The Royal Bank Cup champion Vernon Vipers handed the Merritt Centennials their fourth straight loss Tuesday night at Wesbild Centre.

The Cents have struggled since beating the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 10 – 3 Jan. 31, losing four straight games, two of which have been at the hands of the Vipers.

The loses have allowed the Quesnel Millionaires to take fifth spot in the BCHL's interior conference and the Trail Smoke Eaters remain only one point behind the Cents.

“We've played well at times but the reality is, we need to pick up some points right now,” said Cents head coach and general manager Luke Pierce, following the loss Tuesday night.

The Cents have four games remaining in the regular season and if the playoffs were today, they would face the Westside Warriors in the first round of playoffs.

The Cents have stepped up offensively as of late but goaltending has come into question and the Cents have had some poor first periods.

“They weren't playing their best hockey,” says Pierce of the play of goaltenders Cole Holowenko and Keith Hamilton.
“They have played well other nights and won us some games.”

The Western Hockey League prospects have looked stellar at times but have been unable to maintain consistent play throughout the season.

The added help between the pipes would only enhance the effectiveness of the Cents top line of Dustin Johnson, who has amassed seven points in the last four games, Jeff Jones, and Alex Valenti.

“The Johnson-Jones-Valenti line has been pretty stellar here the last couple of weeks and we're going to need them to carry that into the next few games and into the playoffs,” says Pierce.

Johnson is currently leading Centennial scoring with 62 points, while Jeff Jones is third with 47 points, and Valenti has 34 points.

The Cents lost a close game against the Nanaimo Clippers Feb. 2 and were defeated by the Vernon Vipers the following Friday, 7 – 3.

The Cowichan Valley Capitals were in town Saturday. Cowichan goaltenders Laurent Brossoit and stood in front of 51 Centennial shots, seven of them going through.

The Cents seven-goal effort was amazingly not enough as the Caps went on to win 8 – 7.

Cowichan's Chase Kaiser scored the game winner on the powerplay from Ryan Green and Shayne Taker.

The Cents have a challenging four games remaining in their season; two against Salmon Arm, and games against Penticton, and Trail.

The Cents next home game is against Salmon Arm on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and Alexandre Peck their last game at home against Trail Feb. 20.

The Cents have announced that there spring evaluation camp will take place April 2 – 4 at the NV Memorial Arena.
The camp is open to all players born from 1991-95 with Bantam/Midget rep calibre experience.