The recipe for success is simple in Rylan Ferster’s playoff-hockey cookbook: “Special teams, luck and goaltending.”
Sometimes the ingredients aren’t in that order but they must all be present in the post-season cake mix, said the GM and head coach of the Victoria Grizzlies.
The Coastal Conference fourth-seed Grizzlies open the B.C. Hockey League playoffs tonight and Saturday night at The Q Centre against the conference fifth-seed Nanaimo Clippers. The third and fourth games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Frank Crane Arena in the Harbour City.
Nanaimo won the regular-season series 5-2. Doesn’t matter, indicated Ferster.
“Everyone starts at zero in the playoffs,” said the veteran coach, who guided the 2015-16 West Kelowna Warriors to the BCHL and national Junior A titles and took Salmon Arm to the 2003-04 BCHL final before losing to the Clippers.
“The stat lines have all reverted back to zero. The only thing that matters in the playoffs is: ‘Do we play tomorrow?’ ”
If the answer is yes, it means you are alive. If the answer is no, it means you are dead. After a 54-game regular-season slog, the abruptness of the playoffs can be jarring.
“I told our guys don’t blink or it’s over,” said Ferster.
It will be for one of the teams.
Despite Nanaimo’s advantage over Victoria in their season series, the Grizzlies (29-22-3) finished three points ahead of the Clippers (27-23-4) in the regular-season standings as Victoria finished strongly.
NCAA Cornell University-bound forward Anderson (Chase) Pirtle concluded the regular season with two goals and five points in two wins over the Coquitlam Express to be named BCHL third star of the week as he finished the season as the Grizzlies’ scoring leader with 25 goals and 52 points.
“I don’t necessarily believe the playoff adages about who is going in on a roll or that your best players have to be your best players,” said Ferster.
“Every player has to play well if you are going to succeed in the playoffs. You need depth in the playoffs more than anything.”
A key factor in the series could be Oliver Auyeung-Ashton of the Grizzlies, one of the best goaltenders in the BCHL, and headed to Colgate University of the NCAA. Auyeung-Ashton, who’ll turn 19 next week, missed a couple of months with an injury but still posted a 14-8-1 record.
Nanaimo answers offensively with NCAA University of Connecticut Huskies-bound forward Mike Murtagh, who led the Clippers in points with 63, and Luke Buss from Columbus, Ohio, who has turned 21 and led the team in goals with 29.
Rookie Chase Hull, a 16-year-old already committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions of the NCAA, looks to be a Clippers forward with a bright future. Six-foot-three, 20-year-old goaltender Chazz Nixon, a Team Canada East selection in U-19, has been a revelation in goal since joining the Clippers mid-season.
“Nanaimo is a very good team that is well coached and well balanced in all areas,” said Ferster
Only one of the 17 teams in the B.C. portion of the BCHL — the Powell River Kings — missed the playoffs. But Ferster still counts himself as grateful: “I like that we made the playoffs and it don’t take it lightly.”
The other Coastal Conference series feature the top-seed Surrey Eagles against the eighth-seed Cowichan Valley Capitals, second-seed Chilliwack Chiefs versus the seventh-seed Langley Rivermen and third-seed Alberni Valley Bulldogs against the sixth-seed Coquitlam Express. All series are best of sevens.
The Interior Conference has the top-seed and defending BCHL-champion Penticton Vees taking on the eighth-seed Prince George Spruce King, second-seed West Kelowna Warriors against the seventh-seed Cranbrook Bucks, third-seed Salmon Arm Silverbacks versus the sixth-seed Merritt Centennials and fourth-seed Vernon Vipers against the fifth-seed Trail Smoke Eaters.
The BCHL’s Alberta Division first-round playoff series are set to begin Wednesday.
