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Richmond Sockeyes' captain Matt Brown defends the turf in front of goaltender Jeremy Kelleway during Game 3 action Sunday at Minoru Arenas. Grandview won 3-2 in overtime and leads the best-of-seven first-round playoff series 2-1.
Photo by Chung Chow
Sockeyes experiencing The Second Season
The playoffs are called The Second Season for
good reason. They really are.
While hockey teams battle through a long
regular-season schedule in hopes of qualifying for the playoffs, the results in
the post-season tournament are determined by the very same things that account
for a team’s standing heading in—talent, teamwork, injuries, luck and momentum.
Or lack of.
The first round of the 2019 Pacific Junior
Hockey League playoffs reflects this.
Finishing 15 points ahead of the Grandview
Steelers in the regular season, Richmond Sockeyes find themselves trailing the
Steelers two games to one heading into games four and five in the best-of-seven
series 7 p.m. Wednesday at Burnaby Winter Club and 7 p.m. Thursday at Minoru
Arenas.
As expected, both goaltenders (Jeremy
Kelleway for the Sockeyes and Cale Dolan for the Steelers) have been prevalent
through the first three games. Though five shots got past him in a 5-4 overtime
loss in the opening game Feb. 14, Kelleway still made 40 saves. Dolan made 28
saves. Kelleway faced a lot fewer shots in a 5-2 win over Grandview Feb. 17,
but was still forced to make 22 saves and Dolan 24.
Back in Richmond for game three on Monday
(Feb. 18), it was Dolan’s turned to stand tall as he made 41 stops (including
19 in the second period when Richmond outshot Grandview 19-5) to lift his team
to a 3-2 overtime victory. Kelleway, in a losing cause, made 24 stops.
Delta Ice Hawks are also finding The Second
Season to be challenging. After tying North Vancouver for the most points
during the regular campaign, each with 69, the Hawks surprisingly trail the
Aldergrove Kodiaks two games to none. The Kodiaks were only a victory better
than a .500 club during the regular season.
And North Vancouver, too, is being challenged
by the eighth-place Ridge Meadows Flames, though they hold a 2-1 series lead.
The Flames scored a 2-1 in the series’ opener.
Abbotsford Pilots hold a 2-0 lead over
Langley Trappers in the other opening-round series. The Pilots were fourth and
Trappers fifth in the Harold Brittain Conference during the regular season.
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