Logo courtesy of the Bellingham Blazers
Bellingham Blazers Open WSHL Playoffs Tonight
March 22, 2019
The Bellingham Blazers will open up the first round of the 2018-2019 Western States Hockey League Playoffs tonight at home at the Bellingham Sportsplex. The Blazers host the Southern Oregon Spartans in a best-of-three series.
Bellingham (34-14-0-3; 105 pts.) enters the WSHL playoffs as the 2 seed in the Northwest Division. Southern Oregon (18-29-2-2; 60 pts.) is the 3 seed. The Blazers swept the Spartans in the division quarterfinals last year.
Bellingham won the regular season match-up taking 6 of the 9 contests, but Southern Oregon has played much better in the second half of the season. The Spartans took 2-of-3 games versus the Blazers in their final series of the in early February.
Forwards Timothy Prexler (121 pts) and Jamahl Eakett (114 pts) lead the potent Blazer attack. Prexler is second in the WSHL in assists with 80, while Eakett ranks 6th in goals scored with 50.
Southern Oregon is expected to try and counter with Chris O’Shaughnessy between the pipes. In a small sample size O'Shaughnessy has stood out. In just 8 games played he has a 4-and-0 record with a league leading 0.955 save percentage and a minuscule 1.48 goals against average.
All games in the series will be played at the Sportsplex. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:05pm for games 1 and 2 (Saturday). If necessary, a third game will be played Sunday starting at 1:35pm.
- Doug Lange
*Information from www.wshl.com used in this story
