For the first time in five seasons, the Merritt Centennials have made it to the second round of the BCHL playoffs, thanks to a four-games-to-none sweep of the West Kelowna Warriors in their best-of-seven first round series.
Cents’ head coach and GM Joe Martin feels good about his team moving forward.
“The biggest thing coming out of the West Kelowna series is what we learned about ourselves, and how we learned to handle some pretty adverse situations. In the past, some of those kinds of games didn’t go our way. This time around, we found a way to make them go in our direction.”
Martin went on to add, “[The series win] was a real team effort. Sure we had Tyler Ward rack up seven goals, Stephan Seeger score a pair of overtime winners, and [netminder] Jake Berger earn four wins, but what really won the series for us was our ability to use four lines up front and three defensive pairings each and every night. Everybody was involved and contributing somehow. Ultimately, I think that was the difference between [West Kelowna] and us.”
The Centennials will need all hands on deck in round two of the playoffs. Their next opponent is a formidable one. The Penticton Vees have been a veritable juggernaut in the British Columbia Hockey League in recent years, winning the Interior division’s regular season the last six years in a row, and the overall league title on three of those occasions. They’ve also hoisted the Fred Page Cup as league playoff champions three times in the last 10 seasons and earned one RBC national championship.
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Recent meetings in the post-season between the two long-time rivals have not been kind to the Cents. In four best-of-seven series dating back to 2005-06, Merritt has won only one game. The most recent matchup, in 2013-14, saw the Vees sweep the Cents in four straight, and outscore them 23-10.
This year’s series with Penticton sees Merritt going in as very much the underdog. In seven regular-season meetings between the two teams this season, the Centennials picked up just one victory — a 3-2 win on home ice on Jan. 13.
While the odds appear stacked against the Centennials, Martin feels his team can draw a lot of inspiration from its success against the Warriors.
“I like our frame of mind on the ice, and how we kept attacking hockey games — the players going out there and dictating how things were going to go. We didn’t play like we were afraid to lose.”
Merritt assistant coach Matt Samson, who runs the defence, was very happy with his blueline brigade in the West Kelowna series.
“As a group, they did a good job,” he said. “Nobody tried to be too fancy. It was nice to have the veteran presence of Tyrell Buckley, Mike Faulkner, Zach Bleuler and Aaron Murray. And when Buckley was out (with a suspension), I thought Michael Van Unen and Ethan King filled in admirably.”
“Our team was more focused with the puck, and did a good job of putting teammates in favourable positions,” said Martin. “There’s a big difference between the regular season and the playoffs, and understanding when you can and can’t do things.
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“Against Penticton, we’ll have to continue to play smart. They’re a very good hockey team. We’re going into the series thinking only one game at a time. The objective is to simply get better every day.”
The Cents and Vees were the two least-penalized teams in the league this season with 145 and 154 minutes respectively. Maintaining that discipline, and making the most of what few man-advantage situations there are will be crucial.
Leading up to the post-season, both teams have relied on scoring-by-committee. Neither side has a player in the top-10 in individual scoring league-wide. Penticton is led by Nicholas Jones and Grant Cruikshank, while Ward, Zach Risteau and Cade Gleekel are the top point getters for Merritt.
Statistically, the Vees have the edge in goaltending, with 20-year-old Mathew Robson amassing a 35-13-0-1 record in 49 starts this season, and an impressive .930 save-percentage to go with a 1.94 goals-against average. That said, Martin likes his puck-stopping tandem of Berger and Colton Lancaster. Both finished in the top-10 in regular-season save percentage.
Games one and two of the series take place on Friday and Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton. Games three and four go on Monday and Tuesday of next week back in Merritt.
