The Nanaimo Clippers seemed headed off a cliff in the 2021-22 regular season before turning the steering wheel, putting the foot on the gas pedal for the playoffs, and driving all the way to the sa国际传媒 Hockey League final.
They haven’t taken that foot off the pedal since and lead the Coastal Conference (33-11-1) and are second in the league heading into tonight’s game at Frank Crane Arena against the Victoria Grizzlies (21-14-8), who are tied for fifth in the conference.
“Our players had the time of their hockey lives last spring in that playoff run and want to do it again,” said Colin Birkas, who stepped up from assistant to head coach of the Clippers just ahead of the playoffs last year.
The Clippers’ playoff run ended in defeat in the BCHL final to the annual powerhouse Penticton Vees, who again have won the Interior Conference regular season and lead the league (41-3-1).
“We have 10 returnees and they all came back hungry,” said Birkas, of falling short of the ultimate goal last year.
Nanaimo’s scoring is well distributed with four players in the top-12 in BCHL points — Kai Daniells fifth in the league with 60 points, Brody Waters seventh with 49, defenceman Ethan Mistry with 47 and Jake Hewitt with 46. All four are committed to NCAA Div. 1 university programs in the U.S. with Daniells headed to Princeton, Waters to Bowling Green, Mistry to Brown and Hewitt to Army at West Point.
Other Clippers committed to NCAA Div. 1 teams are Michael Craig to Robert Morris, Willyan Gendron to Sacred Heart, Brett Merner to Colgate, Mike Murtagh to UConn, Jérémie Payant to RPI, Charles Tardif to Michigan Tech and Tyler Wishart to Cornell.
Nanaimo, however, is not taking being the top seed in the Coastal Conference for granted. The Clippers have not yet clinched the conference regular-season title, with the second-place Surrey Eagles six points behind with two games in hand.
“We have not been dominant this season and have gutted out wins,” said Birkas. “We’ve had a bit of a [slow spell] recently but better now than in the playoffs. It’s about accountability and trying not to repeat errors. We treat setbacks as life lessons rather than punishment.”
If the Clippers hold on to win the conference in the regular season, they will face either the Langley Rivermen (12-28-5) or Cowichan Valley Capitals (10-32-3) as the eighth-seed opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
The Clippers and Grizzlies are a potential second-round match-up if both survive. Birkas pointed to the BCHL experience of Grizzlies GM and head coach Rylan Ferster, who is in the first season of his second stint with the Grizzlies, and who has won a BCHL championship with the West Kelowna Warriors.
“He [Ferster] is honest and professional, and has been at this a long time in this league, and you’ve seen an evolution [on the Grizzlies] over the course of the season,” said Birkas, of tonight’s opponent at the Crane.
The Grizzlies are among a crowded middle of the Coastal Conference. Alberni Valley (56 points), Coquitlam (52), Chilliwack (50) and Victoria (50) are seperated by just six points and the Grizzlies have three games in hand on the Bulldogs and two each on the Express and Chiefs.
Following tonight’s contest, the Grizzlies head to Powell River for a pair of games against the Kings on Friday and Saturday.
