The BCHL is down to the last two teams standing, as the Brooks Bandits will battle the Chilliwack Chiefs of the Fred Page Cup for the first time ever.
The best-of-seven Championship series begins this weekend in Brooks, with Game 1 set for Friday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Schedule
+if necessary
Game 1 @ Brooks – Friday, May 16 7:00 pm MT
Game 2 @ Brooks – Saturday, May 17 7:00 pm MT
Game 3 @ Chilliwack – Tuesday, May 20 7:00 pm PT
Game 4 @ Chilliwack – Wednesday, May 21 7:00 pm PT
+ Game 5 @ Brooks – Friday, May 23 7:00 pm MT
+ Game 6 @ Chilliwack – Sunday, May 25 7:00 pm PT
+ Game 7 @ Brooks – Tuesday, May 27 7:00 pm MT
Listen to the live broadcasts of the games in Chilliwack on New Country 105.7 FM with Nathan Crosby and Ken Fleury.
The Bandits beat the West Kelowna Warriors in five games in Round One, followed by a four-game sweep of the Sherwood Park Crusaders in Round Two. Brooks then faced the Regular Season Champion Penticton Vees in the Interior Conference Final, winning the series in six games.
The Chiefs were pushed to a Game 7 in Round One by the Prince George Spruce Kings, but prevailed. They followed that up by beating the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in five games, and Victoria Grizzlies in five games in the Coastal Conference Final.
The Chiefs most recently made the finals in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017. The last time a Chilliwack team won the league championship was in 2002, which was the city’s third BCHL title. The Chiefs won the 2018 RBC Cup when they hosted.
Brooks has reached the finals in their first full season in the BCHL. The Bandits have won eight league championships and four National Championships.
The Bandits and Chiefs met in the 2017 Western Canada Cup, Brooks won both games, including the WCC Championship clinching game.
The Bandits top line of Nick Peluso, Parker Lalonde and Luke Bibby continue to lead the charge offensively. The trio all sit within the top-six in playoff scoring, with Peluso leading all postseason performers with 22 points in 15 contests. The Bandits also boast a high-end defence corps, headlined by team captain Ethan Beyer and second-year player Keith McInnis. McInnis leads all defencemen with 13 playoff points, while Beyer ranks second with 11. Brooks has been a strong defensive team all year long, allowing the fewest goals against in the regular season and owning the top penalty kill unit. In the postseason, goaltender Zach Zahara has started every game in the playoffs. The 20-year-old netminder has a 2.43 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts in the postseason.
For Chilliwack, the offensive leader so far has been veteran forward Brady Milburn. In his fourth season with the team, he’s leading the Chiefs in postseason scoring and is tied for third overall with 19 points in 16 playoff games. Not to be outdone, midseason pickup Carter Anderson has also been a key contributor with 17 points, as has Caleb Elfering, who leads the team with 10 goals. Elfering has had a knack for coming up big in the clutch so far in the playoffs, scoring twice in Chilliwack’s Game 7 win in the first round against Prince George, one of his three two-goal performances so far this postseason. In net, Quentin Miller continues to shine for the Chiefs since being acquired midseason. The Montreal Canadiens draft pick owns the second best save percentage in the playoffs with a mark of .937, just .001 away from top spot. He also has the third-best goals-against average at 1.90 and is tied for the lead with two shutouts.
Season series:
March 1: Chilliwack 2 @ Brooks 5
The Chiefs first ever visit to Brooks saw goaltender Zach Zahara named 1st star with his 30 save performance. Forward Nathan Free opened the scoring on the powerplay, but Chiefs forward Nico Grabas answered three minutes later. The Bandits pulled away in the 2nd period, as defenceman Drew Mackie and forward Luke Bibby both tallied goals. Forward Parker Lalonde added a powerplay goal and empty net goal in the 3rd as the Bandits skated to a 5-2 win in the only meeting of the season. Quentin Miller made 39 saves in the Chiefs net.
Photo credit: Matt Piotrowski
