Coastal Conference

Chilliwack Chiefs 2020-21 first half by the numbers

Written by Brian Wiebe on

 

The Chilliwack Chiefs 20-game 2020-21 BC Hockey League schedule is half done, so here’s a quick breakdown of their numbers so far. All stats are recorded prior to the Chiefs 2-0 loss to Prince George on Wednesday night.

The Chiefs entered the second half of the abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 7-3 record, first in their home pod with a slim one-point lead over Prince George entering Wednesday’s game against the Spruce Kings.

So far this season, the Chiefs have worked pretty tidily, with only one of their games going to overtime, it was a 3-2 shootout win against the Spruce Kings on Apr. 18. Otherwise, all other nine games were decided in regulation.

Chilliwack had a 4-1 record in the first half against Prince George and was 3-2 against the Merritt Centennials.

For this exercise, I included all 21 active roster skaters as well as the Chiefs’ two affiliate players.

Roster breakdown by age

  • 2000-born: Tanner Andrew, Jackson Munro, Mathieu Caron, Trevor Longo, Kyle Penney, Tyler McBay
  • 2001-born: Jonathan Krahn, Xavier Henry, Connor Milburn, Massimo Rizzo, Brett Rylance
  • 2002-born: Lachlan Getz, Jakob Gullmes, Dawson Good, Ethan Bowen, Sasha Teleguine, Ray Fust
  • 2003-born: Luca Grabas, Liam Tanner, Lucas Bourdon, Abram Wiebe
  • 2004-born: Drew Dornan, Cameron Johnson

Main statistics broken down by age

[wptb id=11733]

Goals

2000-born forward Tanner Attew leads the charge in goal-scoring, with six through the first half. It’s a pace that would see him amass 35 goals over a full 58-game BCHL season.

Defenseman Trevor Longo, who is also a 2000-born player, is next in goals with four, tied with Anaheim Ducks draft pick and 2002-born forward Ethan Bowen.

Kyle Penney, Dawson Good, and Ray Fust are tied at three goals apiece. Liam Tanner and Cameron Johnson each have two, while Jackson Munro, Brett Rylance, Abram Wiebe, and Luca Grabas have each tallied one goal on the season so far.

Outside of the goaltenders, there are eight Chiefs players who have yet to find the back of the net this season.

Assists

Despite not scoring a goal yet this season, 2002-born and 2021 NHL Draft eligible forward Sasha Teleguine leads Chilliwack in helpers with eight. Bowen is next with six.

Munro is another player who hasn’t scored yet but is still putting up points as he has five assists from the Chiefs’ blueline. Penney, Johnson, and Rylance are next with four assists each.

Longo, Good, and Connor Milburn have each posted three assists, while five players have two assists and six have one apple on the season.

In fact, every one of the Chiefs’ 21 skaters has at least one point this season.

Power play statistics

It’s difficult to compare special teams stats to the rest of the league this season because each of the teams is limited in terms of opponents, but based on the numbers alone, the Chiefs’ power play is in the bottom half at 14.58 per cent. Chilliwack has seven power play goals on 48 opportunities at the conclusion of the first half.

Andrew is the top of the leaderboard as three of his six goals have come on the power play and he’s provided nearly half of all of the Chiefs power play goals. No other player has more than one power play goal.

Bowen, Munro, and Penney have the most power play assists, with each of them notching three helpers on the man advantage this season.

Penalty kill and shorthanded goals

The Chiefs are tied with Cranbrook for third overall in the BCHL in shorthanded goals with two. Entering the second half, only four teams had more goals while down a player than Chilliwack.

Good and Rylance are the two players who have scored while shorthanded. Rylance also assisted on Good’s shorthanded goal, meaning two of his five points have come with the Chiefs down a man.

Chilliwack’s penalty killing is among the best in the BCHL, clicking at an 85.7 per cent rate after 10 games. Interestingly, Prince George is one of only three teams better than the Chiefs on the penalty kill, meaning two of the top four in the league are in the Chilliwack pod.

Goaltending

Between the pipes, 2000-born Mathieu Caron is the workhorse for the Chiefs, playing nine games during the first half of the season.

The Brown University commit has a sparkling 2.11 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage. He is tied for second in shutouts with two and amassed a 6-3-0 record.

Rookie Jakob Gullmes only started one game in the first half, a 3-2 win over Merritt on Apr. 11. He made 30 saves in the game and finished with a 2.00 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage.

Brian's been involved in the BCHL in a variety of capacities for 17 years. From 2002 to 2012, he served in several roles around the Merritt Centennials organization, including as team president, board member, beat writer, colour commentator, webmaster, media and communications coordinator and marketing assistant. He's been writing about the BCHL since 2008 and served as colour commentator on the TSN 1040 broadcasts in 2012-13. BCHLNetwork is one of Brian's many passion projects that he balances around his full-time job as an instructor in the Radio Arts and Entertainment Program at BCIT in Burnaby.