Pre-Game Report: Eagles vs. Spruce Kings

The Surrey Eagles will go for their third straight victory when they host the Prince George Spruce Kings tonight at the South Surrey Arena. This evening's game is the third meeting between the two teams this season. Prince George has won both games so far, picked up a 4-1 win in Surrey on October 5th before triumphing 3-0 at the Prince George Coliseum on October 13th.

Surrey will be playing its third game in three nights for the first time this season. The Eagles are coming off road wins in Langley and Merritt. Michael Stenerson returned to the line-up against the Centennials on Friday night and scored his sixth of the season. The Birds currently sit in a third place tie in the Mainland Division with a record of 10-6-0-1 and 21 points to their name. Coquitlam also has 21 points but has played one less game, meaning the Eagles technically sit in fourth.

Prince George sits in first place in the Mainland Division but is coming off a 5-1 loss on Friday night in Langley. The loss snapped a six game winning streak for the Spruce Kings who had a strong month of October, winning seven of nine games. It's been scoring by committee for PG this year as 10 players have put up at least 10 points on the season, but none of them are in the top 20 in league scoring.

The Surrey Eagles players will be growing (or attempting to grow) their moustaches to help raise money and awareness for men’s health issues. At all Eagles home games in the month of November there will be a table set up on the concourse where you can donate to Movember Canada. If you’re not able to donate at the game, you can also donate online at www.bchl.ca by clicking here.

Where: South Surrey Arena

When: 7:00pm

How to listen: http://ustream.tv/channel/surreyeagleshockey or on 88.7FM in the arena.

How to watch: http://fasthockey.com

Birds Pick Up Road Win in Merritt

Glenn Ferguson was named the first star and made 39 saves to help the Surrey Eagles to a 3-2 victory over the Merritt Centennials at the Nicola Valley Arena. With the win, the Birds take the season series 2-0.

Surrey opened the scoring at 10:45 of the opening frame when Michael Stenerson, Demico Hannoun and Brady Shaw went in on a three-on-one. After a give-and-go with Hannoun, Stenerson beat Merritt goaltender Tyler Steel between the legs for his sixth of the season. The Centennials countered on the power play a few minutes later when Dylan Chanter's shot from the right point bounced off Trevor Cameron and past Ferguson.

The Eagles got the only goal of the second period at 14:19 when Drew Best skated across the Merritt blue line and wired a wrist shot over Steel's left shoulder, putting Surrey back in front. It was Best's fourth of the season and first goal since September 21st. 

Merritt equalized midway through the third after Ferguson stopped Regan Soquila's shot from the left boards, but Derek Huisman pounced on the rebound to put the Centennials back on even terms. It took until the final five minutes before the Eagles found a winner when Nic Pierog scored his first BCHL goal from the right circle to secure the two points for Surrey.

Surrey was out shot 41-26 in the game. Merritt went 1-for-1 on the power play while the Eagles did not get an opportunity with the man advantage.

The Birds will complete their run of three games in three night on Saturday when the Prince George Spruce Kings pay a visit to the South Surrey Arena. Face-off is at 7:00pm.

Official 3 Stars:

1. Glenn Ferguson - Surrey

2. Richard Sabourin - Merritt

3. Drew Best - Surrey

My 3 Stars:

1. Glenn Ferguson - Surrey

2. Richard Sabourin - Merritt

3. Nic Pierog - Surrey

Eagles Add Clark

For immediate release: November 2, 2012

The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club announced on Friday that the team has added forward William Clark (93) to its roster.

Clark is a native of Dallas, Texas and put up 54 points in 39 games with the Dallas Stars U18 in the Midwest Elite Hockey League last season. The 19-year-old is listed at 6'6 and 223 pounds.

"William is a big body with a good skill set that will provide some size to our forward group," said Head Coach and General Manager Matt Erhart. "Coming from midget hockey, with a brief stint in the NAHL, it’s a big jump to the BCHL, but we feel he has the tools to be a key contributor to the Eagles program.”

Surrey also released forward Kolten Grieve (94) on Friday. The Eagles would like to wish Kolten all the best in his future endeavours.

Pre-Game Report: Eagles at Centennials

Tonight, the Surrey Eagles will wrap-up their three game road trip with a visit to the Nicola Valley Arena to take on the Merritt Centennials. It's the second and final regular season meeting between the teams this year. The Birds skated away with a 5-1 win back on October 7th.

Surrey is coming off Thursday night's double overtime victory in Langley. Jordan Klimek picked up his second goal of the year, picking up the winner. Klimek will be counted on to play extra minutes over the next couple of weeks with Devon Toews away at the World Junior A Challenge. The win over the Rivermen pulled the Eagles two points clear of Langley in the Mainland Division and into a third place tie with Coquitlam, although the Express have a game in hand on Surrey. The Eagles are 3-1-0-0 against opponents from the Interior Division this year.

The Centennials are coming off a 7-4 loss to Victoria on Sunday. In that game, Merritt was forced to ice two affiliate players in net, due to the fact that starter Tyler Steel was away at the World Junior A Challenge camp and backup Russell Sanderson was injured. Steel did not make the Canada West roster and will likely be back between the pipes for Merritt tonight. Other than the loss to Victoria, the Cents have been strong lately. In fact, the loss to the Grizzlies was the first time Merritt had lost in regulation since their visit to the South Surrey Arena.

Where: Nicola Valley Arena

When: 7:30pm

How to listen: http://ustream.tv/channel/surreyeagleshockey

How to watch: http://fasthockey.com

Klimek Nets Double Overtime Winner in Langley

Jordan Klimek scored the winning goal for the Surrey Eagles at 1:32 of the second overtime period, lifting the Birds to a 2-1 win over the Langley Rivermen in the third game between the teams in the past week. Michael Santaguida made a number of key saves in the Surrey goal en route to the victory.

Both teams scored goals in the opening period. Brett Mulcahy struck first for Surrey by firing a one-timer past Langley goaltender James Barr from the high slot. But just over two minutes later, the Rivermen answered when Ben Butcher beat Santaguida on the short side with a wrister off the left boards.

Thursday night's match-up was very different from the two games the Eagles and Rivermen played last weekend. While the previous match-ups were fast, high scoring and up tempo, this game was a defensive battle with both net minders standing strong. Neither team generated many high quality scoring chances, and the Eagles ground out the extra goal to claim the two points.

Santaguida made a couple of key saves late in the hockey game for Surrey. First, he stopped Langley's leading scorer Mario Puskarich on a breakaway in the final minute of the third period, turning the shot away with the blocker. Then he made another big save in the first overtime period when Mitch McLain snapped a one-timed shot on goal from the slot. Barr made a number of big stops in the Langley goal as well. Most notably, he turned Mason Blacklock aside on a breakaway in overtime as the White Rock native tried to beat him between the wickets.

In the end, Klimek netted the winner after Drew Best got the puck in the left corner and fed him a cross ice pass at the right circle. Klimek waited a moment, before snapping a shot over the left shoulder of Barr to give Surrey the win.

Neither team scored on the power play in the hockey game as the Eagles went 0-for-4 while the Rivermen were 0-for-1. Langley out shot Surrey 34-31.

The Birds will get right back at it tomorrow evening with a game in Merritt against the Centennials. The face-off is at 7:30pm from the Nicola Valley Arena.

Official 3 Stars:
1. James Barr - Langley
2. Michael Santaguida - Surrey
3. Jordan Klimek - Surrey

My 3 Stars:
1. Michael Santaguida - Surrey
2. James Barr - Langley
3. Jordan Klimek - Surrey

Toews Named to Team Canada West Roster

Devon Toews has been named to the roster for Team Canada West for the upcoming 2012 World Junior A Challenge in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. I had a chance to catch up with Toews on Thursday afternoon to talk about this exciting opportunity.

Here's the full press release on the roster announcement from Hockey Canada:

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Thursday the 22 players that will represent Canada West at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, Nov. 5-11 in Yarmouth, N.S.

The roster was selected by Canada West head coach Dean Brockman (St. Benedict, Sask./Humboldt, SJHL), along with assistant coaches Jason McKee (Irma, Alta./Spruce Grove, AJHL) and Ryan Smith (Headingley, Man./Selkirk, MJHL) following a four-day selection camp at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CANADA WEST ROSTER FOR THE 2012 WORLD JUNIOR A CHALLENGE

Players named to the Canada West roster were selected from the CJHL’s five western Junior A leagues: the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL).

“As with any Team Canada roster, there were a number of difficult choices to get us to 22 players,” said Brockman. “We’re excited about the roster we’ve put together, and we’re confident this team will represent western Canada with pride in Yarmouth.”

The Canada West roster includes:
· two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards;
· 15 players from the BCHL, three players from the AJHL, two players from the SJHL and two players from the MJHL;
· five players returning from the 2011 World Junior A Challenge (Hadley, Kerfoot, Morley, Richardson, Stecher);
· two players selected in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (Kerfoot – New Jersey, 5th round, 180th overall; de Haas – Detroit, 6th round, 170th overall.

The 2012 World Junior A Challenge will be held at the Mariners Centre in Yarmouth. Canada West will play in Group A, joined by the Czech Republic and Russia, while Canada East, Switzerland and the United States will comprise Group B.

Preliminary round play will run until Wednesday, Nov. 7, with both semifinals taking place Friday, Nov. 9. The gold medal game, which will be shown nationally on TSN/RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, is set for Sunday, Nov. 11 (check your local listings). All preliminary round games, quarter-finals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live via webcast through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Fans can now purchase the World Junior A Weekend ticket package, which features six games over the final three days of the 2012 World Junior A Challenge. The package includes both semifinals on Nov. 9, the fifth-place game and bronze medal game on Nov. 10 and the second CJHL Prospects Game and gold medal game on Nov. 11, all at the Mariners Centre. Packages are available for $159, plus service fees.

CLICK HERE for more ticket information, including how to purchase.

Canada West has appeared in five of the six gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenges, winning gold in 2006 in Yorkton, Sask., 2007 in Trail, B.C., and last year in Langley, B.C. It settled for silver in 2008 in Camrose, Alta., and 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I., and finished fourth in 2010 in Penticton, B.C.

For more information on the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/wjrac or www.twitter.com/hc_wjac.

Pre-Game Report: Eagles at Rivermen

The Surrey Eagles will play the second game of their three game road swing tonight in Langley against the Rivermen. The season series is tied at one win apiece after last weekend's back-to-back home-and-home series. The Eagles picked up a 5-3 win on Friday at home before losing 6-5 in Langley on Saturday.

Surrey is not expected to have Michael Stenerson in the line-up tonight despite the fact that the 19-year-old forward was cut from Team Canada West for the World Junior A Challenge. Meanwhile, defenseman Devon Toews made the team and will play in the tournament which goes form November 5-11 in Nova Scotia. That means he'll likely miss the next six Surrey games. Tonight's game is also the first of three games in three days for the Eagles. It's the first time Matt Erhart's squad has played that many games in such a short amount of time this season.

The Rivermen are coming off a 3-1 loss in Coquitlam on Sunday afternoon. It was the third game in three days for Langley after the pair of games against the Eagles on Friday and Saturday. Langley sits in last in the Mainland Division heading into tonight's action -- one point back of Surrey. The Eagles also have a game in hand. The Rivermen also made a major trade yesterday, sending youngster Bo Pellah to Alberni Valley in exchange for forward Evan Anderson and defenseman Turner Popoff.

Where: Langley Events Centre

When: 7:15pm

How to listen: http://ustream.tv/channel/surreyeagleshockey

How to watch: http://fasthockey.com