Season Preview: Vikes face tough road to repeat as BCIHL champions

Has the clock struck midnight for Cinderella? Only time will tell for the 2017/18 edition of the University of Victoria Vikes.

Last season, the UVic limped into the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League playoffs after posting nine wins in 24 regular season games. And the rest, as they say, is history. They would go on to sweep first-place SFU in the opening round before winning their first league title since 2011 with a dramatic three-game series win over Trinity Western,

Gone from the Vikes' roster are five-year mainstays Shawn Mueller and Luciano Somerville, who each played a plus-size role in last season's championship win. Mueller, in fact, graduated as the league's all-time leader in games played and second-highest all-time scorer with 157 points.

The good news? UVic head coach Harry Schamhart will be able to lean on former NHL/AHL forward Patrick Holland and WHL veteran Jack Palmer to lead the way offensively after the pair combined for 20 points in five postseason games in March.

New to the group of front are a pair of Junior A veterans in Logan Nachtegaele and Jordan Evans. Nachtegaele is coming off a championship season with the SJHL's Battlefords Stars while Evans set a career high with 33 points in a season split between the Kindersley Klippers and Drumheller Dragons.

On the blueline, Kyle Bird returns after earning BCIHL Top Defenceman honours as a rookie out of the MJHL. Back too are veterans Carter Melnyk, Austin Seaman and Henry Hart, but the Vikes will need someone to step up and fill the shoes of departed stalwarts Noah Henry and Chris Manhas.

The Vikes' most intriguing recruit is certainly former LA Kings draft pick Alec Dillon, whose career track to the pros was thrown off by a hip injury that required surgery early last season. The former USHL and WHL standout has the tools and resume to be an immediate BCIHL star if fully healthy.

Waiting in the wings is Michael Fredrick, who came up big in UVic's two BCIHL Finals victories. The former Brooks Bandits starter has RBC Cup experience in addition to the recent league title under his belt.

So can the Vikes repeat? They certainly have the talent and impact players needed to do so, and Schamhart's teams have a history of being hard-working and tough to play against. But the first step comes with working towards an improved regular season finish.

The Vikes open defence of their 2017 BCIHL Championship at home to Trinity Western on Friday, October 6th.