After six straight road games spread over back to back three game weekends, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs begin a five game home stand with two games coming up this week. Tuesday night the defending BCHL and RBC Cup Champion Vernon Vipers are in town, followed up by the first meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and the Trail Smoke Eaters at the Pound on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs enter this weekend on a 14 game winning streak, with a record of 36-10-1 and 2 which is good for 75 points and first in the Coastal Conference. The Powell River Kings are still the team closest behind the Dogs in the standings going into this week, but the lead has now been widened by the Dogs to 15 points, although the Kings do have three games in hand.
The Vernon Vipers enter the week as the top ranked team in the BCHL and the second ranked team in the nation with a record of 39-5-0-2, good for 80 points and a five point lead over the Penticton Vees for first in the Interior.
The Vipers were last in action Sunday night in Cowichan where they bounced back from a loss the night before in Victoria with a 5-1 win over the Capitals. The Vipers fell behind early, with the Caps taking a 1-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Mike Collins would pull them back to even after one with a goal in the late stages of the frame for a 1-1 tie. The Vipers came out flying in the second as they scored twice before the five minute mark to go up 3-1 ? the first coming off the stick of Cole Ikkala 90 seconds in, the second coming from Cory Kane four minutes in as the Snakes took that lead into the dressing room after two. Ikkala again scored an early goal to kick off the third as he made it 4-1 with a tally 1:50 in. He then completed the hat trick with a power play marker with four minutes to play for the 5-1 final.
Shots favoured Vernon 38-28 with Graeme Gordon picking up the win in net. The Vipes were 1 for 5 o the power play while the Caps were 0 for 5.
Both of these teams will maybe be a little fatigued entering play Tuesday as they will both be playing their fourth game in five days. The Vipers have been on the road for what probably seems like FOREVER as they have been on the Island since last Tuesday when they arrived in Nanaimo for the BCHL All-Star festivities where they bested the Coast and Interior All-Stars 7-2. The Dogs also will feel like they have been away for a long time, as they just finished playing six straight road games. There?s not much that hasn?t been said and isn?t known about the Vipers. If the Dogs hope to pick up the win to push their streak to 15 they will most likely have to play their best and most complete game of the season. This is the second meeting of the season between the teams with the Vipers taking game one by a score of 4-1 back on October 11th in Vernon.
Catch the pregame show from the Dog Pound on 93.3 The Peak FM at 6:45 with the puck dropping at 7:00pm. Listen live on 93.3 The Peak or www.933thepeak.com
Incredibly enough, It will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams when the Trail Smoke Eaters visit the on Dogs Saturday night.
The Smokies enter play this week with a record of 15-25-1 and 4, good for 35 points and 7th place and the final playoff spot in the Interior Conference. They will be a busy team leading up to Saturday, as they are in Powell River Wednesday and Victoria Friday before visiting Alberni and then finishing in Langley on Sunday. They were last in action Sunday afternoon in Westside where they had their three game winning streak halted with a 7-3 loss to the Warriors.
While these teams haven?t seen each other yet this season there is still an intriguing side note going into Saturday?s game as former Smokie Tie Lewis and former Dogs Curtis Tonello and Nick Sandor will be seeing their old teams for the first time.
Catch the pregame at 6:45 and the puck drop at 7:00pm on 93.3 The Peak FM. Watch the Pay-Per-View video broadcast through the BCHL website
Its two more big games down the stretch for the Dogs, and you can bet they?ll be excited to be back on home ice with the defending National Champs being their first test.
