Salmon Arm sniper Landon Smith ended up leading the BCHL in scoring. (Damon James photo.)
The BCHL opens its playoffs on six fronts Tuesday
Among the highlights is the regular season champion Langley Rivermen playing host to the reigning league champion Surrey Eagles in the opener of their Mainland Division semifinal.
Langley (37-13-3-5) made a 28-point increase from last season and a 38-point one from two campaigns ago. The 37 wins is the most for a Langley-based franchise in the BCHL in the past decade.
“It’s a new role for us,” Langley coach and general manager Bobby Henderson said of being a favourite in a playoff series, “but I think it’s something our guys have been willing to embrace. They’ve battled all the way through the year.”
Langley’s led offensively by Mitch McLain, 20, a forward from Minnesota in his second year with Langley. He put up 24 goals and 60 points in 57 games.
“He’s the heart and soul of our team,” Henderson said of McLain, who has committed to Bowling Green.
They other Mainland match-up pits the second-place Prince George Cougars (32-20-4-2) and the third-place Coquitlam Express (27-26-2-3). The Express led the league with 19 short-handed goals.
In the Interior, it’s the No. 1 Penticton Vees (36-16-2-4) versus the No. 4 Merritt Centennials (31-22-4-1) and the No. 2 West Kelowna Warriors (35-15-3-5) and No. 3 Vernon Vipers (30-18-4-6).
Penticton had the league’s stingiest goals against (137, 18 fewer than next closer Langley) and its best power play (23.5 per cent, highlighted by a 26.8 per cent road mark).
And on the Island, it’s No. 1 Victoria Grizzlies (37-15-3-3) and the No. 4 Alberni Valley Bulldogs (21-28-2-7) and the No. 2 Power River Kings (36-16-2-4) versus the No. 3 Nanaimo Clippers (27-28-1-2).
The Bulldogs, ironically, got in the playoffs with a little help from the Grizzlies. Victoria beat Cowichan Capitals on the last day of league play and it played a role in Alberni Valley qualiiyng.
The league’s leading scorer from the regular season, Landon Smith of the Salmon Arm SilverBacks, is on the outside looking in for the playoffs. Smith, a Denver native who had 43 goals and 83 points in 58 regular season games, has committed to Quinnipiac.
