Surrey, BC – Coming into Friday night’s game against the Chilliwack Chiefs, Surrey Eagles head coach Cam Keith was justifiably concerned about how his young team would come out of the gate at South Surrey Arena in their first game after an extended 12-day holiday season break. Those fears disappeared just 65 seconds into the game after Eagles captain Hudson Schandor opened the scoring in what resulted in a start-to-finish, comprehensive 3-1 B.C. Hockey League victory for the Eagles over their divisional rivals.
The victory not only evened the season series between the two teams at two wins apiece, but coupled with the Prince George Spruce Kings knocking off the Langley Rivermen 4-3 in Langley on Friday, gave the steadily improving Eagles a chance to move into third place in the Mainland Division if they can manage a road victory against Langley at the George Preston Arena on Saturday night.
Tonight, the Eagles outshot the Chiefs in all three periods, led 1-0 after 20 minutes on Schandor’s 14th goal of the season, and 3-0 after 40 minutes after defenseman Kieran O’Hearn scored his second and third goals of the season. After Chilliwack’s Peter Reynolds finally got the Chiefs on the scoreboard eight minutes into the third period—with their first shot on goal of the period—the Eagles then effectively thwarted the Chiefs the rest of the way.
Keith was ebullient with his team’s effort, calling it the team’s “most complete game of the year” and hailing Cal Schell as “the player of the game in my opinion.” Schell, who had seen his ice-time diminish after goaltending partner Tommy Scarfone grabbed the No. 1 starter’s position with a stellar run between the pipes in November and December, got the start after Scarfone tweaked his groin in a practice during the Christmas break. It was Schell’s first game in almost a month, and first win since Oct. 18, but like the rest of his teammates he showed little if any rust at all.
“I think it was a huge game for him,” said Keith of Schell, who played his best hockey in the second half of the first period when the Chiefs mounted a charge after being outshot 12-3 to start the game. “When he got challenged he made some good saves, and then handled or cleared the rebounds well, and that’s all you need any goalie to do. Like I said, it was huge for him to have a steady game.”
Keith, in fact, had praise for his entire lineup, from effort through execution. The win “came from everybody,” said Keith. “All the lines were chipping in, and all our D-men were activating into the play, plus they really moved the puck out of our D zone well. Our exits were great. They [Chilliwack] couldn’t even get any sustained pressure. From our forwards, I thought it was a lot of touch, touch, touch,” and for a stretch during the second period it was a green wave after a green wave skating into the attack.
“Our game plan was to try maintain pressure down low and grind it out, not get in a back and forth kind of game with Chilliwack,” continued Keith. “If they’re in their own D zone a lot they don’t really get momentum from it. They want the trade chance/trade chance style,” said Keith of the Chiefs who dressed 13 NCAA committed players, two of whom were NHL draft picks past June (forward Nikita Nesterenko, sixth round Minnesota Wild, and defenseman Cooper Moore, fifth round Detroit Red Wings).” Our game plan wasn’t to do that, and I thought the boys executed it really well.”
Surrey has been looking up the division standings since late in September, but the youngest team in the league looked anything but that on Friday night. “The guys did a really good job tonight of holding onto pucks and taking a little bit of punishment. We showed a ton of heart tonight in those one-on-one battles,” said Keith. “I feel that tonight was a good example of the direction we’ve been going in. In fact, the last two games before the Christmas break, even thought we lost them both, I think the same was there. The kids are just building confidence.”
Following Saturday’s division tilt in Langley, the Eagles return to ‘The Nest’ on Sunday afternoon for what will be a match-up of two teams playing their third games in three days as they take the Island Division cellar-dwelling Victoria Grizzlies. Victoria, on a three-game road swing, was handed an 8-0 walloping by the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night, then take on the Interior Division-leading Penticton Vees on Saturday night.
