Game Story

Surrey Eagles vs Merritt Centennials Pre Game Report

by Ryan Ho

Back To The Playoffs?

Merritt, BC – After the boys first shutout win in over 2 years, the Surrey Eagles (19-20-7)  play their 2nd game in as many nights as they’ll travel up the province a few hours to go and take on the reeling Merritt Centennials (10-32-4). While Surrey has been playing much better over the last few weeks, the Centennials have gone in the opposite direction and haven’t won in their past 10 games. This doesn’t mean the Eagles can take them lightly, as in November Merritt came into the South Surrey Arena and beat the Eagles by a score to 5-3. If the Eagles win tonight, they’ll clinch their spot in the B.C Hockey League playoffs, something which eluded them last season.

After a shutout performance last night, look for Reece Klassen to get the start while Tommy Scarfone continues to get back to 100%. For the entire roster for tonight’s game, check out our social media channels later today.

Who To Watch Out For

The Eagles have a new kind of swagger, and it has shown in their play. They have a 5-3-1 record in January, and have continued to climb up the standings. While they’re going up against a team in the midst of a massive losing streak, they can’t take Merritt lightly at all. The Eagles are 0-1 against Merritt this season, providing all the motivation they need to get a win tonight. Here are tonight’s players to watch.

Surrey Eagles: Reece Klassen

The Cloverdale native has been terrific since being acquired at the CJHL’s trade deadline, and last night was his best game so far. Klassen made 35 saves, many of them of the highlight variety against a Prince George team looking to push their way back up the standings. The calmness and confidence he gives the Eagles on a nightly basis is noticeable, and he’ll look for his 5th win in 7 games this evening.

Merritt Centennials: Daniel Tkac

For Merritt, for as rough of a season as they’ve had they do have the only BCHL representative from this year’s IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. The Slovakia native scored a goal in the tournament at the end of December, and for the year has 25 points in 33 games. He’s got the best PPG ratio on the team at .76, and will look to lead the Cents to their second victory over Surrey.

3 Keys To The Game

The Eagles can’t afford to look over this game to the other games in the schedule coming up. Every game there’s 2 points on the line for the boys to climb up the standings, and tonight is no different. Merritt has given up 219 goals this season, but they’ve still scored 126 which is only 9 less than Surrey. With the boys understanding they need to play hard, here are tonight’s 3 keys to the game.

  • Play Their Game: The biggest factor in helping the Eagles come out of 2 points is not changing the way they play the game. In the same breath as needing to not play down to their opponent, if the Eagles stick to their game plan there’s a good chance they’ll leave with 2 points tonight. If they try and get too fancy or too cute with the puck, they could be in for another upset at the hands of the Cents.
  • Secondary Scoring: While the top line of Cristophe Tellier, Hudson Schandor, and Gabe Schovanek will always be relied on to produce, look for the rest of the Eagles roster to get on the scoreboard tonight. Surrey prides themselves on being a 4 line team, and will look to utilize all 4 lines tonight in the 2nd of a 3 game weekend series.
  • Reece Klassen: “What a save by Klassen!!!” A phrase which was repeated several times in the first half of last night’s 3-0 win over the Spruce Kings. Klassen has been excellent, and on top of being Surrey’s player to watch, is the 3rd key to the game.

Summary

The Eagles will look for their 2nd win in a row this weekend as they continue their 3 games in 3 nights. The Centennials on the other hand, are looking to break their 10 game winless streak and try and keep their playoff hopes alive. A win tonight would officially clinch a post-season spot for Surrey, an accomplishment this young group would love to celebrate on the bus ride home.

Can’t make it to the game tonight? You can catch the live broadcast on HockeyTV and Mixlr. The broadcast will start at 6:50pm, with the opening puck drop slated for 7:00pm from Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.