Chilliwack Chiefs goaltender Mark Sinclair led the Chiefs to a sweep of the high scoring Wenatchee Wild. The Chiefs will play for the Coastal Championship against the Victoria Grizzlies. (Garett James photo)     

The 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award have been revealed and Coquitlam Express alum Alex Kerfoot remains in the hunt for the top individual prize in NCAA hockey.

After Phase I fan voting and input from coaches, the 2017 Top-10 emerged from an original field of 66 names. A ‘Hobey Hat Trick’ of three will be selected and announced on Thursday, March 30th while the winner of the Hobey Baker Award will be announced April 6 at United Center in Chicago, during the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals.

Kerfoot, a senior and captain at Harvard University will be in Chicago with his Crimson team as they outlasted Providence and Air Force in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Frozen Four. Kerfoot contributed three assists in those two games. They will play Minnesota-Duluth in a National semifinal game while Denver and Notre Dame will battle in the other semifinal. Both games will be played on Thursday, April 6th and the winners will meet in the National Title game on Saturday, April 8th.

Kerfoot, a New Jersey Devils draft pick, is also one of three NHL-drafted players in the Top-10. Kerfoot has until August 15th to sign with New Jersey or elect to become an unrestricted free agent. He is one of the top NCAA free agents if he elects not to sign with New Jersey who selected him in the fifth round (150th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft.

In two BCHL seasons, Kerfoot posted 33-55-88 in 72 games with the Express and also won a gold medal with Team Canada West at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge. 

Round 2 of the BCHL Playoffs has come to an end with two thrilling Game 7s and the top-seeded Wenatchee Wild getting swept by the Chilliwack Chiefs in the Mainland Division Final. 

The Chiefs used a well-balanced attack and rolled all of their lines to eliminate the Wild from the playoffs. Every roster player on the Chiefs team has at least one point in the playoffs that has gotten great goaltending from overage goaltender Mark Sinclair. The Chiefs move on to play the Island Division Champion Victoria Grizzlies who took the Powell River Kings to seven games before knocking them out in Double Overtime.

Keyvan Mokhtari scored at 0:57 of the second overtime to put Victoria into the Coastal Final against Chilliwack. The winner of the series will face-off against the Interior Champion in a best of seven format – per the new format this season.  

The Penticton Vees were up 3-1 in the Interior semifinal against the Merritt Centennials before Merritt stormed back to force a decisive Game 7. The Vees dispatched of the Centennials on home ice by a score of 6-2. The Vernon Vipers took care of business by defeating the Trail Smoke Eaters in five games led by Jimmy Lambert who collected nine points in the series. The Vees advance to their sixth consecutive Interior Division Final and will take on Vernon. 

The BC Ford Dealers Road to the Fred Page Cup continues on Friday, March 31st with Chilliwack and Penticton holding the home-ice advantage in their respective final series.