Rough ride ahead for playoff drive
WHL COUNTDOWN: No easy matches as Vancouver Giants face tough tests in final 10 games of schedule
The Vancouver Giants’ playoff push has entered the stretch drive.
With 10 games left in their regular season, the Giants currently hold a post-season spot in the WHL’s Western Conference. They’ve missed the playoffs in each of the past three springs and have qualified just once in the last five campaigns.
The top three teams from the B.C. and U.S. divisions advance to the West post-season, along with the two teams with the next-best records in the conference. The second-place squad from B.C. faces the third-place outfit in the first round.
Here’s a look at how the regular season wraps up for Giants and their closest rivals. All stats are as of Wednesday morning.
Kelowna Rockets (38-19-4-2, 82 points)
Games remaining: Nine.
Schedule: At Prince George on Wednesday; at Everett on Friday; host Spokane Saturday; host Vancouver March 7; at Kamloops March 9; host Kamloops March 10; host Prince George March 14; at Vancouver March 16; host Vancouver March 17.
Scouting report: Kelowna is a combined 11-1-0-0 against Prince George and Kamloops this season. Their power play is clicking at 31.3 per cent as they’ve won all six contests against Kamloops. Kelowna has the league’s second-best power play on the season with a 27.2 per cent success rate. They’ve finished in the top five in the league in that category for the past three seasons and in four of the last five.
Victoria Royals (35-23-3-2, 75 points)
Games remaining: Nine.
Schedule: At Kamloops on Wednesday; at Prince George on Friday; at Prince George on Saturday; host Spokane March 6; host Spokane March 7; host Prince George March 9; host Prince George March 11; at Everett March 16; host Everett March 17.
Scouting report: Last-place Prince George (21-33-4-4) has gone 6-14-0-1 since the Jan. 10 trade deadline. The Royals are only 2-20-0 against the Cougars so far this season, although their most recent meeting was way back on Dec. 28. The Prince George power play has clicked at 31.8 per cent against the Royals. It’s at 16.3 per cent on the campaign.
Vancouver Giants (32-21-6-3, 73 points)
Games remaining: 10.
Schedule: At Kamloops on Friday; host Kamloops on Saturday; host Everett Sunday; at Kelowna March 7; at Tri-City March 9; at Spokane March 10; at Tri-City March 11; at Kamloops March 14; host Kelowna March 16; at Kelowna March 17.
Scouting report: Vancouver hasn’t won in 26 games in Kelowna, dating back to a 4-3 win on March 19, 2011. And Tri-City boasts
a 5-1-0-0 mark against the Giants at home over the last five years. Meanwhile, the Giants haven’t beaten Spokane anywhere in 10 games, going back to a 3-2 win at the Pacific Coliseum on Sept. 30, 2012. Vancouver is 2-21-0 against Kelowna so far this season, and 3-4-1-2 vs. Victoria.
Kamloops Blazers (27-32-1-4, 59 points)
Games remaining: Eight.
Schedule: Host Victoria on Wednesday;
host Vancouver on Friday; at Vancouver on Saturday; host Kelowna March 9; at Kelowna March 10; host Vancouver March 14; host Prince George March 16; at Prince George March 17.
Scouting report: The Blazers stumbled out of the gate with nine losses and are eight points behind Seattle for the second of the two wild-card spots. Seattle has two games in hand.