By Nick Greenizan for the Peace Arch News
The Surrey Eagles are turning the page on last season, which despite being one of the most successful in recent years, still ended on a sour note – with a Game 7 loss to Prince George in the second round of the playoffs.
The Eagles led that best-of-seven series 3-1 before letting it slip away. But instead of dwelling on it, members of the BC Hockey League squad are focusing on the positive – the two-round post-season appearance was the team’s first foray into the playoffs in four seasons – and are aiming to build on that success.
That quest begins this weekend, when the team – which finished last season with a 26-22-8 record (win-loss-overtime loss) – opens its BCHL regular-season schedule Friday night (Sept. 7) at South Surrey Arena against the Coquitlam Express, and Saturday against Wenatchee Wild.
The team will head into the 2018-19 with Peter Schaefer as head coach, after Brandon West stepped down from the position on Aug. 28, well into the team’s preseason.
“He (West) kind of caught us off-guard with that,” team GM Blaine Neufeld said Friday, “and we thought everything was moving forward the way we hoped, but he let us know that it wasn’t something he wasn’t going to get behind and wouldn’t be the guy here.
“We thought he did a good job last year and helped with the recruiting of guys this year, with a bit more of a say in that,” Neufeld added about West, who’s from the Kelowna area and stepped down for personal reasons.
Promoting Schaefer to bench boss was “the most natural fit,” Neufeld said, especially so late in the game.
“He got to know the guys over the past couple of weeks. He’s been in the position before here, has the experience.… It made the most sense.”
