The Powell River Kings continue their run in the 2015/2016 BCHL playoffs with a rematch in the Island Division final against the Nanaimo Clippers. The same two teams met in the second round last season with Nanaimo advancing in a classic 7-game battle with the home team winning each game. It’s the third consecutive year that the Kings and Nanaimo will meet in the playoffs, as the Kings won in five over Nanaimo in the first round of the 2013/2014 playoffs.
Powell River won the season series by a 5-3 margin. The Kings were 3-1 at home and 2-2 on the road in Nanaimo. The Kings also outscored Nanaimo 28-20 through the 8 games, which included a 4-0 shutout of the Clippers in Nanaimo.
September 12th, 2015 – 2-1 Nanaimo (Powell River)
September 13th, 2015 – 3-2 Powell River (Powell River)
September 19th, 2015 – 4-3 Powell River (Nanaimo)
January 2nd, 2016 – 3-1 Powell River (Powell River)
January 3rd, 2016 – 8-4 Powell River (Powell River)
January 9th, 2016 – 3-2 Nanaimo (Nanaimo)
February 19th, 2016 – 4-0 Powell River (Nanaimo)
February 20th, 2016 – 5-3 Nanaimo (Nanaimo)
The Kings saw better numbers on both the powerplay and penalty kill against Nanaimo than in the regular season. The Kings were 16.98% (9/53) on the powerplay and 85.71% (30/35) on the penalty kill.
Here’s a positional breakdown of the key stats and storylines from the season series:
Goaltending
The Powell River Kings are led in goal by 20-year-old veteran Jeff Smith. Smith helped guide the Kings to a 4-2 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the first round and has fond memories of playoff hockey against the Nanaimo Clippers, winning his lone series against the club by a 4-1 score in 2014. Smith started all five games, going 4-1 with a 2.47 GAA and .917 save percentage. So far in the playoffs this season, he’s 4-2, 2.32 GAA and a .916 sv%.
Through the season series, Smith carried the mail for the Kings. He went an impressive 5-1 against Nanaimo, sporting a 2.35 GAA and a .936 sv%. He also had one shutout, a 4-0 score on February 19th in Nanaimo. Stefan Wornig went 0-2, 2.52 GAA and a .937sv% in his action against Nanaimo this season.
Smith’s counterpart in the series will likely be Evan Johnson. The Winnipeg product and former Western Hockey Leaguer joined the Clippers early in the season and took over the starting role from the traded Jonathan Reinhart. Johnson went an impressive 22-9-1, 3.06 GAA and .905 sv% during the regular season and refined those numbers further in the playoffs by going 4-1 against the Bulldogs with a 1.53 GAA and .950 sv%, a percentage which is league leading and a goals against average that’s 2nd. Against the Kings, Johnson was 2-3, 4.02 GAA, .877sv% in 298:27 of playing time.
The Clippers had both Jakob Walter (0-1, 3.03 GAA, .893sv%) and Jonathan Reinhart (1-1, 2.04 GAA, .944sv%) also go against the Kings this year.
Defencemen
Last series we discussed the depth for the Kings on the back end. One of the key aspects of the Kings opening night roster was that out of the six players dressed, all but one had not only played for the Kings, but had played in playoff hockey for the Kings (15-year old (at the time) Jack Long was the exception). Against Cowichan, the blue line core stepped up as Adam Brubacher scored 3 goals, Rylan Ball had a crucial game 6 tally and Andy Stevens shone in a more offensive role.
In the season series, the blue liners have largely been kept quiet offensively as Rylan Ball (2-5-7) is the only King in the top 7 of series scoring, co-leading. Many of those points however did come with Ball playing forward and on a wing with Jonny Evans and Carter Turnbull. Notable is Brandon Kennedy, his lone BCHL goal came in Nanaimo earlier this year.
For Nanaimo, four blue liners crack the top 8, with Will Reilly (1-3-4), Yanni Kaldis (1-3-4), Edwin Hookenson (1-2-3) and Sean Buchanan (0-3-3) all recording multiple points. It’s an extremely experienced back end with Kaldis, Hookenson, Buchanan and Kale Bennett all returning from last year’s Fred Page Cup-finalist squad.
Forwards
The forward groupings is where these two teams differ a great deal. The Nanaimo Clippers are led by the “big three” who had the ability to control a game, or turn it into their team’s favour if needed. Sheldon Rempal was 2nd in league scoring through the regular season (59-51-110), Devin Brosseau was 4th (27-57-84) and Matthew Hoover was 7th (38-43-81).
It’s a dangerous trio of players who also performed well against the Kings, with Rempal leading the way (7-5-12), followed by Brosseau (1-10-11) and Hoover (3-4-7). Where the Clippers perhaps falter is a secondary punch. Behind the big three, there are few options. The Clippers tried to address that via the addition of Gavin Gould from Merritt (67 points in the regular season, 16 in 16 with Nanaimo) but after those four there is a 32 point drop off to the next highest scoring forward, Chris Dodero (14-21-35). Playoff numbers also support this as Lucas Finner and Spencer Hewson registered three points against the Kings this season.
The Kings had their offence more spread out, although not as prolific as Nanaimo. Outside of the aforementioned Ball, Curtis McCarrick (3-4-7) and Tristan Mullin (4-3-7) led the way for the Kings. Carter Turnbull, a Nanaimo product, was right behind with 4-2-6, while Liam Lawson (2-3-5), Jonny Evans (1-4-5) and Nick Halagian (3-1-4) also contributed.
One interesting number from the forward groupings, Nanaimo’s top three scorers are also their top three penalty minute earners in the season series with Rempal (18) leading Brosseau (17) and Hoover (17). By contract, Nick Halagian (33) led the way for the Kings, largely up against the Clippers big three. Nick Nonis (20) and Jeremy LeClerc (16) followed suit.
The schedule for the series is as follows:
Game 1: Friday March 18th (7:00pm) @ Nanaimo
Game 2: Saturday March 19th (7:00pm) @ Nanaimo
Game 3: Monday March 21st (7:00pm) @ Powell River
Game 4: Tuesday March 22nd (7:00pm) @ Powell River
Game 5*: Thursday March 24th (7:00pm) @ Nanaimo
Game 6*: Friday March 25th (7:15pm) @ Powell River
Game 7*: Sunday March 27th (7:00pm) @ Nanaimo
* – if necessary
The winner of the series will advance to the Round Robin portion of the BCHL Playoffs and face the winner of the Mainland Division Final (Chilliwack vs Wenatchee) and the Interior Division Final (Penticton vs West Kelowna).
Tickets for the two confirmed home games are available through tickets.powellriverkings.com. All games will be broadcast live on the Kings Broadcast Network, 95.7CoastFM and FastHockey PPV beginning 20 minutes prior to opening faceoff each night.
