A pair of wins is always better than one out of two, but with the Interior Division shaping up as it is for the stretch run to the playoffs, the Salmon Arm SilverBacks won the preferred matchup last weekend.
After dropping a 2-1 decision to the Nanaimo Clippers Friday, the ’Backs rallied to knock off their Interior Division enemies the Merritt Centennials 4-2 on Saturday which keeps the Cents four points back of Salmon Arm for now.
“Obviously, we wanted to win both… but if we had to pick one, that would be the one,” said SilverBacks head coach Troy Mick.
With top centre Evan Anderson not in the lineup for the weekend, secondary offensive contributors Mike Roberts, Jeff Kennedy and Colton Thibault tallied goals against Merritt with Thibault’s being the winner midway through the second period.
“That would be one of our keys, to have more guys step up and score,” said Mick. “It’s not an unread book anymore that those guys (Anderson and fellow first-liners Alex Gillies and Landon Smith) are three pretty damn good hockey players. We need all 12 guys to be able to chip in.”
The SilverBacks also got nice work from Angus Redmond in net. The backup goalie made both starts on the weekend with Adam Clark fighting off the flu. Redmond stopped 57 of 61 shots in the two games for a .934 save percentage.
“We feel we do have two No. 1 goaltenders and if one guy is struggling, you look down the bench and you know you have another guy to step up,” said Mick. “Those guys (Clark and Redmond) get along so good; it’s a healthy rivalry.”
Mick said he expects both Clark and Anderson, along with defenceman Mitch Ferguson, back on the ice this weekend when they travel to Vancouver Island.
“That’s the biggest thing – we’re getting healthy,” said Mick. “This weekend we’ll have a healthy lineup.”
Something they could have used against Nanaimo for the first game back after the Christmas break. Instead, they managed to get just one puck past Clippers netminder Jayson Argue as they struggled to find their skating legs after the holidays.
“It was their (Nanaimo) first game back too, the turkey game,” noted Mick. “You don’t expect your first game back is going to be your best but we’ve got to get hunkered down for the stretch run here.”
Redmond might have been a bit rusty at the outset as well, allowing a shot from well out by Anthony Sabitsky to beat him. Landon Smith tied the game briefly but Sheldon Rempal had the winner midway through the second for Nanaimo. Salmon Arm couldn’t muster the equalizer in the third.
“It was back and forth; each team had chances to score (in the third),” said Mick. “It was a good and sloppy hockey game.”
Salmon Arm is on the road this weekend with games against Powell River Friday at 7:30 p.m., Alberni Valley Saturday in a 7 p.m. start and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Cowichan Valley.
“At this stage, with 19 games left, they’re all Game Sevens,” said Mick.
Smith commits
Twenty-year-old forward Landon Smith has agreed to play for the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, as of the 2014-2015 campaign.
Smith, a BCHL rookie hailing from Denver, Colorado, has cemented himself as one of the most dynamic players in SilverBacks’ recent history, as he entered the holiday break leading the BCHL in points and goals, with 59 points and 33 goals in just 37 games.
Three camps
The SilverBacks have announced the organization will be hosting three separate Spring Evaluation Camps during the off-season.
They begin in Salmon Arm, where the first Spring Camp will take place from May 2 to 4 at the Shaw Centre, before staff head south for camps that run from May 16 to 18 and May 30 to June 1, in Simi Valley, California, and Denver, Colorado, respectively.