Cents Game Day – Merritt vs Wenatchee – Dec 3/21

Date – Friday, December 3, 2021

Game Time – Puck drop 7:00 pm

Location – Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, Merritt BC

Broadcast –Q101 & BCHLTV

Wenatchee Wild – 3-9-3-1

Merritt Centennials – 0-13-1-0

The Merritt Centennials are finally returning home to Merritt and the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena tonight to face the Wenatchee Wild.

The Cents have been displaced for the past few weeks, spending time practicing both in Kamloops and Shulus to stay ready for game action.

Last weekend the Cents faced the always dangerous Penticton Vees. The Vees came out hot and didn’t stop firing over 50 shots on goal and winning 8-0. The Cents managed just 22 shots in their first game back since the evacuation.

While the team is returning to the normal surroundings of the NVMA, they do so without the former longest tenured Centennial, Talon Zakall. The Merritt native was traded this week to Vernon in a five-player BCHL blockbuster.

Vipers Receive:

• Talon Zakall and Luke Lavery

Cents Recieve:

• Nick Remissong, Braden Smith, and Desmon Johnson
• Future Considerations

The Wenatchee Wild enter tonight’s game with one win in their last five games and are the Cents closest rival in the Interior Division standings, but are still 9 points ahead.

Last weekend the Wild lost three in a row at home to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks by scores of 6-2, 3-2, and 4-0.

Previous meetings;

The Cents and Wild haven’t faced each other since the 2019-2020 season as Wenatchee did not participate in last year’s pod season in the BCHL. Over the past five seasons, Merritt is 7-10-1-0 against the Wild. The teams will quickly become acquainted again as Merritt plays Wenatchee five times this month including three down in Washington State.

Blue Paint Battle;

Last weekend in Penticton, the Vees were able to best Keegan Maddocks eight times on 52 shots, as the Cents netminder was extremely busy. Maddocks is now 0-7-1-0 with a .833 SV% and a 6.83 GAA.

John Hicks has been battling a lower-body injury for much of the season appearing in just four games so far with a .858 SV% and a 5.21 GAA.

The Wild have had a fairly even goalie split between Tyler Shea and Andy Vlaha. Shea is 2-4-2 with a .872 SV% and a 3.65 GAA. Vlaha is 1-5-1 with an identical .872 SV% and a 3.52 GAA.

Special Teams Comparison;

Wild – PP 25.5% (7/18) PK 73.5% (12/18)

Cents – PP 11.4% (18/18) PK 70.5% (15/18)