The Vitals
Game: Alberni Valley Bulldogs vs Powell River Kings
Arena: Hap Parker Arena
Puck Drop: 7:30pm
Broadcast: Starting at 7:10pm on 95.7 SunFM
The Numbers
Kings This Season vs Bulldogs: 4-1-0-0
Last Meeting: Kings won 7-0
Kings at Home: 16-2-1-1
Kings Last 10: 8-2-0-0
Bulldogs on the Road: 9-11-1-0
Bulldogs Last 10: 4-6-0-0
The Setup for the Kings
The Kings put their 5-game win streak on the line against a team they have defeated during that 5-game run. There are some impressive numbers to come out of this mini-streak the team has put together, starting from the net out. Sean Maguire (4-0) and Jonah Imoo (1-0) have been red hot, allowing just 6 goals in the last 5 games. Sean Maguire in particular has been stellar, posting a shutout en route to his 4-0 record, 1.00 GAA and .962 sv%. You can’t help but feel it’s a direct response to those who felt trading Jamie Phillips was a dumb move.
Out from the net, the defence has been stellar. In particular the defensive play of Brandan Smith, who has been blocking shots and making smart plays out of his own zone. He was the only King to miss out on a point in the 10-2 against the Grizzlies, but in that game, and others, other aspects of his game have been noticably elevated (plus he got a goal the night before in Alberni!). Also chipping in are the usual suspects of Craig Dalrymple and Chris Williams on the scoresheet, with Jon Jutzi and Jordan Benton (who scored in Alberni) also playing extremely well.
Up front, it’s been scoring by committee since December for this team. Gone (mostly) are the multi-goal games from 1 or 2 players, and in coming are the single goal games by 5 players. In fact the team-scoring has been so wide-spread, that 15 different scorers have tallied the Kings 27 goals in the last 5 games. It’s tough to shut down this roster when you’re getting multiples from your “4th” line, and still getting production from all up and down your lineup. Also, credit rookie James Neil (who recently celebrated his 17th birthday) who has scored 3 goals in the last 3 games.
The Setup for the Bulldogs
A team on the outside, looking in can be very dangerous. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-game weekend where they took 2 points from a lacklustre Merritt side, and are looking to do some damage on their upcoming interior road swing which will see them play Trail on Thursday, Westside on Friday and Vernon on Saturday. The biggest weapon this team has right now, might be that of having teams look past them in the schedule. Seeing the moves they made on deadline day, and their position in the standings, it might be easy to see the Bulldogs as a pushover for any opposition. If there is one thing about this league, it’s that no opposition is a pushover (see: Trail vs Surrey last night, or Alberni vs Merritt last weekend).
Up front, the Dogs let Dylan Nowakowski go through a trade to the AJHL, and now rely on Josh Mitchell, Justin Morello and Tyler Berkholtz to carry the offensive load for the side. In net, the 5’9, 167 Max Fenkell will go tonight, according to the lineup sheet submitted earlier today. His last game was against the Kings, where he started, got pulled, then returned in the 3rd, and ended up allowing 4 goals on 19 shots in the 7-0 loss.
On the Broadcast
On the show tonight, part 1 of our BCHL Roundtable episode this week, as Fraser Rodgers, Alex Grebenyuk and myself discuss the changes to the BCHL, as handed down last week by the Board of Governors. On part 1 (airing tonight, catch part 2 tomorrow afternoon), we talk about the showcase weekend and the schedule changes. In the 2nd intermission, The NHL According to Josh will feature some talk on All-Star weekend, some predictions about the contest and how to make the weekend better. Of course Geoff Grimwood in the post-game show, some tickets to give away in our trivia contest of the night, and we’ll also talk with Sean Maguire, Evan Richardson and Chris Williams throughout the course of the night.
