NANAIMO — The Clippers sit in a crowded middle of the pack in the BCHL’s Coastal Division.
A strong March could put Nanaimo into the top four in the standings while a poor month could see the team fall out of the playoffs.
The Clippers went on a run of getting points in 10 consecutive hockey games, but now they’ve lost three in a row. A recent trip to Trail and West Kelowna in early March yielded a pair of regulation losses but veteran Cole Lonsdale said there was some good that came out of it as well.
“It was fun. Anytime your with a group of guys on the bus and in the hotel you make a good time of it. Coming together with the guys is really good.”
With eight games remaining in the regular season Lonsdale said the team has a plan for what to do to get back in the win column.
“Trying to focus on the little details of the game. Getting to the net, generating more chances and hopefully generating more goals.”
Nanaimo sits in seventh place in the division, one point out of sixth and six points back of fifth place Coquitlam.
The Clippers have a five point lead on the eighth place Langley Rivermen and an eight point advantage over Prince George for the final Coastal playoff spot.
All of Nanaimo’s remaining games are in the division and three of the final eight contests are against Surrey, including Nanaimo’s next game on Friday, March 7.
“Those are big games,” Lonsdale said. “Surrey’s a fast, skilled team and they’re well coached. We’ve got to come ready to play and hopefully win all those games.”
Centre Elliot Perreault is excited to see the team clinch a post season berth so he can have his first taste of playoffs in the BCHL,
“We’re just trying to finish as high as we can. We don’t honestly look at who we might play. We’ve proven it in the past we can beat anyone. We’re gearing up and we want to be as ready as we can for playoffs.”
Callas Pierce got into two playoff games for his former club in Trail last season.
He knows this time of year is not just about climbing in the standings but getting the Clippers team game to it’s peak.
“This month of March going into playoffs is going to be huge. The margin of points between seventh and third is not a lot. We as a team believe that we can get there.”
CLIP NOTES:
The Clippers have four games and four away games left on their calendar. Nanaimo has four games head to head against the teams directly above them in the standings. Two with fourth place Cowichan Valley, one versus fifth place Coquitlam and one against sixth place Alberni Valley.
Forward Dylan Kinch played his 150th career BCHL game on Saturday, March 1 in West Kelowna. He scored his 25th goal of the season in that game.
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