The Langley Trappers have defeated the Chilliwack Jets in the first round of the 2026 Pacific Junior Hockey League Tom Shaw Conference (Tier 1) Playoffs. The Trappers entered the series as the 6th seed after losing the last game of the season to the Coastal Tsunami who edged the Trappers out of the 5th seed with the victory. The Chilliwack Jets entered the series as the 3rd seed and heavy favorites after finishing the season with 57 points to the Trappers 41. The Jets have had good league success over the past few seasons including in the playoffs where they have defeated the Trappers in the first round in 2 of the past 3 seasons.
This time it was different. The Trappers won game 1 in a definitive fashion beating the Jets 5-1 at Sardis Sport and Ice Complex. The Trappers had a collective effort with goals coming from five different players including Finlay Johnston, Jace Grabinksy, Julian Mills, Easton Melanson, and Ethan Caruso. Beckham Brossard, the Trappers netminder had a great night as well turning away 30 of the 31 Jets shot attempts.
Game 2 tightened up considerably ands the Jets came to play with a fury of shots and physicality. They took an early 2-0 lead with goals from veteran players Rommel, and Kulikov to establish momentum and make a statement that game 1 may have been too easy for the Trappers and the rest of the series will be an up hill climb. The Trappers were not deterred. Jasha Bichin got the Trappers on the board 3:30 into the second period cutting the lead in half. Bryson Patkau was next to score at the 10:59 mark of the second period to tie the game and tilt the ice back in the Trappers favor. Finlay Johnston score the go ahead goal early into the 3rd period to put the Trappers in the lead where they stayed for most of the period. But, the game wouldn’t end there. Ryan McAuley would score with .13 seconds left to send the game to overtime. It was evident the Jets exerted a lot of energy trying to tie the game up and when they did they took a large exhale. overtime was a back and forth affair until Denysenko took a roughing penalty 3:27 into the overtime period for roughing after the whistle and on the powerplay Finlay Johnston would make no mistake finding
the back of the net to give the Trappers a 2-0 series lead with the series heading back to Langley.
Game 3, like game 2, was an instant classic in Trappers and PJHL history. the Trappers would end the first period with a 2-1 lead with markers from Dalton Toma and Easton Melanson. Jasha Bichin was the lone goal scorer in the second period coming from out of the penalty box to find himself on a breakaway where he would place the puck to the low right side of goaltender Caughran, which would be the goal that ended the netminders evening. Chilliwack wouldn’t back down. Kulikov would score early in to the third period reducing the Trappers lead to 3-2. Melanson provided a much needed goal not .20 seconds later to restore the Trappers lead 4-2. But the Jets kept pushing a
nd tied the game with just over 6 minutes to go with goals from Rommel, and Myronov. Once again, it seemed the Jets had exerted a lot of energy trying to chase the tying goal. Logan Martin would be called for a hooking penalty with just under 2 minutes remaining in the third period where James Campbell would tee up a one-timer slap shot finding the back of the net with only .17 seconds to go in regulation time. The Trappers would hold off a last ditch flurry from the Jets to seal the victory to take a 3-0 series lead.
game 4 was all
Jets as they would win handedly with a solid defensive game plan while also out scoring the Trappers 5-1. the lone Trappers goal came from Dalton Toma.
Game 5, like games 2 and game 3 would go down as an instant classic for the Trappers and the PJHL. The Jets pressured early sending 27 shots to Beckham Brossard. he stopped them all. It was the Trappers managing to get out of the 1st period with a 1-0 lead with a powerplay goal from Bryson Patkau who roofed a bad angle shot over a sliding Cassius Ford. The Jets would press and were rewarded for their efforts scoring the next 3 goals unanswered. The Trappers didn’t quit nor would be denied. Grabinsky would fire a quick shot off a Burns faceoff win to find the back of the net on the powerplay to cut the Jets lead to 3-2. The Trappers kept pushing. They called a t
imeout and pulled the goalie with 1 minute remaining when Bryson Patkau would pick up a weakside rimmed puck, step into the high slot and send a rocket of a wrist shot to the short side top corner and tie the game 3-3 sending game 5 to overtime. in 1:25 into the extra frame it was Mason Begg who played overtime hero stepping into a nice pass from Finlay Johnston also in the high slot making no mistake firing his own bullet to the right side top corner. Trappers WIN! trappers WIN! defeating the favored Jets 4 games to 1.
It was a fast paced, hard hitting, highly skilled, and highly systematic game displayed by both teams. The Trapper would like to thank the Jets for a great series and would like to with their graduating players all the best in their future hockey and life endeavors!
The Trappers will face the first place Richmond Sockeyes who cruised through the regular season with a 44-5-0-0 record. It will be a good display of hockey and we hope to see you at George Preston Arena cheering the Trappers on as they will need your help in round 2!
Go Trappers Go!
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