With a playoff berth locked up long ago and less than a month of games to go, Surrey Eagles will in March shoot for first place in the BC Hockey League with more time spent on the road than at home.
Following a pair of home-ice wins Friday and Saturday (March 1-2), the Cam Keith-coached Eagles are first in the Coastal Conference with a 11-point lead over Chilliwack Chiefs, and remain just a single point back of Penticton Vees for junior league bragging rights, although Surrey has a pair of games in hand.
The Eagles also boast the BCHL’s top two scorers in Caden Cranston (75 points) and Aaron Schwartz (66), a pair of American 2004-born forwards who’ve been healthy and productive all season.
Friday night at South Surrey Arena, Cranston scored twice and Schwartz added one goal in a 6-3 win over Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Go-to goaltender Ajeet Gundarah, who leads the league with a 0.933 save percentage and 23 wins this season, stopped 26 of 29 shots.
Saturday, Surrey skated to a 3-1 win over Nanaimo Clippers thanks to goals by Cranston (his 28th this season), Schwartz (his 26th) and Zachary Wagnon (15th). In net, Jaiden Sharma was first-star worthy after stopping 28 of 29 shots.
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The dawg wants in on the fun! Aaron Schwartz makes it 3-1 late in the third!#SoarWithUs | #Surrey | #BCHL pic.twitter.com/X09PayhK7c
— Surrey Eagles (@SurreyEagles) March 3, 2024
The Eagles return to action Wednesday night (March 6) in Coquitlam, then travel to Vancouver Island for a trio of weekend games – two in Nanaimo (Friday, Sunday) and one in Cowichan (Saturday).
Surrey has just two homes left this season, both on Friday nights — March 15 against Victoria, then March 22 in another battle with Nanaimo.
The team’s final regular-season game is March 30 back at Cowichan Community Centre, followed by playoffs in early April.
The schedule, stats, tickets and other details are found on surreyeagles.ca.