The final home game of the 2018/19 BCHL season won’t be easy for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Tonight kicks off a home and home series against the Penticton Vees with the final game of each team’s season being played tomorrow in the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Penticton Vees are a team that have won the Interior Division seven seasons in a row, and they are currently tied for that spot with the Merritt Centennials. Penticton won’t be able to coast into first place this year, and with a strong Merritt team playing a pair of games, both will be fighting right to the end.
Salmon Arm can’t be slouching either, as home ice advantage in the Interior Division is still in sight for them. Vernon won Wednesday night moving them three points ahead in the standings, which means Salmon Arm needs at least three points in their final two games, and will be hoping for a Vipers loss tomorrow in Merritt.
This season, the series has been split right down the middle between Salmon Arm and Penticton. The Silverbacks opened things off with a shootout win here in the Shaw Centre, and their other win came down in the South Okanagan Events Centre during the first game of 2019. Penticton has one win at home over Salmon Arm, and one here in the Shaw Centre as well so both teams have one home win and one road win against one another.
After a four game winning streak, Salmon Arm has now won once in their last five games as they are in the midst of a tough stretch against some of the toughest teams in the BCHL (three against Wenatchee, and one against the league leading Chilliwack Chiefs). Penticton is on a slide themselves with a 2-3-2 record in the last seven games.
STANDINGS:
Only the Wenatchee Wild head into this weekend knowing where they will finish in the standings for the Interior Division. Every other team in the league has the chance to either rise or fall in the standings meaning a lot of important hockey will be played. With 59 points and two games left, the Silverbacks are three points behind Vernon who only have one game left. If the two teams tie in the standings, Salmon Arm has the tie breaker to move them ahead for fourth in the Interior Division. If Salmon Arm can’t pickup any points this weekend, and the West Kelowna Warriors sweep their double header with Trail, the Warriors would drop Salmon Arm to sixth in the Interior.
Mentioned earlier, Penticton is tied with Merritt, and hold the tie breaker as both teams play two more games this weekend. Penticton has the double header against Salmon Arm, while Merritt plays tonight against Langley, and tomorrow at home against the Vernon Vipers.
Who to Watch:
Silverbacks: With an assist Tuesday against the Wenatchee Wild, Matthew Verboon guaranteed himself the league record this season for most games in a row with a point at home with 14. Tonight he will aim for #15 against a team he has played just two times this season. He missed the games in early January while he was playing in Vancouver at the 2019 World Juniors for Switzerland. He has one goal in those two games. Since coming back from the World Juniors, Verboon has been held off the scoresheet just once in 17 games, and has 27 points in that span. A shoutout to Darren Rizzolo, Andy Stevens, Sam MacBean, Jack Sampson, and Justin Wilson (if healthy) as the team’s five 20 year olds will be playing in their final regular season BCHL home games today!
Vees: After 18 goals in the first 41 games of the season, defenceman James Miller doesn’t have any goals in the last 15 games. The 20 year old has two goals and one assist in four games this season against Salmon Arm this year. Overall he has 62 points in 56 games this season which leads all defencemen in the BCHL. Acquired right after they played the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, 20 year old Ty Pochipinski returned from Colorado College, and in 16 games has four points for the team. The former Cowichan Valley Capital forward had 38 games in 58 games last year playing on the Island.
TUNE IN
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