The Chilliwack Chiefs open their first round BCHL playoff series Friday night, facing a team they have had a ton of trouble with.
The Surrey Eagles are in town for a 7 p.m. start at the Chilliwack Coliseum.
Guided by former Chiefs associate head coach Cam Keith, the Eagles have had Chilliwack’s number this season.
After dropping the first two head-to-head meetings back in October, Surrey has rattled off six straight victories against their Mainland division rivals.
“Cam’s got multiple lines that he can throw out there, but he’s got that one top line that’s older, that’s been in the league and he can just put them out there and have them take care of business,” Chiefs hockey boss Brian Maloney said. “That helps them, and then he’s got a goaltender who has arguably been one of the best in the league since he got in.”
The top line is anchored by a pair of elite 19 year olds, Cristophe Tellier and Hudson Schandor.
Tellier was second in the BCHL scoring parade this season with 71 points, behind only Trail superstar Kent Johnson’s absurd 101 points.
Schandor was eighth in BCHL scoring with 61 points.
They are the stars, and if you shut them down you’ve got a pretty good chance of winning.
But that’s much easier said than done.
“If we can be really responsible coming over top of the puck defensively and having our back-tracking in place, we’re going to limit a lot of their chances off the rush,” Maloney noted. “That’s where they generate most of their offence.”
Ten BCHL teams, Chilliwack included, scored more goals than the Eagles, who averaged 3.07 per game.
On paper, they don’t look like a threatening bunch, and Maloney thinks that might be part of the problem.
“To be honest, I don’t think our guys have given Surrey much credit, which is funny because they’ve spanked us around all year,” he said. “A lot of Surrey’s players are players that we were recruiting and we ended up saying no to, and I’m sure Cam is letting them know that.
“It’s motivational for them. They’re ramped up to play us every time and I don’t think our guys have taken them seriously.”
Surrey’s goaltending has been a major problem for the Chiefs in recent meetings. Thomas Scarfone faced Chilliwack on Feb. 1, making 43 saves in a 3-0 shutout win.
Overall, Scarfone has a 2.69 goals-against average and 92.0 save percentage in 33 games played.
The other Surrey netminder, Reece Klassen, has been lights out since joining the team in January.
Klassen has a 2.25 GAA and 92.4 save percentage, and in three recent outings against Chilliwack the Cloverdale kid has stopped 100 of 106 pucks.
“There were a couple games at the start of our downward spiral where we played extremely well in Surrey and we just couldn’t score,” Maloney said. “But offensively, I think if we can manage the puck better instead of trying to go through their entire team, and if we compete in every single battle, if we use our IQ and angling and stick positioning and win a lot of 50/50 races we’ll be alright.”
In the name of development, Maloney said he gave his players a long leash during the regular season.
That’s about to change.
“When it comes to the playoffs it’s simple. It’s who wants to show up and do the right things, and those are the guys who will be playing,” he said. “There’s no time to ‘figure it out.’ They have to figure it out now or they’re not going to be playing because they’ll be costing us.”
After Friday night’s clash, game two in the best-of-seven series will be Saturday (7 p.m.) at the Coliseum.
Games three and four will be Monday (7:30 p.m.) and Tuesday (7 p.m.) at the South Surrey Arena.
If the series goes to a fifth game, it would be Thursday (7 p.m.) in Chilliwack and if the series goes to a seventh game it would be Sunday (6 p.m.) in Chilliwack.
See bchl.ca for the full playoff bracket.