The Richmond Sockeyes begin what they hope to be a long playoff journey Thursday night.
Richmond will host the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in game one of the best-of-seven Pacific Junior Hockey League quarter-final series at 7 p.m. The teams then head to the North Shore on Saturday before returning to Minoru Areans on Monday for game three at 7:30 p.m.
The Sockeyes already know they will be part of the 2018 Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial junior “B” championships in April. Now, they are trying to make sure they will keep playing until the end of March.
Richmond finished with a 33-8-1-2 regular season record, second to only the Delta Ice Hawks and were 12 points better than the third place Wolf Pack. However, the PJHL playoff format means a tough test right out of the gate against an opponent that finished with the league’s third best record.
The playoff match-up is the first between the teams in recent memory after the Sockeyes were eliminated in the opening round the past three seasons by the Grandview Steelers.
Richmond is led by captain Tyler Andrews who finished third in league scoring with 71 points in 38 games. He is one of 13 players on the Sockeyes roster in their final year of junior eligibility as general manager Richard Petrowsky acquired plenty of veteran talent as Cyclone Taylor Cup hosts.
The winner will meet either the Ice Hawks or Grandview in the Tom Shaw Conference finals. Delta took game one 4-0 on Tuesday night.
