The Alberni Valley Bulldogs (33-20-1-0) host the Coquitlam Express (21-29-1-3) in Game 1 of the Coastal Conference Quarterfinals presented by the Port Authority tonight at 7pm.
54 games down, and all 16 playoff participants are back to square one at 0-0, all looking for their next 4 wins as they attempt to run the gauntlet of the BCHL playoffs. 16 wins total, and you can call yourselves champions.
The Penticton Vees enter the BCHL playoffs as the two-time defending champion, attempting to be the 1st team since the Vipers to 3-peat. The Bulldogs are hoping they learned a thing or two along the way last year when they were swept by the Vees in BCHL Championship series late last May.
Going up against Coquitlam the Bulldogs have far more experience than the Express.
With 9 players returning from their run last year, the Bulldogs have 152 games of BCHL playoff hockey under their belts. When you add in Hayden Stavroff & Ryan Buckley’s conference final appearance last year with Salmon Arm and Fischer O’Brien’s experience with the WHL’s Cougars, and there should be plenty of know-how in the Bulldogs line-up.
By contrast, the Express have just 20 games of experience, 10 of which belong to their captain Luke Vardy by virtue of his two 5 game exits in the opening round. Experience is tough to fabricate and the Bulldogs have to hope the knowledge of “been there, done that” will provide some calming energy in a scenario where all too often it’s the jittery mistakes early in a playoff series that can come back to haunt you.
Turmoil surrounds the Express entering the Quarterfinal. Gone is Paddy Sexton, their likeable bench boss that had a ton of championship experience as a player with the Penticton Vees. Terminated this week, the Express enter the post-season with a make-shift staff with a surprise addition expected by game time tonight.
Coquitlam has lost 5 straight and since Christmas have won just 7 of their 29 games.
The Bulldogs meanwhile are all-systems go as the puck drops for Game 1. With exception of the injury to defenceman Matias Myllykoski, they’re healthy and playing good hockey entering the playoffs, just as the staff had preached down the stretch. Winners of 4 straight overall, and 7 straight at the Dawg Pound, the Bulldogs look ready.
It was one of the best offensive seasons the Bulldogs had put together in some time with 203 goals on the year. The Express meanwhile had the 3rd highest goals allowed total in the conference. The Bulldogs of course are led at the top by the BCHL’s leading goal scorer this season Hayden Stavroff, and their veteran captain Nicholas Beneteau who finished with a career-high 63 points, good for 5th in the league.
Callum Tung and fellow 20 year old Adam Manji were goalies headed in different directions as the season came to a close. Manji really struggled down the stretch as he dropped his last 4 games of the regular season and allowed 19 goals over that time. Tung meanwhile won his last 4, allowing just 7 goals and posted a save % of .943 down the stretch.
Special teams are always so important in the post-season and this series provides a bit of a strange match-up. The Bulldogs and Express were at the bottom of the chart for the league power play leaders at 16th & 17th combined. Both clubs possess a strong PK with Coquitlam ranked 2nd and the Bulldogs 6th. If one team can figure our how to capitalize on the power play, it could be a momentum swinger.
As mentioned, the Bulldogs have won 7 straight at home and finished the season with a record of 19-7-1-0 at the Dawg Pound. Coquitlam was just 9-16-1-1 away from the palace on Poirier.
As the Bulldogs saw first hand last year, the fans make all the difference in the post season. As famed broadcaster Evan Hammond likes to declare, “Goals in Bunches” are a real thing at the Dawg Pound, and a large part of that is you the fan. The rink can be an intimidating place and when the horn gets rolling, so do the fans. The Bulldogs sold out 5 straight playoff games to finish last season’s run, and can only hope to recreate some of the magic they found last year when the fans most certainly got Rowdy on Roger.
The Box Office is open at 10 am right through game time, or you can skip the trip and buy online for tonight’s game by CLICKING HERE
