Clippers hope new season sees continued momentum after trip to BCHL Finals

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“I think we’d like to get off to a better start than we have in recent years,” Birkas said. “We’ve always been a really good second half team. I think the depth of our of program this year is much ahead of where it’s been the last couple years.”

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Even though more that half of the roster is new Birkas said the team’s identity would remain unchanged.

“I think the community wants us to have a blue collar approach. I think they want us to work our tails off and every night that they pay to come watch us to see us outwork the other team. What might be different than years past is that we have a little more depth of talent.”

Nanaimo’s leadership group consists entirely of returning players with Miller Kay as captain and Charles Béland, Hudson Gill and Drew Roelofs acting as assistants.

Birkas said having Kay as captain was a very easy choice.

“He had a lot of players on the team last year campaign for it and I’ve been very impressed by his leadership so far. He’s been as advertised. There’s always issues for players and he puts out those fires without them ever having to cross my desk. That’s what a good captain does.”

The Clippers open their season at home on Friday, Sept. 18 against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, a team they defeated in five games in the opening round of the playoffs in the spring.

The rivalry is one of the best in the BCHL and Birkas and his team will be well prepared for an opponent that always puts in a solid 60 minute effort.

“They’ve made some recent acquisitions and I’m expecting a battle. In our preseason game they had a lot of players who seemed to come alive on the power play so we’ve got limited giving them those opportunities.

Nanaimo has one other game on opening weekend on the road in Cowichan Valley on Sept. 19.

Those two teams played an intense seven game series won by Nanaimo in round two of last year’s post season run.

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