The Rivermen begin a busy stretch of hockey to start the month of October, beginning a stretch of three games over 5 days.
The busy week starts on Tuesday for Langley, as they take on the Nanaimo Clippers for the first time this season. Langley comes in picking up points in each of their first three games of the season, winning two and dropping a shootout loss to the Surrey Eagles on Saturday at the George Preston Arena.
Meanwhile the Clippers got their first win of the season on Saturday at the Frank Crane Arena against the Powell River Kings, dispatching the visitors 7-3 after dropping their first two games of the year.
There is also a burgeoning rivalry between Langley and the Clippers taking place, as before last season Nanaimo had ended Langley’s playoff hopes each of the prior two postseason runs.
Langley went 1-2-0-1 against Nanaimo last year, and they look to continue their strong play on at the Lodge on Toonie Tuesday for a 7:15 puck drop, all tickets are $2 and can be purchased at the door or at https://www.showpass.com/single-game-tickets-7/.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Langley – Will Shepard, the 2007 born forward did not dress in the Rivermen’s home opener on September 22nd, but has showed he belongs in the lineup full time, scoring in back to back games, his first two appearances in the league. The West Vancouver product has electrifying speed and excellent hand eye coordination, look for him to be a key to unlock the Clippers tall defensive corps.
Nanaimo – Joel Plante, the Langley born forward has played the last three seasons with the Clippers after starting his career with Surrey. Having played in his 150th BCHL game on Saturday, he had a goal and 3 assists en route to a big win over Powell River. The speedy forward is committed to Nebraska-Omaha and looks to make his hometown team pay on Tuesday night at the Lodge.
The hectic week continues for Langley on Friday as they visit the Powell River Kings for a weekend double header.
The Rivermen had success over the Kings last year, going 4-0 and scoring at least four goals in each of those matchups. Over the last 5 seasons, Langley are 13-2-0-0 and look to continue that dominance this weekend.
Powell River is in their first full season under the guidance of 6-time Stanley Cup Champion Glenn Anderson. Anderson took over last December as head coach, but ultimately was unable to lead the Kings to the playoffs despite significant improvement in the team’s play.
The Kings have gone winless in their first four games of the season, but kept the two of those four games to one goal margins. They have also found their scoring touch, scoring 14 goals in the early going of the season.
Powell River hold over just 9 players from last year’s team, so chemistry is still being worked through for the Kings in this young season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Langley – Mason Kesselring – already off to a strong start in his Rivermen career, the University of Connecticut commit has four points in his career against Powell River (including two goals) dating back to his time in Chilliwack in the 2022-23 season.
Powell River – Thomas Belzil – the Trois-Riveieres, Quebec forward has at least one point through the first four Kings games, including a goal in each of Powell River’s two weekend games. He had 17 points all of last year, and already has 7 through four games, surely a breakout year is inbound for the 2006 born forward.
Both games in Powell River can be seen on FloHockey with the voice of your Rivermen, Gideon Hill. Alternatively, the free audio only broadcast can be heard at https://langleyrivermenjuniorhockey.mixlr.com with the pregame show beginning at 6:50.
