They may have finished 14 points behind the Abbotsford Pilots, but the Langley Trappers can take solace in the fact they split the season series.
The first-year Trappers qualified for the PJHL playoffs as the third seed against the No. 2 Pilots when the Harold Brittain Conference post-season gets underway tonight (Feb. 14).
Langley will host games one and four (Feb. 19) at the George Preston Recreation Centre with puck drop at 7 p.m. both nights. The series shifting to Abbotsford’s MSA Arena for games two and three on Feb. 16 and 17.
“The playoffs are a whole new season,” said Trappers coach and general manager Burt Henderson. “The intensity gets ramped up, we just have to make sure that we are ready for that.”
Abbotsford finished the regular season at 25-15-1-3 for 54 points while Langley was 18-22-2-2.
But it was tale of two seasons for the first-year Trappers. Prior to to Dec. 1, the team was 7-17-0-0, before finding their game to finish 11-5-2-2 over the final 20 games.
SEE: Successful debut season for Langley Trappers
The Trappers, who had 18 rookies out of their 23 players, were led by Nicholas Wagner in scoring during the regular season. Wagner led in both goals (17) and points (31) while another rookie, Colin Cromie, was the leading set-up man with 18 assists.
The Pilots’ Baylee Wright — a Langley native — led the entire PJHL in scoring with 81 points in 38 games.
SEE: Abbotsford Pilots playoff opponent set
Games five to seven
If necessary, games five and seven are in Abbotsford on Feb. 20 and 23 while Langley would host game six on Feb. 22.
sports@langleytimes.com
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