Rivermen oust Surrey Eagles with decisive Game 6 win

SURREY — The Langley Rivermen showed why they posted the best record in the B.C. Hockey League this season by blasting the Surrey Eagles 6-1 in the sixth and final game of their opening round playoff series at South Surrey Arena Tuesday night.

The Eagles put up a spirited fight for the first five games of the series, but had no answer for the Rivermen in what turned out to be their final game of the season. The Eagles appeared tentative at times and the Rivermen made them pay by beating the home side to the loose pucks throughout the game and creating numerous scoring chances.

“We didn’t have a lot of jump and we got outworked tonight in my opinion,” said Eagles coach Peter Schaefer. “Langley played a playoff-style hockey game. We got grinded out and we stopped doing the simple things. They earned their breaks and their calls and now they’re moving on and we’re done. That’s what playoff hockey is all about.”

Langley led 1-0 after one period and 2-0 after 40 minutes before cranking up the offence with four goals in the final frame. Langley outshot the Eagles 45-26 in the contest.

Tyson Witala led the Rivermen with two goals and two assists. Danton Heinen scored the lone Surrey goal on a goalmouth scramble in the third period.

Langley finished 29 points ahead of the fourth-place Eagles in the regular season, but the Eagles held their own against the veteran Rivermen through the first four games of the series with each team winning twice. Langley pushed the Eagles to the brink with a 3-0 win on home ice in Game 5 Monday night before sealing the deal Tuesday in Surrey.

“This series probably could have gone either way,” Schaefer said. “In several games a different call one way or the other could have changed the result and it’s a different story. We might be playing Game 7 now or we’re finishing the series and we’re moving on and they’re not. I give them a lot of credit; they have a good, big team.”

Even with the disappointing result in Game 6, Schaefer was pleased with the progress made by Surrey’s talented young players.

“I’m really happy with my young guys,” he said. “They’re going to do nothing but learn from this experience moving forward next year. I thought we had a chance if we played the right way and for parts of the series, we played the right way and got the results we wanted. In other parts we didn’t stick to our game plan and it showed. You have to do everything right if you want to have success.”

Eagles Notes… Heinen, Surrey’s captain and leading scorer has accepted a scholarship to the University of Denver.

The 18-year-old Langley native led all BCHL rookies with 62 points this season and was named to the league’s all-rookie team.

Heinen is the seventh Eagle to secure a scholarship to an NCAA. Other Birds heading to school include Jonah and Nathan Renouf (Quinnipiac), Braeden Russell and Philippe Johansson (Brown), Chase McMurphy (Alaska) and Anthony Conti (Alaska-Anchorage).