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Salmon Plays At Alberni Valley

The Silverbacks (18-26-3-3) are scheduled to visit the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (16-27-2-7) tonight at 7pm. Salmon Arm hit the road on Friday for three games in as many days on Vancouver Island. But due to road conditions and closures the Silverbacks did not arrive in Nanaimo until after 9pm last night, forcing their scheduled game with the Cowichan Valley Capitals (21-26-2-3) to be postponed till Wednesday, February 22nd at 6pm in Duncan, BC. Salmon Arm will meet the Victoria Grizzlies (33-11-4-3) tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.

The Silverbacks and Trail Smoke Eaters (24-24-1-4) played for 70 minutes on Tuesday night, a 1-1 tie at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm. Ryley Booth returned on Tuesday, the 20-year-old defenseman missed six games with an upper body injury. Both Max Wutzke and Grayson Constable sat out, each injured last weekend in the Lower Mainland and Constable is not on the trip this weekend.

Affiliates of the Okanagan Rockets in the BCMLL will draw into the Silverbacks lineup, 16-year-old defenseman Cody Schiavon and 18-year-old forward Daniel Fisher. Alberni Valley fell 3-1 on the road on Friday at the Nanaimo Clippers (21-26-1-5).

Salmon Arm has a record of 0-2-0-1 in February, and 3-6-1-1 in January. The Bulldogs are 1-2-0-1 this month, and finished January with a record of 4-6-0-1. The Silverbacks are 2-4-0-1 versus the Island Division and 11-13-1-1 on the road. Alberni Valley is 8-11-1-5 at home, 6-2-0-1 versus the Interior. The Bulldogs will visit Salmon Arm next weekend on Friday, February 17th at 7pm.

The Silverbacks have 42 points in 50 games and are sixth in the Interior, Salmon Arm needs seven points in the final eight games to secure the final playoff spot. The top two teams in the Interior will receive a first round bye, with third place meeting sixth and fourth versus fifth in Best-of-7 series to begin the post-season.

The Surrey Eagles (16-32-0-4) lost 5-4 in overtime on Thursday at home to the Langley Rivermen (27-16-2-5). Surrey is fifth in the Mainland and six points back of the Silverbacks who have two games in hand, the fifth place team on the Mainland has an opportunity to crossover into the first round in the Interior.

Salmon Arm’s next home game is set for Wednesday, February 15th with the West Kelowna Warriors (25-24-0-2) at 7pm at the Shaw Centre. Each Silverbacks game is webcast PPV at hockeytv.com Each road game is broadcast live via voiceoftheshuswap.ca CKVS 93.7 FM and each home game is available audio only at mixlr.com/salmon-arm-silverbacks/Tune into Salmon Arm community radio each Monday at 7pm, and Tuesday at 7am for 30 minutes or more Silverbacks hockey talk.