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Grumpy Chiefs face Rivermen back to back to back

Three games in three nights against the same team seems bound to produce animosity between the Chiefs and Langley Rivermen.

A BCHL scheduling quirk means the Chilliwack Chiefs and Langley Rivermen will get to know each other very, very, very well this weekend.

The teams play three games in three nights, something not even seen in the playoffs.

With animosity already present between the Mainland division rivals, the third game could be akin to a powder keg, stuffed with dynamite, sitting in a lake of gasoline.

It may not take much to light the fuses, and then boom!

Charlie Pelnik’s head may just pop off and fly into space.

The big blueliner from North Carolina, you may recall, lost his cool, manhandled an official and earned a gross misconduct during a 7-1 Langley loss to Chilliwack in mid-November.

The third period of that game included 44 minutes in penalties and 11 misconducts.

This weekend’s series sandwiches a Saturday night game in Chilliwack (7 p.m.) between two in Langley (Friday and Sunday).

Potential for chaos aside, these games could also have big implications in the Mainland division playoff chase.

Thanks to the horrid Surrey Eagles (7-29-0-3), no one else in the five team division is missing the playoffs.

But only one point currently separates the first place Chiefs (22-12-1-1) and second place Rivermen (20-14-1-4).

Chilliwack has three games in hand, and Langley could help themselves a lot by winning two or even three.

The Chiefs could either be vulnerable, or the Rivermen could be skating into a hornets’ nest. Losers of three straight, and winless in four, Chilliwack hasn’t won since Dec. 13 and came out of the Christmas break with losses to Surrey (3-0), Surrey (3-2) and Nanaimo (2-1).

They will be grumpy.



Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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