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The BCHL Interior conference playoff race will come down to the very last games of the season, which wrap up Sunday night with a game between Penticton and Trail.
For the Merritt Centennials, it could mean, at the very worst, a first round match up against the Vernon Vipers or, at best, a series against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, a team Merritt has owned as of late.
“It could be any of the three,” said Luke Pierce, Centennials head coach and general manager.
The Cents currently hold the last playoff spot, now clinched by the Cents, but sit only two points out of fifth spot, currently held by the Quesnel Millionaires.
The Cents will play either Vernon, Penticton, Westside, or Salmon Arm in the first round of BCHL playoffs, which begin Feb. 26 and 27.
The Cents beat the Silverbacks at the Sunwave Centre in Salmon Arm Friday night, the second straight win for the Cents against the normally consistent Salmon Arm club. The Cents recorded their biggest win of the season against the Backs on Jan. 31, a 10 – 3 victory at the Nicola Valley Arena.
“It's going to be tough no matter who we play,” says Pierce.
“Salmon Arm is going to be a different team but it's nice to have the confidence knowing you can beat a team.”
The first place position in the interior conference hangs in the loom as Penticton and Vernon battle for it with just a few points difference between the two of them. The first place team will get a buy into the second round.
The Vees handed the Cents a 9 – 3 loss at the South Okanagan Events Centre Saturday night before a crowd of 2200.
The Cents came out shaky and gave up three quick goals early in the first period.
“They finish on their powerplays every single time,” said Cents captain Jordan Soquila. The Vees scored three powerplay goals in the first period.
Goaltender Keith Hamilton, who backstopped the Cents during their 4 – 3 win over Salmon Arm the previous night, was pulled after letting in 3 goals on about a dozen shots and was relieved by Cole Holowenko who was faced with another 37 shots.
Hamilton, who has started most of the recent games, has been the scapegoat on several occasions when the Cents have had bad starts.
The Vees offence managed to penetrate the Centennials defence and found their way to the slot area with ease.
“I was kind of surprised with the lack of energy we had,” said Pierce.
The weak starts has been a major problem for the Cents all season and Pierce says the team will continue going over ways of rectifying the matter.
Soquila acknowledges the Cents' poor starts and says the club needs to work on the basics; chipping the puck into the zone and keeping shots on goal to the outside.
The disappointing loss to Penticton did have some bright spots.
Defenceman Steve Tresierra scored two goals for the Cents, the other coming from forward Alexander MacMillan.
Forward Dustin Johnson, the Cents leading scorer, assisted on two goals.
Going into the playoffs, Soquila says the Cents would prefer a first round match up against Westside or Salmon Arm but says they are prepared for the Vees or Vipers.
“We need to hit everything that moves,” says Soquila, if the Cents are to play the high- finesse Vees.
“We need to keep things simple and shut down their key lines – constant body contact and ware them out.”
The Centennials host the Silverbacks Wednesday night and play their last game of the regular season Saturday night against the Trail Smoke Eaters at NVM Arena.
The Centennials will play their first playoff game next weekend, the first time since the 2006-07 season.
Centennials defenceman Mitch Jones has been suspended for the remainder of the season.
Coach Pierce says the teams is generally healthy, but a few players are battling the flu.
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