Game: Cowichan Valley Capitals vs Powell River Kings
Arena: Hap Parker Arena
Puck Drop: 7:15pm
Broadcast: Starts at 6:55pm
95.7 Coast FM in Powell River
Kings Broadcast Network
FastHockey PPV Video
Kings Record: 27-18-0-3 (2nd Island)
Opposition Record: 23-18-3-3 (3rd Island)
The split a weekend series against Coquitlam and West Kelowna, taking three of a possible four points via a regulation win against the Express and dropping a 6-5 overtime decision to West Kelowna. The Kings have points in their last 5 games and 6 of their last 7.
Cowichan Valley are coming off a 5-0 shutout of the Coquitlam Express following a big 7-1 defeat to the Warriors the night prior. The Caps have been streaky in 2016 so far, winning their first three, dropping the next 3 (one via a tie), then going 2-2 in the 4 following.
- Lets get the elephant in the room out of the way, because this weekend will do one of two things. If the Kings can sweep, or get a 3-of-4 type scenario, then you would have to think that 2nd spot in the Island Division would be Powell River’s come the end of the month. That’s far from a mathematical certainty, but the current 5 point gap would balloon to a potential 9 with less than 10 games remaining. It’d still require the Kings to be good down the stretch, but it would give them a real good cushion the rest of the way. The flip side is if the Caps come into Powell River, buck historic trends and come away with the bulk of the points, the gaps shrinks to potentially just 1 point and the Caps have a game in hand. Then we’re set up for a drag race to the finish. It’s important to note that if this scenario comes to pass, the Caps would take the tiebreaker against the Kings in season series performance.
- On playoffs, the Kings have an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot this weekend with favourable results at home and a bit of help out of town. We’ll keep you updated over the weekend and let you know when the Kings earn that little ‘x’. It’ll be the 15th straight appearance in the BCHL post-season if/when it happens.
- The historic trends I mentioned was the fact that Powell River has not been a friendly venue for the Capitals. Last season’s overtime win was their first pair of points here in over 20 games. In regulation, the slump is at 36 games, dating back to November 2005.
- The Kings continue to have access to a full 22 players for games, making Kent Lewis’ job harder by the day. He’s said on a few occasions during interviews that guys will find themselves out of the lineup for no real reason at all. He’s wanting to institute a sort of rotational policy, as well as a chance for guys to see the game a bit differently in the stands. It’s not punishment, it’s maintenance and education and I’d expect that to continue tonight.
- Don’t expect to see too much change for the Kings in terms of lineup, aside from the aforementioned rotational policy that the Kings have adopted down the stretch. The Kings lines have been fairly set for a few weeks now as the team looks to build chemistry and cement things ahead of the post season. That’s not to say that we won’t have a couple of shuffles as Kent Lewis has mentioned his desire to expose both Rylan Ball and Brandon Kennedy to life up front on the forward lines, a role both have played at points in their respective careers.
- Offensively, the Kings haven’t had trouble scoring the last few weeks. Carter Turnbull leads the way with goals in his last 3 games. Tristan Mullin scored 4 goals in the pair of games last weekend.
- Expect Jeff Smith tonight despite a bit of a rough outing on Saturday. No-one was very good in Saturday’s 2nd period against the Warriors, with the Kings netminder badly wanting at least 2 of the 5 back. However he (and the team) rebounded very well into the third and shook anything off to tie the game early in the frame and battle for a game winner which unfortunately never came.
- Expect also some chances on the powerplay. Cowichan are the (tied) 2nd most penalised team in the BCHL, 257 times shorthanded, behind only Nanaimo. By contract, the Kings are the 2nd least penalised team at 171, behind only Wenatchee (170). A powerplay however doesn’t mean 2 minutes of offensive setup against Cowichan, they’re 2nd in the BCHL for shorthanded goals scored with 11.
The broadcast goes live on 95.7 Coast FM in Powell River at 6:55pm. It will also be online on the Kings Broadcast Network and FastHockey PPV. In the 1st intermission, we’ll talk with Adam Brubacher about his recent commitment to RIT for next season, plus Jeremy LeClerc on managing the Capitals this weekend. In the 2nd break, we’ll talk about a potential first round Powell River/Cowichan matchup with the voice of the Caps Jeff Sargeant. Brock Sawyer will join us after 60 in the post-game show.
