Surrey Eagles vs Chilliwack Chiefs Pre Game Report

Battle For 2nd On Family Day

Surrey, BC – Here we are again. For the final time this season, and 2nd time in 4 nights, the Surrey Eagles (25-23-7) and the Chilliwack Chiefs (25-19-11) will do battle inside the South Surrey Arena. Surrey has stormed ahead in the season series, winning the past 5 in the 7 games. Both teams are looking for a much better showing after a lacklustre Valentine’s Day performance on Friday night.

Tommy Scarfone gets the crease tonight after Reece Klassen started the last 2 games. Look for the full roster on our social media channels later today.

Who To Watch Out For

This recent run of success against the Chiefs has coincided with the Eagles renewed level of play. For Eagles fans’, the loss on October 27th, a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of the Chiefs served as the turnaround point, as it capped off a 2-7-1 October and had the Eagles dead last in the B.C Hockey League’s Mainland Division. The Eagles have since turned it around, and will look too close the gap on 2nd place in the Mainland Division. Here are tonight’s players to watch for.

Surrey Eagles: Wyatt Schlaht

The Denver, Colorado native has had an up and down season in his 1st BCHL campaign, but the 19 year old has proven he’s a solid contributor overall. The Brown commit had 2 goals in his 1st star performance on Friday night, and for the year has 9 goals and 13 assists for 22 points in 55 games. With top end speed and great stick-work, look for Schlaht to wreak more havoc this evening to keep the Eagles in the hunt for home ice.

Chilliwack Chiefs: Mathieu Caron

The Chiefs’ starting goaltender is one of the better goaltenders in the BCHL, and just inked a new commitment to Brown university to boot. Hosting a .911 save percentage with just a 2.56 goals against average helps land the commitment, but Caron’s great play has been one of the biggest stories over in the Fraser Valley. Caron had a rough game the last time these 2 teams played, so look for him to be an absolute wall as he tries to shut the Eagles out of 2nd place in the division.

3 Keys To The Game

With today being Family Day, there should be a bunch of people inside ‘The Nest’ for tonight’s playoff preview. The Chiefs and Eagles both play with a lot of skill, and have a ton of scorers up and down their lineup. Tonight’s 3 keys to the game have played a large part in the Eagles success over the Chiefs all season, regardless of how well the teams have played.

  • Special Teams: The Eagles weren’t able to score on the powerplay against the Chiefs on Friday night, and gave up a powerplay goal as well. Look for both of those to turn around to make Surrey’s life a little easier on Family Day.
  • Grind Them Down: The boys have done a great job in each of the past 5 wins over the Chiefs in grinding them down and taking away their time and space. The minute Chilliwack gets to play their brand of hockey, their opponent is in serious trouble. The Eagles have done a great job of not allowing it to happen.
  • Tommy Scarfone: #InTommyWeTrust has been the story of the season since he got pulled giving up 3 goals in the 1st period of that 6-3 Chilliwack loss. With a shutout in his last start against the Chiefs on February 1st, Tommy will look to continue doing what he does best, stopping pucks.

Summary

It’s the last time these two teams will face off before the games really count at the end of February. Tonight however, the battle for 2nd place in the Mainland Division rages on. If the Eagles win, they’re only 2 points behind the Chiefs for 2nd with both teams having 2 games left on the schedule, which gives some added weight to the contest. It’s going to be another great Family Day game inside ‘The Nest’, starting at 2:00pm.


Tickets are still available for tonight’s game! You can walk up to the box office starting at 1:00pm to buy your tickets, or visit our single game tickets page and start the preorder process. Can’t make the game tonight? No worries. You can catch the broadcast on HockeyTV and Mixlr tonight, starting at 1:50pm. Puck drop for tonight’s game will be 2:00pm. After the game, the Eagles are hosting their final (Not) Sunday Skate of the year! Grab your skates and catch the boys on the ice after tonight’s Mainland Division showdown!