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nour · 08-18-2018, 06:27 PM

Vancouver, BC - For fans of the SMJHL, and its often intense rivalries, this match up has been a long time coming. The bitter and cold-blooded rivalry between the two remaining teams in British Columbia (RIP Firebirds) has finally come to a grand finale at the head of the Four Star Cup playoffs, as the Vancouver Whalers take on the Kelowna Knights for the S42 championship. Both team's with a lot to prove, as the Whalers look to avenge an early exit last season, and return to the glory they had as back-to-back champions in S35/S36, while the Knights look to close off their modern dynasty as the first team in SMJHL and SHL history to win 3 straight titles. Both these teams have a fire to make this their season, and its only fitting that their final opponents be each other.

Kelowna and Vancouver's rivalry has certainly been more of a theoretical one than a practical one as of late. Often catching each other on opposite ends of the standings, the team's have struggled over the last 7 seasons to really compete at the same level, which has tempered their hatred a good bit. The closest Vancouver came was last season, where some last minute roster dismantling due to call ups saw the Whalers sent home in their first match up against Montreal after their bye week. On the Kelowna side of things, they've struggled to find any real compete level until the last two seasons, but prior to that saw 3 playoff match ups against Vancouver, neither of which ended up in their favour, twice ending in 5 games or less. This season however, that has finally been broken, as Vancouver and Kelowna both took turns trading for the first place finish in the regular season, and posting nearly identical records, with the Whalers finishing 36-12-2, and Kelowna ending just behind them at 35-13-2. They both enjoyed a bye week before dispatching Montreal and Anchorage, respectively, and now gear up for what may be one of the most important finals in juniors history. All of this, coupled with the lingering geographically rivalry, is sure to make this Battle of BC one you don't want to miss!

Firstly let's look analyze Vancouver. A fantastic regular season saw them as this year's regular season champions, as they finished with the league's best goal differential, and were statistical darlings, finishing first in Goals For, Goals Against and Penalty Kill%. The Whalers are chock full of really talented players, both sophomores from last season, who have carried the team to 1st place twice now through their strong and consistent play, and rookies from this season's reddit draft who have been supplementing Vancouver with some great depth and stability that makes their roster incredibly lethal, from top to bottom. Their top performers during the regular season were the second line duo of Eriks Skalsberg and David Kastrba, both combining for 99 points this season and finishing atop the SMJHL's scoring leaders at first and second respectively. In goal, starter Greg Santos backstopped the team to 28 wins in his 35 games played, finishing with a .903% save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average. Vancouver also saw a great first season performance from rookie Carlo Russo, who finished with an 8 goal, 6 assist campaign in his limited minutes as a depth scorer for the Whalers.

Looking at stats from their first round match up against Montreal, the story doesn't change too much. Skalsberg remains the team leader in the postseason as he did in the regular season, now with 7 points through 5 games, though we're now seeing Geoff Moore step up big on the backend, currently sitting with 5 points now through Vancouver's first round and 3rd amongst defensemen in playoff scoring. Santos has been reliable in net, although not nearly as strong as he was during the regular season, currently boasting a .860% save percentage and 2.69 goals against average. Lastly, Carlo Russo has been making a name for himself this post season with his 2 goals in 5 games thus far, he'll be an important piece in Vancouver's cup run, and well into their future as well.

For Vancouver to pull through in this series against Kelowna, they're going to need to regain their regular season form as soon as possible. They'll need to shore up defensively, while maintaining their current strong offensive pace going into this series, and most importantly Santos will need to regain the confidence and poise he had a few weeks prior, as its increasingly hard to throw him off his game once he's truly in the zone.

The back-to-back defending Four Star Cup Champions have bounced back to form after last season's more middle-of-the-pack regular season, where they finished 4th despite their eventual cup win. This season, the Knights held first place for a majority of the season before sloppy play in the final 10 games cost the team their spot to the eventual winners, the Vancouver Whalers. Despite this however, Kelowna put themselves together a great season, nipping at Vancouver's heels in most categories they lost out on. In addition to this, Kelowna finished first in a lot of key stats, including their PowerPlay Percentage, Shots For, and Shots Against. Two seasons after their first cup win in this era, a good chunk of the team has moved on to the SHL following some call ups, so save for a few familiar faces chasing a third ring, a very big portion of the Knights depth was acquired via trade before this past season's draft. Nevertheless, their top 3 scorers in this past season have all been veteran players drafted by the Knights organization, with Daddy Mack (45 points), Deku Izuku (40 points), and James Dekens (38 points) leading the charge for the Knights, all in their 4th-5th seasons with the team. Veteran starter Kata Vilde posted up for 40 games this season finishing with a .892 Save Percentage and a 2.50 Goals Against Average. Finally, on the rookie front, Kelowna is a little bare. Their lack of picks in the most recent draft has left them with a lot of sophomore and veteran talent, but not too many young guns. Regardless, a notable bright spot for the future is the newly acquired Vladislav Konstantin, who despite posting only 1 point in Kelowna's final 11 games, was able to manage 20 points on Detroit through his 41 games with them this season, finishing only a little bit outside of the top 10 in rookie scoring this year.

Similarly to Vancouver, Kelowna's top scorer remains the same as Daddy Mack, who holds the team lead with 10 points, sits at first in the league this post season in points. Supporting him however are a few new faces stepping up, as Colorado rentals Cash Savage and Ryan Gardiner have stepped up for a combined 9 points this post season through 4 games, really showcasing Kelowna's depth across lines one(Mack), two(Savage) and three(Gardiner). Vilde on the other hand has been playing out of this world, allowing only 4 goals in 4 games, currently sitting with a .947% Save Percentage and a 1.00 Goals Against Average. In addition to all this, rookie Konstantin has kept the pressure one with his 1 goal so far, his play has been great considering he's been limited to fourth line minutes, and he is hungry to continue proving himself.

So what does Kelowna need to do to come out on top in this series? A big chunk of it is asking for more from their top players. Mack may have 10 points, but everyone else has 5 or less. Elias and Dekens specifically are going to have to step up here specifically. Otherwise, continuing to play the way they did against Anchorage will be huge for them. This postseason, Kelowna has the edge on Vancouver in EVERY statistical except for hits per game, all of this against an Anchorage team that was quite better than Montreal. If they keep up the strong play they've shown, and Vilde keeps on top of his game, the series is all but locked up.