The wait is over, today will mark the start of the last stop before the 2013 Royal Bank Cup as four teams who proved that they were the best in their province join the Nanaimo Clippers in the quest to be the two teams left standing to get the chance to represent the west at the RBC Cup. Today will see the Brooks Bandits look to begin the final step in the quest to conquer their demons from last year where they fell one round short of the RBC Cup losing in the old BC/Alberta play in series to Penticton against Surrey while the Terriers look to survive having the busy weekend by getting an opening night win against the host Clippers in the late game as the round robing kicks off.
Game Preview
Yorkton Vs. Nanaimo
In the late game of Saturday's opening day doubleheader the Terriers will look to get a quick start over the hosts in an extremely crucial Saturday/Sunday for Trent Cassan's boys as Yorkton was handed the toughest opening schedule of the tournament in playing the host Clippers on opening night before playing a rested Steinbach Pistons team tomorrow afternoon. A slow start very well could undermine them, something that John Neibrandt could attest to as the only Terrier player to experience the Memorial Cup. His Kootenay Ice lost the first two round robin games of the Memorial Cup, forcing his former Ice squad to win four games in a row to hoist the trophy, they fell one game short of the final losing in the semifinal. This go around the Terriers and Neibrandt will be looking to avoid seeing a familiar fate for their last year veteran of the blueline, who returned back to the club from the WHL this fall. This game will also see familiar faces from the Prince George Cougars square off as former Cougars John Odgers and Tayler Thompson will be reunited with Greg Fraser of the Clippers.
Coach Cassan is aware of the challenge in playing back to back games on the opening weekend, something that could very well determine the way the Terriers chances in the Western Canada Cup go as Yorkton will have two very tough games this weekend before playing the tournament favorite Bandits and then the Surrey Eagles who knocked off the defending RBC Cup champion Penticton Vees just six days ago to get here. "We face the most challenging schedule of anyone there, when you factor in travelling the day before, playing tonight and then playing again less than 24 hours later, it's going to be a hectic time," said Cassan who also notes that his Terriers had the longest break of the league champions in the tournament, winning the Canalta Cup on April 14.
As always the Terriers will look to find their success through their blueline, the Norrish twins and Devon McMullen might be the X factors in this tournament as their speed and offensive talents have yet to be seen by any of the four teams playing in the Western Canada Cup. Coupled with the veteran leadership of the aforementioned former WHL Champion in Neibrandt and former WHL blueliner Austin Bourhis the Terriers were one of the best defensive units in the SJHL in 2012/13 and will be looking to replicate that out west. Once the Terriers begin to wear down their opposition, goal scoring has came from all over the place this year, but in the playoffs it usually came from the sticks of Dakota Odgers, Patrick Martens, and Jeremy Johnson. Those three were crucial players in the final against Humboldt and will continue to be counted on to come up with big goals. On a team that has found players get hot streaks nearly every week this year, look for Nathan Murray to have an important role for the Terriers in Nanaimo. The last year forward and older brother of top NHL pick Ryan, Murray was the Terriers leading scorer in the regular season and despite not scoring until Game Six, was in front of the net all playoffs finding chances. His presence as a power forward could be a key.
Led by former Prince George Cougar Greg Fraser the Clippers finished second in their division in 2012/13 and before being decimated by injuries the balanced team looked like it was in the discussion to contend in the playoffs with a 32-20-4 record. Beyond Fraser, who former PG Cougars Tayler Thompson and John Odgers will be familiar with as former teammates, the Terriers will need to focus on NCAA commits Kyle Kramer and Reid Sturos who both finished with 57 points on the year to supplement Fraser to give the team three 55 plus point scorers. Head Coach and General Manager Mike Vanderkamp says that his team is much different than the one most might have seen from their early playoff exit explaining at times "close to six guys that were important to our team were missing" and have whittled down their injuries to just one questionable player heading into Saturday's clash with the Terriers.
With all of those injuries, the hosts first round exit may be a blessing in disguise as the Clippers have finally been given the chance to get healthy. "Losing out early is obviously not something we wanted, but it has helped us get healthy and recharge going into hosting the Western Canada Cup," says Vandekamp. Not playing in over a month might leave the Clippers a bit rusty when it comes to facing teams that are on the high of winning their league championships, but Vanderkamp has said the break away from hockey has helped his club refocus and develop a further hunger that has really aided his club. "We sent the guys home for a bit before preparing for the tournament after losing to Alberni Valley" explains Vandekamp. "With a lot of guys missing home it was nice for them to be away from hockey for a couple of weeks and they all came back missing the game and eager to do whatever it takes to get ready for the tournament" says Vandekamp who is counting on his players to be focused and refreshed going into a game with a Terriers team that could be fighting jet lag after traveling out to the coast just yesterday.
As the hosts the Clippers will still be considered as slight underdogs in the tournament with a lack of a true star talent in what is a balanced team the Clippers also do not have a clear number one goaltender with Jayson Argue and Derek Dun splitting the workload for Nanaimo in goal. Dun came in a deadline deal from a losing club in the league to the Clippers and was 9-5 for the Clippers, but was only given one of the five starts in the playoffs by Vandekamp. His running mate, Jayson Argue of Swan River was 20-17 with a 2.98 GAA in the regular season for the Clippers and Vanderkamp plans on using both goalies during the tournament, creating the possibility for a potential distracting for the Clippers that could be a tournament storyline. Should one of them get hot, assume the job to be taken over, but as Vandekamp showed he isn't afraid to use both goalies as he did in round one of the playoffs.
With the tournament being far off in BC, expect the Clippers to have the home crowd advantage on Saturday night, something that could be a potential X Factor for the Clippers who have the second worst regular season record in the tournament and are the only non champions. A balanced team that is getting healthy is tough to analyze, but the Clippers will be underdogs that the Terriers will have to beat if they are going to get as generous of a seeding in the knockout stages as possible. This is a game that could very well be the difference in playing in the 1/2 page playoff semifinal and having a second chance at qualifying for the RBC Cup, or needing two wins to take it all. It is an early round robin game, but the Terriers should be looking at this weekend as a chance to jump to the front of the pack with two games on the opening weekend.
Other WCC news and notes.... Brooks will look to put their 53-4-3 record on the line against the Surrey Eagles in the tournament opener this afternoon. The Bandits are led by Cam Maclise's 83 points and were the #1 ranked CJHL team for nearly the entire season. Going up against them are the Surrey Eagles who knocked off the team that eliminated the Bandits last year in the Doyle Cup, beating the Penticton Vees in six games with a double OT winner from Adam Tambellini. Tambellini is the highest rated draft eligible player in the tournament at 42nd on the NHL's Central Scouting rankings going into this spring's entry draft. Brooks will play Nanaimo tomorrow night while the Eagles will have the day off Sunday.
