The Langley Rivermen play their final game of a three game homestand this Tuesday, February 3rd in their annual school day game against the Prince George Spruce Kings. A few days later, they will take their final trip of the regular season to Vancouver island on Friday and Saturday for visits to the Victoria Grizzlies and Cowichan Capitals.
Langley are coming off a pair of games this past week, dropping a 12-3 decision to the Chilliwack Chiefs at home on Tuesday, before responding with a tight 4-3 win over the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday at the George Preston Arena.
Tuesday’s afternoon game opponent for Langley is the Prince George Spruce Kings, who are one of the hottest teams in the league, having won their previous 5 consecutive games, including their lone weekend game on Friday at home against Surrey, a 5-0 defeat of the Eagles.
Friday’s opponent for Langley in Victoria is the Grizzlies, who they defeated 4-3 on Saturday. The Grizzlies were in Surrey on Sunday to face the Eagles, a 6-5 overtime win for the visitors.
And Langley visit Cowichan for the second time this season on Saturday to take on the Capitals. Cowichan bested Coquitlam on Friday at home in a tight 5-4 game, and dropped a 7-3 decision on Saturday in Alberni Valley against the Bulldogs.
PRINCE GEORGE PLAYER TO WATCH
#10 Tai Ushio – the first year BCHLer has been the driving force of the Spruce Kings offence this season. The pride of Hokkaido, Japan has been operating at least a point per game this season, managing points in 15 of his last 17 games, with 9 of those 15 games being multi point efforts. He has 20 goals and 25 assists in 35 games this year, and has three goals against the Rivermen this year, so the home team on Tuesday will need to keep him under their watchful defensive eye.
VICTORIA PLAYER TO WATCH
#28 Maddux Martin – the BCHL veteran is a newer face on the Victoria roster, having been acquired during the all star break from Salmon Arm for Grizzlies captain Landon Mackie. Martin has fit right in, scoring three goals and collected an assist in his first 5 games, including the opening goal against Langley on Saturday at the George Preston Arena. He is a capable centre with 183 games of league experience, and will look to help this Victoria team down the stretch in a tight Coastal West division.
COWICHAN PLAYER TO WATCH
#15 Jack McAra – the second year BCHLer has smashed his career high of points from last year, and has been an offensive threat the entire season for an excellent Capitals team. The pride of Burlington, Ontario product has a 5 game point streak under his belt, collecting two goals and 5 assists in that span, and will look to continue his strong play on Saturday against Langley.
RIVERMEN PLAYER TO WATCH
#21 Parker Forlin – the Niagra Falls, Ontario born forward has been one of the most potent goal scorers in the BCHL the past few games. He has goals in four of his last 6 games, after collecting two goals in his first 13 games, he has 11 goals in the last 16 games, to go along with 7 assists in that span. He is a sharp shooter who doesn’t need much time to fire off a shot, and can score from any part of the ice, Langley will rely heavily on the 19 year old down the final two months of the regular season.
You can catch all games on FloHockey with a paid subscription with the voice of the Rivermen, Gideon Hill with the action beginning 10 minutes before puck drop. Alternatively, you can listen to the free audio only stream on Mixlr here https://langleyrivermenjuniorhockey.mixlr.com.
