The Vitals
Game: Powell River Kings vs Nanaimo Clippers
Arena: Frank Crane Arena
Puck Drop: 3:00pm
Broadcast: Starting at 2:40pm on 95.7 SunFM
The Numbers
Kings This Season vs Clippers: 5-2-0-0
Last Meeting: Kings won 3-1
Kings on the Road: 15-12-1-1
Kings Last 10: 7-3-0-0
Clippers at Home: 14-10-0-5
Clippers Last 10: 4-6-0-0
The Setup for the Kings
The Kings have locked up home ice advantage, locked up 1st in the Coastal Conference and secured their first round opponent as well. In the grand scheme of things, today’s game means nothing aside from pride and personal statistics. Likely not the case though, as the Kings and Clippers always have entertaining contests.
The Kings earned this situation via wins against Nanaimo and Victoria on Friday and Saturday. They also got some help from the Eagles, meaning all they needed was 3/6 points this weekend. Had the Eagles won, today’s game would have been the decider, but not to be. In terms of personal milestones, there are a few Kings on the border of reaching a particular mark. Matt Scarth sits on 19 goals and I’m sure would desperatly love to get to 20. Teal Burns had 8 goals, so 10 is within reach for him. And forward Evan Richardson is a pair of goals away from 20 as well. Also perhaps a focus for today will be getting Jordan Paddock on the scoresheet this year. He’s been all around the net the last few weeks, especially the last two games, and would love to get his first BCHL goal.
In net, I’d imagine we’ll see Jonah Imoo today, however that is not confirmed from the coaches. With the playoff race locked up, the Kings can get Imoo some more experience to help him get playoff ready, against a tougher opponent. Most of Jonah’s games have been against Victoria, only seeing 20 or less shots. While great for the stats, getting a test against a stronger team like Nanaimo could be good.
The Setup for the Clippers
It will be a send off for the Clippers tonight. After an up and down season, they are the best of the rest in the Coast. Missing out of the playoffs, the Nanaimo side will say goodbye to some of their veterans. Top of that list will be Andrew Gladiuk, their leading scorer and a 3rd year veteran. He’s off to Bentley next season for the next step in his Junior A career. Also departing will be Graeme McCormack, heading to Bemidji State, Clayton Chessa, who came over from Trail mid-season, Dan Correale who is off to New Hampshire in the NCAA, and defenceman Josh Phillips, also NCAA bound to Sacred Heart.
Also departing will be goaltender Billy Faust, graduating to Vermont next season. I’d imagine he’ll get the start in his final Junior A game.
On the Broadcast
In our final game of the regular season, this week’s edition of the BCHL Roundtable takes centre stage. A two-parter this week going through the end of season awards, and who might get them. Dan Marshall from the Clippers and Alex Grebenyuk from the Cents will join me to give their picks in the Interior and Coastal conference.
