(Photo: Garrett James)
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Langley Rivermen 4-1 on Saturday night at the George Preston Arena. The victory gave the Bulldogs their 1st Coastal Conference pennant since the 2009-2010 season.
The Bulldogs missed their chance to clinch the previous two opportunities and went into this one knowing tonight would be their final opportunity to control their own destiny. The Bulldogs haven’t lost 2 straight since mid-November and they made sure tonight went their way.
Booker Daniel with perhaps best game as a Bulldog scored twice in the win, giving him his 10th and 11th goals of the season. Emanuelson Charbonneau (3rd) and Cole Melady (4th) also scored in the win.
The special teams have been much maligned of late, but they stepped up in a big way tonight, despite missing some of their top guns. With no Josh Van Unen or Arlo Merritt in the line-up the penalty kill was a perfect 4 for 4, while the power play struck twice and went 2 for 5 on the night.
Hobie Hedquist was great in goal as he made 27 saves and picked up 3rd star honours. Hedquist finished the season with a record of 28-9-4 and had 5 shutouts tying the franchise record. He came within just over four mintues from breaking the mark set by Brian Stewart back in 2005-2006 as Max Bulawka broke his shutout bid at 15:53 of the 3rd.
The Bulldogs finish the 2021-2022 season with an over record of 35-15-3-1, good for 74 points. They also led the Coastal Conference with the fewest goals against with 148.
Game 1 of the Coastal Conference Quarterfinals is set for Friday April 1st at 7:00 pm. The Bulldogs will learn who their opponent is tomorrow. The Surrey Eagles host the Powell River Kings at 4:00 pm. A win by Powell River and the Bulldogs will face the Kings. A Surrey win, and the Bulldogs will host the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
