Playoff Preview: Spartans and Vikes set to meet in 2017 Finals rematch

One year ago, the University of Victoria celebrated a B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League championship on the ice at the Langley Events Centre while a dejected Trinity Western University squad looked on.

The finish in that series' third and deciding game was drama-filled, as Vikes forward Shawn Mueller scored with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation to break a 2-2 tie and earn a fourth BCIHL title for his team.

Flash forward to 2018 and the teams will meet again in the first round of the league playoffs beginning Friday in Victoria, but the circumstances surrounding the series are far different.

Back on February 4th the Vikes were eliminated from playoff contention with a road loss to Vancouver Island University. They played three more games in the month with the expectation that their season would end quietly the first weekend in March. But an eligibility ruling announced by the BCIHL on Friday changed all that, as SFU was stripped of nine wins and UVic suddenly found themselves firmly in fourth place.

So here we are, with the Spartans and Vikes set to meet again beginning Friday at the Ian Stewart Complex in Victoria. Victoria is one again the underdog, but perhaps moreso in this series than ever before. TWU is coming off a season where they set a new league record with 43 points, albeit with an extra game played under the BCIHL's new 25-game format.

TWU finished their season series against the Vikes with a perfect 5-0 record, outscoring Victoria 31-11 including a 6-3 win last Friday to cap their best-ever regular season record. TWU’s Elijah Vilio scored a hat-trick for the Spartans Friday night while Silas Matthys capped his regular season career with a BCIHL-record 51 wins.

 TWU’s Evan Last finished the year third in the league for points, with 11 goals and 20 assists while rookie forward Brayden Brown was fourth in league scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists and fellow first-year Brandon Potomak was sixth with seven goals and 21 assists.

Spartans blueliner Dustin Deugau finished the season as the BCIHL’s top scoring defenceman with three goals and 21 assists and was named the league's Defenceman of the Month for February. He had 10 assists in five games during the month.

Meanwhile, the Victoria attack struggled through parts of the season and ultimately finished fourth in the league with 65 goals. Jack Palmer and Brandon Volpe led the way offensively for the Vikes, with Palmer picking up a team-high 29 points while Volpe was the only member of the squad to hit double digits in goals with 11.

In net, the Vikes will choose between Alec Dillon and Zack Wear for the series opener on Friday night. Dillon is a former WHL standout who showed moments of greatness during the regular season, but the 21-year old is in his first season of recovery from a major injury. Wear has 12 wins in parts of three seasons for Victoria but was limited to a pair of victories over Eastern Washington in eight appearances this year.

Will the Vikes wear Cinderella's slipper again in 2018? If nothing else, UVic certainly has a history over outperforming their regular season record come playoff time. The series begins Friday in Victoria before shifting back to Langley on Saturday. A Game 3, if necessary, would be hosted by TWU on Monday night.