Playoff path gaining clarity for Merritt Centennials with six games remaining in the regular season

MERRITT — It’s now clear the Merritt Centennials will either face the West Kelowna Warriors, Salmon Arm Silverbacks or Vernon Vipers in the first round of the BCHL Playoffs.

It’s looking like the West Kelowna Warriors are going to finish 2nd in the Interior this year. They are seven points up on Salmon Arm and nine points back of Penticton with just five games remaining in their season.

For the Cents to face off against West Kelowna in round one they would have to be surpassed by the Cranbrook Bucks in the Standings. Right now the Bucks sit three points back of the Cents for the sixth spot.

Merritt has already won the season series 3-1 meaning Cranbrook cannot take sixth if they finish in an exact tie for points, even with a win over the Cents they would still lose the season series 3-2.

Depending on the importance of the Bucks vs Cents game in late March, Passmore could rest his regulars before the Playoffs.

Here’s a look at both teams’ remaining schedule.

So the Bucks would need to pick up about two more wins than Merritt down the stretch to steal sixth from the Cents. They need to finish with four points more than Merritt to pull off the steal.

Merritt has a lot of travel to finish the year while Cranbrook’s travel is very limited with the Merritt and Salmon Arm trip being the only real challenge for them down the stretch.

The Cents need some wins in Prince George to start putting distance between them and Cranbrook.

If Merritt faces the West Kelowna Warriors it could be a bad matchup for them.

The season series started off well with the Cents winning two of three games but the Warriors ripped off four straight wins to win the season series 5-2. The last three games of the series were 5-0, 6-2, and 8-3 wins for the Warriors. A combined score of 19-5.

This is clearly the least favorable matchup for the Cents.

Another possibility would be a Vernon vs Merritt first round matchup. The Vipers swept the season series winning all five games but didn’t get a decisive win in any of the games played. All wins were by two goals except for a 5-4 overtime win for the Vipers.

In that game the Cents erased a 4-0 deficit, Merritt outshot Vernon badly in a few stretches during the season and it seems they were just a bounce away during a lot of those losses.

The Vernon Vipers would have to close a four point gap on Salmon Arm however, which will be difficult. This playoff matchup is the least likely out of three scenarios.

As it stands right now the Salmon Arm Silverbacks would face the Centennials in round one of the playoffs. So far this is the most favorable matchup with the season series tied at 2-2.

The Cents nearly shutout Salmon Arm twice (Andrew Ballantyne was in net for those games) and had a lot of injuries in the 7-1 loss in Salmon Arm.

In the season series the Cents have a 4-0 home win and a 3-2 shootout win on the road. They have lost 7-1 on the road and 5-2 at home. The final game of the season series will be played in Salmon Arm on Sunday, March 24th at 4 p.m.

Either way the Centennials will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.