Defender Luke Santilli played in his 100th B.C. Hockey League game on Saturday, March 30, a 6-1 loss to the Surrey Eagles.
It was the final game of the regular season for the Cowichan Capitals, who’d fallen 4-2 to the Chilliwack Chiefs the night before.
With 16 wins and 38 losses for 36 total points, Cowichan finished their 54-game schedule in eighth place in the Coastal Division, which affords the team the final playoff spot ahead of the division’s ninth place team, the Powell River Kings, who had 33 points on the season.
While the Capitals can breathe a sigh of relief they’ve reached their goal of making the post-season, the road ahead gets much harder now as Cowichan’s first round matchup is against the 2023-24 Surrey Eagles, who won 44 of their 54 games during the regular season to claim the Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy as league champions.
The Caps haven’t had much luck against the Eagles in recent years, sporting a 0-3 record head-to-head this year, and a 4-10 record over the last five seasons against the perennial contenders.
The Eagles are hungry to hoist the Fred Page Cup as the BCHL’s playoff champion for the fifth time and the first since 2013.
Games 1 and 2 of the first round are April 5 and 6 at the Eagles’ home rink in South Surrey before moving to the Cowichan Arena for Games 3 and 4 on April 9 and April 10. Both of Cowichan’s home games begin at 7 p.m.