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2004 eligible forward Matt Robinson (BCHL – South Surrey) returns with another installment of his bi-weekly player journal. He is ranked 169th by the Central Scouting Bureau in their mid-term rankings.

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I just got back a couple a days ago from Alberni Valley where we finished our second round series against them. It was a very fast-paced and intense series. The series was a best of five so we knew it would be a very quick and important series. We also knew that Alberni Valley was a very skilled team and they would be very tough to beat.

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The series started in Surrey and right off the bat both teams came out flying. Our team has very good offensive skills but so did they. But in Game 1 it was the goalies that were the shining stars. Luckily, for us our goalie (Craig Fagan) shined brighter then their goalie as we went on to win that game, 2-1 and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

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The next night we were back in Surrey again to play Game 2. Game 2 was probably our worst game we have played in the playoffs yet. They beat us 6 to 3. Realizing the series was now at 1-1, we knew it was going to be a real tough battle going in to Alberni Valley to play on their pond.

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We left a day early to go to Alberni Valley so the team could get a full day’s rest. The next day we headed to the rink to prepare for what was going to be a hard fought Game 3. When I came out onto the ice the rink was jammed packed. I realized then that Alberni Valley is a huge hockey town and they have great fans but we had to focus on the game and not on them. Right off the bat we jumped out to an early 1 to 0 lead, which turned in to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first. As we headed into the dressing room we were pretty pumped that we had a 4-0 lead on the road. After that we steamrolled our way to victory and ended up winning that game 7-3, and took a 2-1 lead in the series.

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We knew the next game would be a do or die for Alberni Valley. We knew they would have nothing to lose and we certainly knew they would come out flying and hitting. As the game went on it was a real tough battle. Unfortunately we started the third period down 3-2. We knew we were going to have to give it everything we had to pull out a victory. The team did just that and we won that game 6-4 to give us a series victory. I ended this series with four points.

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Now we play the Nanaimo Clippers in the Coastal Conference Finals in a best of seven series. I cannot wait for Game 1 to start. It should be a hard and intense series.

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I have been contacted by a number of American universities in the recent weeks. I am definitely going to go the college route to further my hockey career and education. I will be taking some fly downs right after the playoffs are finished. I will make my final decision which college I will commit to shortly after the fly downs and before the NHL draft.

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I’d like to thank Mark F. from Toronto, Ontario for this week’s question: What do you think of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League?

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I find it a very skilled, hard hitting and fast paced league. By playing in the BCJHL you have lots of opportunities to either go to American universities, the WHL or other pro leagues. You also get travel around one of the most beautiful provinces in Canada.

Be sure to keep sending in your questions to me and I’ll answer them in my next journal. Thanks for all the support I got in some of your e-mails and if I didn’t get to your question this time, send it in again and I’ll try and get to it next time. Go Surrey!

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