Midseason Report: SFU hopes for bigger, better in 2018 after slow start

With a strong returning core and a handful of high profile recruits, expectations were high for Simon Fraser University entering the 2017/18 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season. But not all has gone according to plan for the defending regular season champs.

Last year, the Clan proved nearly unbeatable. Their 18-4-0-2 record was well ahead of second place, they led the BCIHL in scoring with 104 goals, and they pretty much shut down any opponent offensively whenever Lyndon Stanwood stood between the pipes.

But this season -- thus far at least -- has been another story altogether for SFU. Through 11 regular season games they sit in a third-place tie with Vancouver Island University with 12 points despite boasting a veteran-laden roster that features 15 returnees, a pair of CIS transfers and another from the NCAA.

So how do you explain the fact that the Clan have already suffered more regulation losses than they did all last season?

For starters, you can trace the drop-off in SFU's offence to some key departures. While the Clan didn't lose many players from last season's roster, those who did move on had played big roles in their success.

Leading scorer Brendan Lamont is back for a third season, but gone are three impact forwards in Adam Callegari, Scott Patterson and Graham Smerek. The trio finished in a three-way tie for second place in points with 23, and Patterson hit that number in just 16 games.

CIS transfer Mac Colasimone has been a hit in his first BCIHL season with 10 points in nine games, but he's currently the Clan's only player riding above the point-a-game mark. Tyler Basham has been a consistent contributer (44 points in his last 44 games), as has all-star blueliner Mathew Berry-Lamontanga, but that rounds out SFU's current list of players with 10 or more points.

On the defensive side of the puck, the Clan haven't been able to keep up last season's tremendous defensive performance level that saw them allow just 2.08 goals against per game on average. But they certainly have the talent to turn that around, as Berry-Lamontanga is joined on the blueline by longtime WHL blueliner Austin Adam and recent NCAA transfer Braxton Bilous.

Simon Fraser will also benefit from the eventual return of stay-at-home stalwart Dustin Cave and experienced Junior A forwards Sam Chatterley and Cam Bertsch, who were all sidelined for the entire first half of the season.

Can the Clan recover from their slow start and challenge Selkirk College and Trinity Western for home-ice advantage in the first round of the BCIHL playoffs? Their pedigree says yes, but they'll need to make up ground quickly in January and February to close what are currently 11 and 9-point gaps behind the Saints and Spartans respectively.

SFU returns to the ice on Friday, January 5th when they travel to Victoria to begin a two-game Vancouver Island road trip against the Vikes.
 

MIDSEASON AT A GLANCE - SFU

Record: 6-5-0-0 (3rd place-Tie)
Goals For: 40 (4th)
Goals Against: 35 (3rd)
Power Play: 14.29% (3rd)
Penalty Kill: 82.26% (4th)

Goals Leader: Daniell Lange (6)
Assists Leader: Tyler Basham/Mac Colasimone (8)
Points Leader: Tyler Basham (11)
PIM Leader: Jayden Piatelli (45)