Canadaian Jr. A: Pacific Region Update

Here's a look at how the British Columbia Hockey League and the Alberta Junior Hockey League are going as we are about a 3rd into the season in both leagues.

British Columbia Hockey League

The Surrey Eagles and Powell River Kings are 1 and 2 in the Costal Conference as both teams with some great goaltending. Josh Watson is currently 3rd in the GAA with a 1.96 and a .929 SV% as the helped the River Kings to get them just 2 points behind the Surrey Eagles which are leading the conference by winning 15 of their 23 games.

After Langley in 3rd who's in 3rd, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and the Victoria Grizzlies may by fighting for home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs as the teams are 4th and 5th. For Victoria, they have been scoring by committee as only one player is in double digit goals while Jordan Heywood, Alex Allan and Joel Lowry are the main set up men as all 3 players are near a point a game so far this season. The bottom of the Conference could be for the final playoff spot along the Coast as Nanaimo, Burnaby and Cowichan Valley will be fighting along the bottom.

The interior, their is a cleary 2 tiers as the Vernon Vipers and Penticton Vees as the teams that are in the top 5 of the CJHL Rankings and have a 10 point gap over the Salom Arm Silverbacks and the Westside Warriors.

Both the Vipers and Vees are already over 100 goals for the season. Leading the way on the offense for the Vees are Denver Manderson and Beau Bennett, Vernon has Mark Collins leading the way with 7 players already with 20 points or more so far.

Salom Arm and Westside will be most likely be fighting it out for 3rd and 4th, the Silverbacks have among the league leaders with Mark Zengerle with 47 points, but their goaltending has been a bit weak with Tony Inerfino with a less then stellar 3.39 GAA. From the Prince George Spruce Kings on down, it's going to be a fight for the 5th and 6th place spots most likely as the gap from 5th through 9th is just 5 points.

BTW: Both the British Colubmia HOckey League and the Alberta Junior Hockey League still have ties during the regular season.

League Standings

Costal Conference

1. Surrey Eagles 23 GP 15-7-0-1 31 PTS 76-67

2. Powell River Kings 23 GP 13-7-1-2 29 PTS 71-53

3. Langley Chiefs 20 GP 12-6-1-1 26 PTS 71-54

4. Alberni Valley Bulldogs 19 GP 10-7-1-1 22 PTS 62-55

5. Victoria Grizzlies 18 GP 9-6-1-2 21 PTS 64-54

6. Nanaimo Clippers 18 GP 6-8-0-4 16 PTS 54-57

7. Burnaby Express 20 GP 7-11-0-2 16 PTS 58-76

8. Cowichan Valley 20 GP 6-13-0-1 13 PTS 50-93


Interior Conference

1. Vernon Vipers 19 GP 18-1-0-0 36 PTS 101-32

2. Penticton Vees 20 GP 17-2-0-1 35 PTS 100-41

3. Salom Arm Silverbacks 22 GP 12-8-1-1 26 PTS 88-81

4. Westside Warriors 19 GP 12-7-0-0 24 PTS 82-59

5. Prince George Spruce Kings 21 GP 7-12-1-1 16 PTS 67-86

6. Quesnel Millionaires 21 GP 6-12-0-3 15 PTS 61-82

7. Trail Smoke Eaters 22 GP 6-14-1-1 14 PTS 77-110

8. Merritt Centennials 20 GP 6-13-0-1 13 PTS 65-124

9. Williams Like T-Wolves 17 GP 5-11-1-0 11 PTS 59-82


Alberta Junior Hockey League

About 20 games into the season, the Spruce Groove Saints are head and shoulders above the rest of the league by winning 18 of their 20 games so far this season and are doing it with some strong goaltending. The goalies, Vincenzo Marozzi and Travis Rolheiser are leading the league in goaltending with GAA of just over 1.50 Yikes. After Spruce Groove, the rest of the North, the spots from 2nd through 5th are just seperated by 4 points as the Bonnyville Pontiacs are currently in 2nd.

The Grand Prairie Storm are doing it with their scoring machines with Dennix Rix and Zahn Raubenheimer are among the league leaders in scoring with 44 and 42 points so far through 21 games. St. Albert and Lloydminster are currently tied for 6th as this may be the battle to get in the playoffs with the Drayton Valley Thunder down in last with just 11 points.

Down South, Camrose is back on top with a 6 point gap over the Brooks Bandits as the Calgary Canucks, Okotoks, and Canmore are seperated by just 2 points. The bottom of the South is just bad this year as the Drumheller Dragons and the Olds Grizzlies who are in last and in a very bad shape right now.

League Standings

North Division

1. Spruce Groove Saints 20 GP 18-1-0-1 37 PTS 78-31

2. Bonnyville Pontiacs 20 GP 14-6-0-0 28 PTS 69-60

3. Ft. Mcmurray Oil Barons 22 GP 13-8-0-1 27 PTS 80-63

4. Grand Prairie Storm 21 GP 12-7-0-2 26 PTS 86-73

5. Sherwood Park Crusaders 21 GP 10-7-1-3 24 PTS 68-67

6. St. Albert Steel 20 GP 8-10-1-1 18 PTS 72-80

7. Lloydminster Bobcats 21 GP 8-11-0-2 18 PTS 69-83

8. Drayton Valley Thunder 19 GP 5-13-0-1 11 PTS 38-74


South Division

1. Camrose Kodiaks 22 GP 15-7-0-0 30 PTS 81-56

2. Brooks Bandits 20 GP 11-7-1-1 24 PTS 79-60

3. Calgary Canucks 19 GP 10-7-2-0 22 PTS 68-62

4. Okotoks Oilers 18 GP 10-8-0-0 20 PTS 73-62

5. Canmore Eagles 21 GP 9-10-1-1 20 PTS 76-75

6. Drumheller Dragons 21 GP 7-12-0-2 16 PTS 54-90

7. Calgary Royals 22 GP 6-13-0-3 15 PTS 63-94

8. Olds Grizzlies 21 GP 5-13-0-3 13 PTS 54-78