That was evident again Sunday when the Saanich Braves (12-29-7) defeated the Oceanside Generals (13-31-4) 3-2 at George Pearkes Arena with former Victoria Royals WHLer Brandon Fushimi notching the winner with the lone goal in the third period in the wild-card play-in game. That heralded the start of the 2016 VIJHL post-season with the Braves鈥� reward being the unenviable task of advancing to take on the defending league, provincial and Western Canadian champion Campbell River Storm (38-6-4) in a first-round series beginning tonight at Rod Brind鈥橝mour Arena.
The Braves will rely heavily, against the North top-seed Storm, on the WHL experience of Colorado native and Camosun College student Fushimi, who has 13 goals, 14 assists for 27 points along with 71 penalty minutes in 33 games. Game 2 is Wednesday at Pearkes, Game 3 Friday at Brind鈥橝mour and Game 4 Sunday at Pearkes. If that isn鈥檛 enough of a busy week for Fushimi, he celebrates his 20th birthday on Thursday.
鈥淚t was a tough decision,鈥� admitted Fushimi, about his decision to leave the Royals.
But he displayed a deep sense of maturity by weighing the chances of making the NHL to getting on with his civilian career. He is focusing on his love of children and plans to specialize in pediatric nursing.
Fushimi鈥檚 Royals pedigree would have made him a massive addition for the Cougars and Storm and their championship ambitions, but he said he chose the Braves because of friends on the team and the flexibility the club offered him regarding his school schedule.
鈥淭hat was a big goal for us Sunday,鈥� said Fushimi, who is glad to have been the one to score it.
The playoffs began Monday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre. There wasn鈥檛 much separating the South No. 2 Peninsula Panthers (22-21-5) and South No. 3 Westshore Wolves (22-22-4) in the tables, but an extra point was enough to gain the Panthers home-ice advantage in their best-of-seven opening series. It began with the Panthers beating the Wolves 3-0. The second game is Wednesday at The Q Centre, the third Friday at Panorama and fourth Sunday at The Q Centre.
鈥淭his is going to be the best and longest series of the four in the opening round,鈥� predicted Panthers general manager Pete Zubersky. 鈥淭he Wolves have some high-end skill while we roll through four lines.鈥�
The North No. 2 Nanaimo Buccaneers (22-21-5) host the North No. 3 Comox Valley Glacier Kings (19-25-4) in another other series opening tonight. The other opening-round series has the South and overall top-seed Victoria Cougars (41-5-2) playing the South No. 4 Kerry Park Islanders (22-24-2) beginning Thursday at Archie Browning Sports Centre.
鈥淚 believe the Cougars and Storm series could be over in four games and Nanaimo could take theirs in five, while ours [Panthers-Wolves] is a coin flip that could go six or seven games,鈥� said Zubersky, of the VIJHL first-round outlook.
Zubersky believes the Panthers can eventually matchup well against the Cougars in later rounds, but that鈥檚 not a scenario he can afford to look ahead to at this point.
鈥淕etting past these Wolves is going to be tough,鈥� he said.
While several VIJHL teams cast a wide net for talent off-Island, the Panthers have built their roster by staying close to home.
鈥淥f our 24 players, 23 are from Victoria, and that鈥檚 neat,鈥� said Zubersky.
The overall form chart, however, favours the Cougars. There is a reason they won the 2015-16 Andy Hebenton Trophy for the league regular-season championship, named in honour of the great Victoria Cougars and New York Rangers former pro. Their offence is formidable and features the top-three scorers in the league with Nathan Looysen finishing the regular-season at 40 goals and 101 points, Cody Hodges with 40 goals and 97 points and Dom Kolbeins with 36 goals and 83 points.
Victoria isn鈥檛 easy to get through going the other way, either, with Cougars goaltender Anthony Ciurro from Peoria, Arizona, posting a league-best 1.70 goals-against average in 31 appearances.
As hosts, the Cougars are guaranteed to be in the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial championship tournament April 7-10 at Archie Browning. Regardless of that perk, many are predicting the Cougars should win their way into the sa国际传媒 tournament on merit alone.
