jr. A teams across the country.
Fast forward a little more than a week and oh, how things have changed. The Cents have lost their last three outings badly by a combined score of 17-4. Their scoring has dried up, and their special teams’ ratings have tumbled to average at best. Not surprisingly, the team is nowhere to be found in this week’s CJHL top-20 rankings.
Were the Cents that good at the beginning of the season, and suddenly that bad now? Did they let their lofty status in the standings and impressive array of statistics go to their collective head and forget what got them there?
According to Cents head coach and GM, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
“We deserved some of the success that we had early, but it could just have easily gone the other way. We caught a few breaks and had some luck — everything just seemed to click. I think that maybe we got a bit too confident.”
Pierce felt that his team’s game against West Kelowna on October 4 was a bit of a turning point.
“We still managed a win (2-1), but the luck started to go away from us. When that trend continued in Penticton last Wednesday, our players didn’t know how to regain traction.”
The Vees won that mid-week showdown for first place, 4-2. The game wasn’t really as close as the score would indicate.
“I thought that our first five minutes were really good,” Pierce said. “We came out strong and generated some chances. Unfortunately, they scored on a power play and it seemed to suck the life out of us. In the second period, we were dead, flat. We got caught watching them.”
The Vees scored twice more in the middle stanza to take a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes. The shot count stood at 26-13 in favour of Penticton.
The Centennials got two quick goals from Rhett Willcox and Diego Cuglietta to make things interesting in the third period, but an empty-net tally by the Vees’ Riley Alferd squashed any chances of a Merritt comeback on a night when they quite frankly did not deserve to win.
Things got uglier 48 hours later as the Cents were crushed 7-1 by the Chilliwack Chiefs in the second meeting between the two teams this year.
It was a long night for Merritt players and coaches.
“We didn’t get good saves when we needed good saves; we didn’t get [penalty] kills when we needed kills; our power play didn’t score when we needed to score,” Pierce said. “All the timely things that had gone so well in the first few games started to go against us and we didn’t know how to correct it.”
Cents starting netminder Anthony Pupplo was replaced by call-up Kristian Stead in the second period with Merritt down by three to the Chiefs, but it failed to stop the bleeding.
The only bright spot on an otherwise dismal night was Malik Kaila’s first regular-season goal in the BCHL in the third period that ended Aidan Pelino’s shutout bid in the Chilliwack net.
The bloodletting continued the next night on home ice as the Centennials fell again, 6-1, to the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Four of the visitors’ goals came on the power play. Pierce felt his team didn’t have their hearts and minds in the game.
“There was definitely a lack of emotion,” he said. “You could feel it on the bench, and it transferred onto the ice.”
Merritt’s goal production continued to be MIA, as only Daniel Nachbaur was able to beat ’Backs’ starter Angus Redmond early in the second period.
“There’s obviously a lack of finish in our game,” Pierce said. “We’ve had clear breakaways and missed the net; we’ve had the goalie down and out with the puck just lying there and we haven’t buried it.”
It is notable that the top point-getting Centennial, Gavin Gould, currently sits in 50th place in the league’s scoring race with just two goals and six assists for eight points.
Centennials captain Sam Johnson says there’s no secret to turning things around for his team.
“What we have to do is focus on what we can control — our work ethic, our effort, and winning the one-on-one battles. We want to work hard enough that the bounces go our way.
“We have a lot of good guys in the room,” Johnson said, “and they’re not happy with how things went on the weekend. Everyone wants to make sure that we get back in the wins column.
“The next game is a big test to see what we really do have. I’m confident that we’re up to the challenge,” the Cents captain said.
That next game is this Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the visiting West Kelowna Warriors. It promises to be a lively affair. The last time the two teams played, they racked up 128 minutes in penalties.
“It’s one of my favourite rivalries,” Johnson said. “We just don’t have a good relationship with them at all.”
Adding some additional flavour to the showdown between the cross-Connector rivals will be the presence of former Centennial Bennett Huber in the Warriors’ lineup. Huber hails from Alberta, just like Johnson.
“I’m really looking forward to playing against him,” Johnson said. “He’s a good friend, but when we’re on the ice, it’s all business.”
Merritt will wrap up their weekend at home with a Sunday matinee game against the Island Division’s Victoria Grizzlies, starting at 2 p.m.
The Centennials should have plenty of motivation to ‘dump the slump’ they’re currently experiencing as it’s Parents Weekend.
A whole host of moms, pops and assorted siblings are expected to descend on the Nicola Valley to take in the two weekend home games as well as the 20th anniversary Icebreaker gala at the Civic Centre on Saturday night.
“[Parents weekend] gives you a real lift,” Johnson said. His parents and sister are due in town from Calgary. “Everyone wants to play well in front of their family.”
Pierce, too, is looking forward to all the hoopla surrounding Parents Weekend.
“It’s always fun to have the families around,” the coach said. They’re an important part of what got these players to where they are in their hockey careers.”
OVERTIME
Three Cents players are expected to be out of the lineup this weekend due to injuries. Netminder Jonah Imoo continues to rehab a pulled hamstring and is at least a week or two away from a full recovery. Defenceman Shane Poulsen is day-to-day with a lower body injury, while forward Adam Tracey is out a month or more with an unspecified upper body injury.
Call-up goaltender Kristian Stead has returned to 100 Mile House of the KIJHL for important weekend games with his club. His replacement on the Cents’ bench for this weekend has not been announced.
Cuglietta and Duhaime land NCAA Division 1 scholarships
The Merritt Centennials hockey club has announced that two of its players have recently committed to NCAA Division 1 schools.
In early September, 19-year-old forward Diego Cuglietta signed a letter of intent to attend Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, beginning in September 2015.
At LSSU, Cuglietta will join former Centennials Scotty Patterson and Jason Bird.
Last week, it was 17-year-old Cents rookie forward Brandon Duhaime who committed to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, starting in the 2017-18 season. Currently playing for the Bears are Cents graduates Brandon Pfeil and Tyler Steel.
Watch for more details on these signings in the weeks ahead.
