NEWS

WSHL WESTERN DIVISION SEMIFINAL PREVIEW

 

#4 LAS VEGAS STORM @ #1 LONG BEACH BOMBERS

Best-of-three series/all games at The Rinks – Lakewood

 

GAME 1                Friday, March 24               7:50 p.m.

GAME 2                Saturday, March 25         5:00 p.m.

GAME 3                Sunday, March 26            1:30 p.m.

*if necessary

 

 

SEASON SERIES

Long Beach         6-0-0, 0 points

Las Vegas            0-4-2, 2 points

 

October 6            Long Beach 10 @ Las Vegas 2

October 7            Long Beach 6 @ Las Vegas 0

October 8            Long Beach 4 @ Las Vegas 3 (SO)

February 23        Las Vegas 2 @ Long Beach 8

February 24        Las Vegas 3 @ Long Beach 5

February 25        Las Vegas 3 @ Long Beach 4 (OT)

 

 

PREVIOUS PLAYOFF MEETINGS

none

 

 

PLAYOFF HISTORY

Long Beach – The Bombers are the longest-standing members of the WSHL, but it had been a long time since the franchise had experienced any playoff success.  The Bombers turned that around last year, however, when they went on a run all the way to the conference finals under the previous playoff format.  They swept Fresno and Valencia on their way through the divisional playoffs before running into the eventual Thorne Cup champion Idaho Jr. Steelheads, who knocked them out in two games.

 

Las Vegas – The Storm swept Fresno, 2 games to 0, in the division quarterfinals, in a series that reflects a shift of power in the Western Division.  It was the first playoff series win for the Storm franchise and it came against a team that had won five regular season and three playoff division titles in the previous seven years.

 

 

LONG BEACH BOMBERS

 

Head Coach:   Chris White

46-5-1, first place – Western Division (best overall record in WSHL)

365 GF / 115 GA

 

 

LONG BEACH SPECIAL TEAMS

 

POWER PLAY      67/209 (32.1%, 1st in WSHL)

PENALTY KILL     27/231 (88.3%, 3rd in WSHL – 20 SHG)

 

 

KEY PLAYERS

 

F Anton Bowallius (19-72-91, fourth in the WSHL in assists), F Roman Serafimovich (37-48-85), F Kiril Markevich (34-48-82), F Anders Romegard (13-8-21 in 6 GP since returning from Sweden), F Robert Roslund (21-55-76), F Ludwig Rosen (20-53-73), D Nick Short (18-54-72, top-scoring defenseman in WSHL), D Amir Burguev (12-39-51), D Cal Owens (6-17-23 in 27 GP, team captain), G Domenic Bosetti (27-4-1/2.05/.922, tied for league lead in wins)

 

 

LAS VEGAS STORM

 

Head Coach:   Gabe Gauthier

25-22-5, fourth place (tied) – Western Division

264 GF / 203 GA

 

 

LAS VEGAS SPECIAL TEAMS

 

POWER PLAY      39/250 (15.6%, 21st in WSHL)

PENALTY KILL     47/226 (79.2%, 18th in WSHL – 20 SHG)

 

 

KEY PLAYERS

 

F Ted Astrom (23-42-65 in just 27 GP), F Melwin Thorsson (8-17-25 in 11 GP with Storm), F Isaiah Letendre (32-39-71, 95 PIM), F Jeffrey Morgan (32-38-70), F Nikita Pintusov (43 goals), F J. C. Lachapelle (104 career WSHL GP), D Jake McKenna (146 career GP over three WSHL seasons), D Nick Peck (147 PIM), G Spencer Kozlowski (13-10-4/3.19/.907)

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

The Long Beach Bombers have compiled an impressive resume this season on their way to the best overall record in the 27-team WSHL.

 

Consider the following numbers:

 

Most points in WSHL standings (93)

Most goals scored (365)

Biggest goal differential (+250)

Highest power play % (32.1%)

25-1-0 home record

seven 20-goal scorers

nine players with 50+ points

 

They did this without Anders Romegard until the last six games of the season.  After they added him to the fold, he scored 13 goals in those last six games.  What could he have done in a full season?  He put up 45 goals last year, then returned to Sweden, but Bombers head coach White enticed him to come back for another Thorne Cup run.

 

Nick Short was the highest-scoring defenseman in the league, putting up more points (72) than the highest-scoring forwards on a lot of teams.

 

Two players – Nils Holterberg and Erik Fagerlin - scored 60 goals between them and didn’t even make my “key players” list above…

 

And if the opposition can manage to get the puck away from the Bombers’ forwards, and work their way past the stout Long Beach defense, there is still veteran goaltender Domenic Bosetti guarding the Bombers net.  He tied for the league lead in wins (27) with a .922 save percentage that is also among the league’s elite.

 

The Las Vegas Storm are going to have to find competitive advantages wherever they can find them and one could be that the Bombers have not played a game in three weeks and will be trying to kick off the rust.

 

“It's definitely not an ideal situation, but we have tried to make the best of it,” said White.  “We had a lot of players coming back from injury, so the first bye week was focused on conditioning and having a little fun with a team outing to the beach. We shortened our normal practice time down to one hour, and mixed in a couple optional skates.  The second week was focused on our systems, team play, and individual skills.  This week, we are prepping specifically for our opponent, the Las Vegas Storm.”

 

Long Beach finished atop the Western Division for the first time this year, but White says he does not feel an added pressure or expectations heading into the playoffs as the #1 seed for the first time.

 

“I wouldn't say it's much different,” White said.  “We are going to try to out-prepare, out-execute, and outwork our opponent.  This season, we are fortunate enough to be in control of the matchups, which is a huge advantage for our group.  This roster was built to win playoff games, and we have the personnel to take advantage of home-ice.”

 

The Storm have their work cut out for them – and that is not lost on them – but they are coming off a big playoff win that has to have their confidence up.  And they are facing off against a team that has not played in 21 days.  I don’t care how hard you practice, you can’t replicate game speed – and the Storm know they have to jump on the Bombers quick before they get back up to speed.

 

A quick start in the first period of Game One will be vital for Las Vegas, but Long Beach will not be taking the Storm lightly in this series. 

 

“We have a very veteran group, with a large number of guys who battled through our playoff run last year,” White observed.  “Fortunately, a lot of our key pieces are back for a second go around.  Las Vegas can score goals, and are very dangerous if you don't play a smart game.  I think we match up very well against them, and we just need to execute our game plan, and let the chips fall where they may.”

 

--- compiled by Harrington Sports Media