(Township of Langley, BC – September 21, 2014) – It’s not the result the Langley Rivermen were looking for at the Bauer BCHL Showcase, losing both games, including a 2-1 defeat to the Victoria Grizzlies on Sunday at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
The Rivermen got off to a better start today, as Evan Anderson scored his second of the season with one second left in first period, to give Langley a 1-0 lead. But that’s all the offense they would get, thanks to some stellar goaltending by Michael Stiliadis, who made 34 saves in the win.
“It wasn’t what we wanted to get done this weekend,” said Associate Head Coach, Jon Calvano. “We would’ve liked to come home with four points but we saw some areas of improvement we can strive for.”
Like Friday, the Rivermen had plenty of scoring chances and outshot the Grizzlies 35-28 but were unable to capitalize. Langley was also 0-for-4 on the powerplay.
“It wasn’t very potent,” said Calvano. “We didn’t execute any of our opportunities. We had some looks but our execution isn’t where we want it to be right now.”
Victoria, who was outplayed for much of the game, tied things up in second period when PJ Conlon scored with under four minutes left in the frame. The Grizzlies scored the eventual game winner, as Shawn McBride finished off a one-timer, 1:54 into the third period.
Despite losing some of their key scorers from last season, the team is hoping to have more of a balanced attack, but so far, have struggled to find the back of the net.
“It’s only two games in,” said Calvano. “We have to minimize our turnovers in the offense zone and work with the defense on quicker transition with the puck instead of making the high risk passes.”
The team split goaltending duties in their first two games. After Bo Didur took the loss against Salmon Arm on Friday, Darren Martin made 26 saves but came up on the short-end on Sunday.
The Rivermen will have a full week off before they head to Vernon next Sunday to take on the Vipers, who split their first two games at the BCHL Showcase.
All away games can be seen on www.FastHockey.com and heard on www.mixlr.com/Langley-Rivermen
For details visit www.LangleyRivermen.com
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For More Information:
Kevin Berar, Langley Events Centre, 604.396.6633, kberar@langleyeventscentre.com
Taylor Henderson, Langley Rivermen, 604.455.8892, taylor@langleyrivermen.com
