The puck has dropped on the BCHL’s 2021-22 season, in a much-anticipated return to somewhat of a sense of normalcy.

Following a 2020-21 season that saw an unprecedented use of ‘pod’ division, with the Merritt Centennials only matching up against the Prince George Spruce Kings and the Chilliwack Chiefs, the league has now taken on a two-division approach that will see the Cents battle most of their counterparts throughout the rest of the province.

Oct. 8’s season opener, however, saw a familiar foe in the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Kings had the Cents’ number in two games of the preseason, with the Cents looking to bounce back in front of a crowd of just over 300.

It was the Cents that actually got on the board first, when Walker Erickson made himself an early candidate for goal of the year, going inside/outside on a one-on-one with a PG defender before wristing it home just before the midway mark of the first period.

From there, however, it was all Kings – the visiting team took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, before blowing the gates wide open in the second period, prompting Cents goaltender John Hicks to be replaced by rookie Brayden Melnyk in the third with the score at 6-1.

Melnyk stopped 13 of 15 shots in the final frame for a score of 8-1.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks played the visitor at the NVMA the following night in their first action of the year, peppering Melnyk with 13 shots in the opening frame. They continued their onslaught into the second period with 19 more, though Melnyk stood tall, with the Cents down just 2-1 after forty minutes.

Any chance of a comeback was thwarted, however, when Salmon Arm notched an empty netter late in the game for a final score of 3-1. Third-year forward Jerzy Orchard had Merritt’s only tally.

For his efforts between the pipes, Melnyk earned second star of the game, stopping 44 of the 46 shots he faced.

The Cents will be looking to bounce back this weekend in two more matchups with the Spruce Kings, first paying a visit to Rolling Mix Concrete Arena on Oct. 15 at 7p.m.

They then return to the ice 24 hours later for a rematch.

After the opening week of the season, the Penticton Vees lead the way in the Interior division, toppling both the Vernon Vipers and the Wenatchee Wild.