Flyers to face Canucks in first round of NPHL playoffs

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — As the North Peace Hockey League (NPHL) playoffs approach, the Fort St. John Senior Flyers are bracing to face off against their rivals, the Dawson Creek Senior Canucks, in the opening round.

The Flyers have endured a challenging season, remaining winless with a record of 0-14-2. Meanwhile, the Canucks boast an impressive 15-0-1 record, leading the NPHL’s west division.

In their recent encounter on January 27th, the Canucks delivered a commanding performance, securing a 12-0 shutout victory over the Flyers.

Flyers head coach Craig Faulkner says the organization headed into the season knowing it would be a “rebuild and transition year” for the team. 

“There’s no question it’s been a difficult season, to say the very least,” said Faulkner. 

“Four guys alone from last year, who were all assistant captains and captains, are no longer with the club this year. So, that’s a huge miss in the locker room.”

Faulkner says the organization struggles to have more than twelve or fourteen players attend practice consistently, generally because of work or home-life commitments. 

“It shows because when you can’t work on the right things in practice, they don’t transition to the game well,” said Faulkner. 

“It’s no different when it comes to some of the games. Our lineup has not been the same once all year long — we have not been able to put a solid lineup once.”

According to Faulkner, other NPHL teams have played with each other for up to six years, which provides the opportunity to develop on-ice chemistry and grow together as a team. 

“They’re comfortable playing with each other. They know exactly where to be on the ice because they’ve been practicing together for many years,” said Faulkner. 

“It’s challenging. When you’re a young team, you don’t necessarily have that core group that’s been together for as long as other teams have. We’re just working through it. We just have to keep pushing forward and get better and better each year.”

Heading into round one of the playoffs against the Canucks, Faulkner says the biggest thing he wants to see from his team is maintaining a consistent level of competition. 

“We want to see our guys compete. Compete in all three zones of the ice, compete for all three periods in the game, and not get down when we get scored on early in the first period,” said Faulkner. 

“It seems to really sink the confidence on the bench, and the lack of competition starts progressing more and more. We want to make sure we’re in these games and not getting blown out because nobody wants to be in a game where you’re losing 12-nothing.” 

The playoff series between the Flyers and Canucks commences on Thursday, February 8th, at the Dawson Creek Memorial Arena, with the second game scheduled at the North Peace Arena on Monday, February 12th. 

All playoff matches are set to commence at 8:30 p.m.

The full series schedule can be found below:

The Flyers will conclude the regular season with Thursday’s game in Spirit River against the Rangers and Saturday’s home game against the Grande Prairie Athletics. 

Puck drop for both games is at 8:30 p.m.