The Alberni Valley Bulldogs open their Coastal Conference Semifinal tonight with Game 1 against the Chilliwack Chiefs at the Coliseum. Game time is 7pm.
This is the 2nd consecutive season the clubs have met in the post-season. Last season the Bulldogs swept the Chiefs to claim the 1st Coastal Conference championship in club history and advance to the BCHL Championship series.
This series is expected to be much tighter.
In the regular season, the Chiefs edged the Bulldogs by 2 points in the standings. The Chiefs were 32-17-4-1, while the Bulldogs were 33-20-1-0.
The clubs split the season series with each club winning twice on home ice. Home ice should play a big factor in this series and the Chiefs having the advantage is no small story. Including last year’s playoffs, the Bulldogs are 4-2-1-1 at the Coliseum, while the Chiefs are just 1-8-0-0 at the Dawg Pound. If the Bulldogs can steal a road win early in the series, it could be huge.
The Bulldogs outscored the Chiefs 14-10 in the 4 game set.
The Chiefs are coming into this series on a 7 game winning streak. After finishing the regular season with 3 consecutive wins, the Chiefs dispatched the Langley Rivermen in 4 straight to open the playoffs. It’s worth noting that 3 of those 4 games went to OT with the Chiefs finding a way each time. The Bulldogs of course went the distance against Coquitlam, so there is no denying that the Chiefs are the more rested team entering the series.
After playing 33 minutes of Game 1 against Langley, Chiefs starting goalie Vladimir Nikitin left the crease and didn’t return for the remainder of the series. Austin McNicholas stepped in admirably posting a 4-0 record with a 1.70 GAA and a .936 save %. McNicholas stopped 103 of 110 shots Langley sent his way. McNicholas was just 1-1 vs the Bulldogs in the regular season with 8 goals allowed in the 2 games and a .879 save %.
Callum Tung is coming off a tremendous series against the Express and will no doubt be leaned on heavily against the Chiefs. Tung has stopped 78 of his last 80 shots, all with his team facing elimination. The performance is enough to trigger some PTSD in fans of the Campbell River Storm during Tung’s stint in the VIJHL a couple of seasons back. Tung led the Cinderella Bombers into battle against the juggernaut Storm and almost pulled off the upset of the century before the Storm escaped in 7 games. Tung finished that series with a .951 save % and averaged over 52 saves per game.
Game 3 and 4 are set for the Dawg Pound next Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Tickets are available online or at the Bulldogs box office.
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