The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals dropped their final three regular season games heading to the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Generals lost twice to the host Comox Valley Glacier Kings, 4-2 (Feb. 18) and 6-2 (Feb. 21). They also fell to the Campbell River Storm, 5-1 on Feb. 19 at Oceanside Place.
The Generals will take on the Glacier Kings in the first round of the playoffs that will start tonight, Feb. 23, at Oceanside Place at 7 p.m.
It should be a tough seven-game series between the second- and third-ranked teams in the North Division respectively.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said Generals head coach Dan Lemmon. “We’re going to be ready for it. They are a tough team to play against. They’re gritty and play a similar style that we do. It’s going to be a great series. It won’t be a short one.”
In their Feb. 18 encounter, undisciplined play led to the Generals’ demise and ended their six-game win streak. The Generals gave up a short-handed goal and three successive power-play goals. They trailed 4-1 going into the third with Nolan Kehoe scoring the lone goal in the second. Braeden Leary made it 4-2 but Glacier Kings shut them out after that to seal the win.
The next day the Generals hosted the top team in the VIJHL, the Storm.
They again gave up three power-play goals in a row after allowing the Storm to score twice in the first. Jacob Thomas scored the only Generals goal in the second period.
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The Generals had a chance to redeem themselves against the host Glacier Kings on Feb. 21, but they again gave up an early goal in the first two minutes of play, then paid dearly for two penalties that put them further behind 3-0.
The Glacier Kings made it 4-0 going into the final frame before the Generals were able to find the back of the net off Oren Louie’s stick and just over a minute later Thomas made it 4-2. But the comeback fell short when the Generals gave up a power-play goal past the midway mark and never recovered, eventually losing 6-2.
Lemmon said they learned a lot from their last two games against the Glacier Kings. The key to their playoff series against the Glacier Kings is keeping their tempers in check.
“Discipline is going to be the big thing,” said Lemmon. “As we’ve seen in the last two games, our special teams have been dominated by their special teams. It’s where they’re beating us. It’s something we’re going to look at in the videos and we will make the adjustments we need. We are going to be pushing our system which is a heavy forecheck and making sure our defence is ready in the zone and making the coverage that we need.”
Meanwhile, Winnipeg native Carter Johnson, who led the Generals in scoring with franchise record of 40 goals and 52 assists for a total of 92 points in the regular season, won the Brian Harrison Award after being voted the top forward of the VIJHL.
He ranks third in the league overall behind the leading scoring of the VIJHL and Doug Morton Trophy winner Riley Braun of the Peninsula Panthers, who had 120 points with 43 goals and 77 assists.
“We are happy to have CJ voted as the league’s top forward,” said Lemmon. “He has been a key element of our offence and we expect him to lead the team in the playoffs.”
ICE CHIPS: The Generals open their best-of-seven playoff series against the Glacier Kings Feb. 23 at Oceanside Place … on Feb. 25 the Generals will head to Comox for the second game at 7:30 p.m. before they return to home ice on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.