Andrew Ballantyne making goaltending decision tough for head coach Brian Passmore

MERRITT — The Centennials started the season with three goaltenders. Andrew Ballantyne, Beau Lane and Stefan Carney.

Lane struggled in training camp and didn’t look good in the preseason either, putting him in the three spot. Stefan Carney looked decent but gave up a really tough goal in Salmon Arm that basically spelled the end of his time with Merritt.

Ballantyne however shined, almost getting a shutout in a 4-1 win over the Silverbacks at the NVMA.

At one point this season Ballantyne was named an honourable mention in the BCHL’s Players of the Week after an impressive week.

So far this season he has 7 wins 9 losses a 3.61 GAA when paired with a save percentage of .902 that is quite impressive as of February 5th, 2024.

Centennials celebrate with Ballantyne | Joey Jones Photography

He got the starting job and shined in a 5-3 win over the Powell River Kings in the Centennials home opener.

Karlis Mezsargs was added soon after and had a tough start losing his first couple of games 6-0 against Penticton and 4-2 in Vernon. He would soon catch fire however, leading up to the Seattle Showcase solidifying the top role in net after Ballantyne and Mezsargs shared most of their time in net prior.

Ballantyne’s play started to dip but he remained a great teammate with a good attitude and once Mezsargs started to go on a bit of a cold streak of his own he took the starting role back.

Andrew Ballantyne | Madeline Baker

Mezsargs has remained a good teammate as well and can be seen cheering on Ballantyne when he’s in net, tapping on the glass every time he makes a good save. The strong play of both goalies led to the departure of Beau Lane who had played pretty good in his three games, where he had two wins.

Replaced by Lane was young Kelowna native Dylan Adams who came in relief of an injured Karlis Mezsargs in West Kelowna and played well while getting peppered in a 5-0 loss to the Warriors.

After a cold streak by the Centennials where both goalies were hung out to dry Ballantyne has caught fire once again making the goaltending decision tough for Brian Passmore.

Karlis Mezsargs does need to get in pretty soon or he runs the risk of going from a cold streak to rusty as well. All signs point to him figuring his game out soon though, and if he does during the stretch drive that’s going to make Passmore’s decision for the playoffs a tough one.

Here’s a look at Ballantyne’s last three games.

Ballantyne’s last three games | centennials.ca

With the team playing Friday in Trail and Saturday in Cranbrook, Brian Passmore may split the duties between both goaltenders but with the way Ballantyne has played of late if he dominates in Trail it’s gonna be hard to take him out. Passmore has admitted that Ballantyne has been playing lights out and that’s why he’s been getting so many games of late.

Ballantyne Warms Up | Madeline Baker