Vipers Slither Past Spruce Kings In 2OT

Liam Board (28) came back to the Coliseum and led
the Vernon Vipers to a 5-4 win over PG in overtime

The Prince George Spruce Kings entered the final homestand of the regular season seeking consistency heading into the playoffs, but Friday it was inconsistency that was their undoing in a 5-4 double overtime loss to the Vernon Vipers.

The extra session hasn't been friendly to the Spruce Kings all season and they got bitten again Friday at the Coliseum when Brendan Persley converted at 4:23 of the second OT session to give the desperate a Vipers a win. After Bryant Christian charged to the net for the Spruce Kings but was unable to score, Persley led a 3-on-1 rush the other way for Vernon. He faked a pass which froze Spruce Kings goaltender Kirk Thompson and then fired home the game winner.

Although Vernon had the lead three times during regulation, it was Prince George who carried the play much of the game. Yet the home side wasn't able to capitalize on its chances, including a power play in the first overtime period, and lost for the third time in four games to a team who will likely finish the season outside of the playoffs.

Former Spruce King Liam Board, the game's first star, step up the first goal with a strong forecheck in the first period. His work along the boards led to Andrew Tegeler getting the puck alone in front and Tegeler was able to beat Thompson with a quick shot at 4:20.

The Spruce Kings evened the score with a power-play tally at 9:59. Cameron Lawson used speed to gain the zone and set up Justin Rai and Jake LeBrun in front. After a couple of whacks at it, Rai was credited with the goal after knocking the puck up and over Vipers' starter Austin Smith.

The score was tied for less than a shift as Vernon came right back. Board took advantage of a defensive zone break down in the Prince George end and fired a centering pass to Mason Blacklock, who fired home his first of two on the night at 10:28.

The Vipers took that 2-1 lead into the first intermission, but just 1:38 into the second Shayne Morrissey got the Spruce Kings back on even terms when he converted a 3-on-2 with Rai and LeBrun. Morrissey and Rai almost collided as they crossed the blue-line, but LeBrun was patient and when Morrissey got open he dropped the puck back to the trailer and Morrissey's shot snuck past Smith.

Once again the Vipers came right back to take the lead with Persley scoring at 3:08 to give the Vipers their third lead of the hockey game.

Prince George finally got some momentum going in the middle stages of the second with Lyndon Martell and Dairy Queen player of the game Jace Hennig scoring less than a minute apart to give Prince George its first - and only - lead of the game. Martell's goal at 9:03 came off a nice give and go with David Stephens. Kevin Guiltinan also picked up a helper.

Hennig lit the lamp at 10:01 off another nice passing play, Lawson and Christian got the assists on that one.

The Vipers drew even late in the third on a nice individual effort in front of the net by Blacklock. He needed a couple of tries to beat Thompson at 18:28, but his unassisted goal did draw things even.

Neither team was able to muster much of an attack in the third, which brought the game to extra time.

The point for the overtime loss helps the Spruce Kings stay five points ahead of the Langley Rivermen, who will make the trip up to Prince George for a doubleheader to close the weekend. The Spruce Kings can clinch at least third place in the Mainland Division by sweeping Langley on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at the Castle.

Two for Three Player Trades

Brad Ryan (2) and Liam Board (19)

Trades are never the fun part of the game, but they are an integral part of it. Teams make trades all season long to try and tweak and build a better team for the short term and the long term. Even so it isn't always easy on the players or those close to the team.

Earlier today the Spruce Kings finalized two separate deals that results in three new players coming to Prince George in exchange for two players that start the season in the Castle. Liam Board and Brad Ryan who played together last season with the Oakville Blades and then came to Prince George together were dealt to different teams today - Board to Vernon and Ryan to Coquitlam.

For Brad Ryan, this is a move that puts him with a team that started strong and for whatever reason fell off the pace recently. The Express were very persistent in their desire to acquire the big defenceman that came in and made an immediate impact in the BCHL. Ryan has a wicked shot from the left point that can find the top corner with precision and led to his 5 goals and 10 assists from the blue line. Those numbers make Ryan the highest ranked d-man on the Coquitlam Express squad and fifth overall.

Liam Board is an exceptional person, especially off the ice and may very well be the most missed player since Matt Shuya was traded to the Merritt Centennials at the trade deadline in the 2006-07 season. Board showed his ability to be a physical player and was able to put up some decent numbers as well with 5 goals and 9 assists. Those numbers place him fifth on the Vipers team scoring.

Coming this was are a trio of players that have shown they have the talent to excel at this level and beyond. In the mix is a pair of seventeen year old players and a nineteen year old. Acquired from Vernon, Kevin Guiltinan is a rookie defenceman from London, Ontario that has already secured a NCAA Division I scholarship to Harvard University. Even at the age of 17, Guiltinan is an imposing player on the blue line standing 6' 3" and 205 pounds who can hit.

The other two players come via the Coquitlam Express in Jace Hennig and Mark Begert. Hennig is a seventeen year old forward that has speed and a touch around the net. At 5' 10" 175 pounds, Hennig has been able to put up numbers as seen by his stats while playing with the Vancouver NE Giants of the BC Major Midget League where he scored 24 goals and finished with 52 points in 25 games. Since skating with the Express, he has picked up another 4 goals and 12 assists and also secured a NCAA Division I scholarship to Merrimack College.

The other piece of the puzzle is Mark Begert, a 19 year old 6' 185 pound defenceman. Mark is a solid two way defenseman who moves the puck well and according to Mike Hawes, Spruce Kings General Manager, will be used in all situations. In Major Midget, Begert helped the Vancouver NW Giants to consecutive championships. An academic student with high marks, Begert earned a BCHL Academic All-Star honour last season.

These three players should all add a new dynamic to the Spruce Kings and make some improvements in their key areas. Perhaps the biggest improvement is just in the numbers themselves with team now sitting with seven defenceman, a luxury that was very noticeable last weekend when the team had to skate with just four defenceman for the better part of two games.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, trades are a part of hockey player's career. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they take a little while to play out but in the end all that we can hope for is that a trade becomes the win-win for everybody involved that it was intended to be. I will miss both Ryan and Board who made a tough decision to come out west to pursue their dream of furthering their hockey careers.

Ryan secured a scholarship to the University of Vermont for next season. As for Board, well he wants a scholarship too but every time I've talked to him he mentioned about playing for a championship team and winning the RBC Royal Bank Cup Championship. Liam will get this opportunity now as a twenty year old next season with the host team of the 2014 RBC Royal Bank Cup in Vernon.

Spruce Kings Shake Off Warriors

Jeremiah Luedtke (14) was the Spruce Kings
Honourary Captain for their Breast Cancer Awareness Game

The Coliseum was shaking twice on Saturday night, first from the earthquake and again after Tyson Witala's overtime winner for the Prince George Spruce Kings.

Witala buried a rebound off a Mitch Eden shot at 2:06 of the extra session to give the Spruce Kings a 4-3 win over the visiting West Kelowna Warriors and extend their season-high winning streak to six.

The Spruce Kings overcame a 2-0 deficit then built a 3-2 lead only to see the game go to extra time. In the end the two points gives Prince George sole possession of first place in the Mainland Division as the second month of the regular season draws to a close.

The Warriors got on the board first, with Prince George product Seb Lloyd lifting the puck over Spruce Kings goaltender Kirk Thompson at 16:30 of the opening period. Lloyd, who had a vocal cheering section, was named the game's third star.

West Kelowna opened up a two-goal advantage early in the second when Brent Lashuk beat Thompson with a high shot at 3:50. The Warriors also had a big advantage on the shot counter at that point and appeared poised to hand the Spruce Kings their first regulation loss on home ice this season.

The Prince George power play had something to say about that. In their one and only chance with the man advantage, the Spruce Kings wasted little time with Treasure Trove Casino first star of the game Liam Board taking a feed from second star Shayne Morrissey and beating Warriors starter Garrett Rockafellow at 5:06.

Shortly after that the building shook as Prince George felt some effects of a West Coast earthquake. The game didn't stop during the slight shake, although the lights at the top of the Coliseum were swaying noticeably.

Moments later the Spruce Kings drew even as Morrissey won an offensive-zone face-off back to captain Trevor Esau, who blasted a shot through Rockafellow's five-hole. The tying goal came at 9:26 of the middle stanza.

Perhaps the prettiest goal of the night came at 12 minutes of the third period as the home side took their first lead of the game. College Heights Dairy Queen player of the game Chad Staley drove to the net, but the puck was knocked off his stick, but it went right to Jeremiah Luedtke. Standing just to the left of Rockafellow, nobody would have blamed Luedtke for trying his luck with a shot, but the Spruce Kings honorary captain was patient and spotted the trailing Justin Rai. The pass was perfect and Rai blasted home the go-ahead goal.

The Warriors didn't go away easily with Brennan Clark beating Thompson at 15:41 to tie the game 3-3 and force extra time.

In the extra session it was Eden, the Fortis Energy player of the game, who set up Witala's heroics. The Spruce Kings defenceman has never been afraid to join the rush and with the extra space in the 4-on-4 situation, used his speed to drive to the net.

Although his backhand was stopped, Witala sent the crowd home happy. Thompson finished with 24 saves, while Rockafellow had 19.

The Spruce Kings are on the road next weekend, heading back to the Lower Mainland for games in Langley and Surrey. The next home game is Nov. 10 when the Fitzgerald triplets and the Victoria Grizzlies visit the Castle.

A Win in the Express Lane

Coltyn Hansen (10) drives hard to the net
on the Spruce Kings first goal scored by Matthew Bissett

Who needs to carry a lead for the most of the game? Certainly not the Spruce Kings this past weekend when they posted a pair of wins with a combined lead time of 1:19. That time was posted on Saturday night when the Spruce Kings erased a 1-0 deficit early in the third period and then scored again late to capture two points in a 2-1 win over the Coquitlam Express.

Twenty four hours after posting a 5-4 win in overtime after answering four one goal deficits to the Langley Rivermen in a game they never led at all, the Spruce Kings were back at in Coquitlam against the 13th best team in the nation. The Express went with a fast paced game plan that seemed to catch the Spruce Kings by surprise and left them in their own end for much of the first half of the period.

The Spruce Kings would start to claw back with chances and shots as the period wore on but it would be another pressure attack by the Express that would open the scoring at exactly the 16 minute mark. The Express were able to force a turnover inside the Spruce Kings end while still setup on the attack. The puck came back to Beau Orser on the right point who stepped off the wall and snapped a rising shot through a screen in front of Kirk Thompson. The puck may have hit something on its way as it found the space between the shoulder and the cross bar to turn the goal light on.

Despite what the fanzone shows on the BCHL website, the shots were even after twenty minutes at 13 a-piece. In the second period the Spruce Kings were able to respond to the speed and passing of the Coquitlam Express and would start creating more quality scoring chances of their own. The best came midway through the second period when Coltyn Hansen burst in over the blue line and fired a shot labeled for the far side that Cole Huggins was just able to get a blocker on.

The second period would solve nothing and the teams would again return to the dressing rooms with the home team holding onto their 1-0 lead. Prince George would pick up in the third where they left off in the second period and it would be an unlikely player that would put the Spruce Kings on the board 95 seconds into the final frame.

With all the injuries on the Spruce Kings roster over the past couple of weeks, the team opted to go with an affiliate player in the lineup for Saturday's game. Matthew Bissett showed up fresh off a 4-2 win from the night before where he was instrumental scoring twice and adding an assist for the Ridge Meadow Flames. Bissett came in eager to go and showed promise early earning a regular shift with lots of ice time alongside Hansen and Ryan Keis.

In an amazing display of speed Hansen flew down the right side wall in front of both benches causing whiplash as the players turned their heads to watch the twenty year old turn an Express defenceman inside out as he cut hard to the net. Hansen was stopped on the play but the puck came out to the top of the crease for Bissett to snap home his first goal in the BCHL and pull the Spruce Kings even with their opponents.

The goal energized a bench that believes fully in themselves and despite so many setbacks have always shown a never give up approach on every shift. The Spruce Kings continued to pressure the Coquitlam Express who continued to get chances of their own only to be turned aside every time by Kirk Thompson.

One line that seemed to be getting chances but no luck on the night was the line of Cameron Lawson, Shayne Morrissey and Liam Board. The trio had glorious scoring opportunities and would have had multiple points each had it not been for sticks in the lanes and the iron goal posts. One night after the hockey gods redeemed Mitch Eden they came to game again this time for the top line.

Certainly nobody can say that the Spruce Kings don't work hard every shift and this shift was a perfect example of that as all three players worked at getting the puck to the net. Just before the puck was poked under Huggins, all three were within a stick length of the crease. The last player to touch it was Lawson who scored his eighth of the season at 18:41 giving the Spruce Kings their first lead of the game.

Most of the remaining 1:19 was played all on the Spruce Kings side of the ice. Having already learned the hard way that you don't ease up no matter how much or how little time remains on the clock, the Spruce Kings called a timeout after an icing just to give the players on the ice a breather and a reminder. Two more blocked shots later and the buzzer would sound and the Spruce Kings would skate away with the first set of two points against the Coquitlam Express.

The teams will play each other another seven times this season with the next matchup coming up in December when the Express come to Prince George for a double header on December 8th and 9th. The Spruce Kings will now turn their attention to a pair of games in the Coliseum this weekend starting with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday night followed by the West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday night.

On Friday night, fans will have a chance to win tickets to see Ceasar Milan in Prince George on November 11th and on Saturday night the Spruce Kings will be recognizing Women's Health and honouring Breast Cancer Awareness Month with their Pink in the Rink game. The Canadian Cancer Society will be on hand to share information and give out prizes and fans will have a chance to win more tickets to see Ceasar Milan as well as Charlie Daniels.

Spruce Kings Sunk by the Rivermen

Liam Board (19) dropped the mitts with Trevor Cope (16)
after a questionable hit on Chad Staley (22)

The Spruce Kings suffered a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Langley Rivermen on Saturday night in Langley. In a fairly defensive physical battle, the Spruce Kings had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the third period but couldn't hold on giving up two late goals. The Spruce Kings will have an opportunity to earn the weekend split when the two teams meet again on Sunday afternoon at 2pm.

Time and space was at a premium for both teams Saturday night with a close checking and defensive strategy adopted by both teams. Langley was the more physical team on the night and took every opportunity to initiate and finish hits. Although the Rivermen controlled much of the play throughout the game, they had difficulty getting setup even when on the powerplay.

The Spruce Kings would open the scoring on a powerplay of their own late in the first period. On a play started by Tyson Witala with a dump in, Martell was able to fish the puck out of traffic in the right faceoff circle and get it into the slot where Coltyn Hansen was waiting. As Hansen got a piece of it he directed the slow moving puck off the far post and in at 18:16 of the first period.

That goal would be the lone marker on the board for either team for over 22 minutes as the teams continued to battle each other and not allow the opposition to set up anything of significance. That changed in a big hurry at the start of the third period with the Spruce Kings on their fifth powerplay of the game.

The Spruce Kings powerplay unit started off with the right idea, trying to collapse the four man penalty kill unit looking for the perfect shot on goal. Unfortunately, the setup pass through the top of the crease was picked off by Austin Azurdia who raced down the other end of the ice untouched.

With tons of speed on the clear cut breakaway, Azurdia went straight down the middle putting the puck into the pads of Kirk Thompson. The backward momentum of Thompson brought both the goalie and the puck over the goal line allowing the Rivermen to tie up the game 1-1 just 39 seconds into the final period.

The Spruce Kings would get that one back and restore their one goal lead with their second powerplay tally of the night at 7:33. With a D-to-D pass along the blueline, the puck went into the corner and came out on Tyson Witala's stick. The Prince George hockey product came around the faceoff circle and while trying to split a pair of defenders just lobbed the puck on net, squeezing one under the arm for his sixth of the season.

The Langley Rivermen did not give up nor did they change their physical approach to the game. On one Spruce Kings rush, Chad Staley was tracking the puck into the corner when he was tagged team along the glass. Liam Board was right there and immediately went after Trevor Cope. The pair dropped the gloves and exchanged a few blows, when the dust settled Board was given an extra minor for roughing.

That would be just what the Langley River needed even though they didn't officially score with the man advantage. As the penalty was coming to an end Bo Pellah took the puck and started to head behind the Spruce Kings net but before he got completely behind it, he was able to center the puck where Azurdia was standing and waiting to knock in his second of the game.

Throughout the game, both teams struggled with puck possession - errand passes, bounces and rolling pucks causing much of the problem. On one clearing attempt, the Spruce Kings were able to get the puck to the blue line not once but twice only to have the puck come off the heel of a stick and right onto the tape of Jakob Reichert.

The one time Merritt Centennial carried the puck to the top of the faceoff circle and let go a rising shot that was tipped past Kirk Thompson. The goal gave the Rivermen their first lead of the game with less than 3 minutes remaining. After the Spruce Kings had held the lead for over 30 minutes of the game, the Rivermen had found a way to come back and take over that lead with 2:39 remaining in regulation.

The Spruce Kings coaching staff tried everything to find even some of the chemistry that the team had one night earlier when they posted a 4-1 over the Surrey Eagles. Dave Dupas picked players from every line to try and find a combination that would even up the game, even pulling Thompson with well over a minute remaining in the game. The Spruce Kings would get a couple of chances, but like the chances earlier on, nothing was working.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Rivermen had upset the Spruce Kings and posted their fourth win of the season to really tighten up the Mainland Division standings. The lose coupled with a Chilliwack/Coquitlam tie, sees the Spruce Kings fall into a two way tie for second place with the Chilliwack Chiefs who have a game in hand on Prince George.

That will turn into two games after Sunday's return to the LEC and rematch of the Langley Rivermen and Prince George Spruce Kings. A 2pm game to finish out the three game road trip and an opportunity to pick up the split against their Mainland Division rival.

Sunday's game will not be broadcast on 93.1 CFIS-FM. A free online audio only broadcast of the game will be available from the Spruce Kings UStream channel. The game will also be available as a pay-per-view broadcast on Fasthockey.com beginning at 1:40pm. Following the game, the Spruce Kings will head back home to enjoy the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend and prepare for a home weekend with games against the Powell River Kings Friday night and Surrey Eagles on Saturday night.

Spruce Kings Keep Eagles Grounded

Tyson Witala (9) celebrates his fifth goal of the season
in a 4-1 win over the Surrey Eagles

In the first of eight meetings against the Surrey Eagles, the Spruce Kings went into the South Surrey Arena and came away with a big two points in a 4-1 win. The first game of a three game was a close game until the third period when the Spruce Kings added an insurance marker after killing off an extended two man penalty.

The Spruce Kings rolled into Surrey with a little fan fare as family and friends of a number of players from the area came out in force. With four players from Surrey itself, another three from the surrounding area and a pair from Washington State brought in close to a hundred fans to cheer on the Spruce Kings.

And they would have plenty to cheer about as the game progressed with the Spruce Kings sticking to their game plan and capitalizing on the chances. From the opening faceoff, the Spruce Kings started generating chances. Prince George built up a 5-1 shot lead before getting themselves into a little bit of penalty trouble.

The first penalty of the game was assessed to Brad Ryan for high sticking. On the ensuing powerplay, the Spruce Kings kept the Eagles to the outside with low percentage shots and also blocked a lot of those coming through. The Eagles powerplay relies heavily on Devon Toews from the high slot with his powerful shot. Just ask Trevor Esau about that shot, he'll know after blocking one that stung the big defenceman.

After trading chances and powerplays with nothing to show for either team's efforts it would be the Spruce Kings that opened the scoring. On a play that was a result of some hard work down low by Cam Lawson who fought off two defenders, cycling it with Shayne Morrissey before getting it Liam Board and the back of the net. The fourth goal of the season for Board came in the last minute of the first period at 19:18.

The second period was when the Spruce Kings started to turn things around and the line of Bryant Christian, Sean Landrey and Jake LeBrun started to shine. A line known more for its grit and physical presence started creating time and space for themselves. The pay off would come some eight minutes in with Bryant Christian battling hard for the puck down in the corner.

After coming up with the puck, Christian spotted Jake LeBrun standing all alone on the other side of the crease. A perfect pass to the open forward was finished off with a neat little tap in one timer giving LeBrun his second on the season and the Spruce Kings a 2-0 lead at 8:15 of the second period.

With four penalties already against the Spruce Kings, the fifth one would see the Surrey Eagles get on the scoreboard. The play started with Brandon Morley busting into the Spruce Kings zone trying to go right through Skylar Pacheco. Trying to maintain inside position on Morley, Pacheco got caught up with his check and drew up the official's arm and an interference call.

The Eagles powerplay tried to get a couple of back door passes going but it would be the bread and butter shot of Toews that would get through on Kirk Thompson. The bullet shot appeared to go off a stick as it rose on Thompson and found its way to the back of the net. The goal at 17:20 of the second period cut the Spruce Kings lead in half and game the Eagles and their fans some much needed life.

The second period would come to a premature end with 51.8 seconds still showing on the clock after a pane of glass came loose. After a heavy collision along the boards deep in the corner the glass came out of its stanchion forcing the referee to call a halt to the play. Once it became apparent that the rink staff would need some time to make the repairs, the officials sent the teams to their dressing rooms.

The final 52 seconds of the second period was played out normally with neither team able to get a shot on goal. After two periods of play the Spruce Kings had doubled their shot total to 26 while cutting the Eagles first period total in half with Kirk Thompson credited with 20 saves on 21 shots. The teams were given a two minute time out before the third period officially started.

Already with five penalties, the Spruce Kings will be penalized one more time when Coltyn Hansen was called for a retaliatory tripping penalty. Twenty five seconds later Brad Ryan was called for a cross check giving the Eagles a two man advantage for 1:25 just over five minutes gone in the third period.

In the Surrey Eagles pregame blog, it was pointed out that the Eagles powerplay needed some improvement with Matt Erhart quoted as saying that the team was guilty of helping opponents to kill of their penalties. Erhart called a timeout to draw up a play or two and to remind his players to attack and go for the all important tying goal. Meanwhile Dupas told his players to just keep doing what they were doing - blocking shots and preventing the high percentage chances.

The Eagles went on the attack quickly working the puck around but were just as quickly denied and frustrated by the whole team effort at blocking shots. One shot that did get through rang iron with some people believing that the shot did hit the inside crossbar and come out just as quickly. The officials didn't see it that way and the play was able to continue with the Spruce Kings successfully killing off the extended two man disadvantage.

You can call that the Spruce Kings Studio Cuts Crowning Moment of the Game as Prince George would get an insurance marker from Bryant Christian. Christian had his best game of the season on this night setting up Jake LeBrun and also getting a shorthanded chance before getting his second of the season on a solo effort. The younger brother of Spruce Kings alumni, Jordy Christian did all the work behind the Eagles net to come up with the puck.

In a premeditated and duplicated move that came up empty in the second period, Bryant came out from behind the net with the puck on his back hand lifting it up over the shoulder of Glenn Ferguson. The goal came 1:07 after the two man advantage for the Eagles all but putting the team out of the game.

The Spruce Kings would get their third powerplay at the 15:29 mark of the third period. Tyson Witala would get his fifth of the season after having a couple of chances turned aside earlier. Witala came off the half wall, left the puck for Martell and then got it back as he went to the net. With little options available for the Prince George forward, Witala forced a back hander in on the goalie that found daylight at 16:53 of the third period.

The final three minutes turned ugly on this night and leaves one wondering what might transpire when these two teams meet up in the Castle on Saturday night October 13th. It started with Latrell Charleson being submarined, something the usually quiet and demur defenceman didn't appreciate at all. Charleson went after Craig Wyszomirski finding him just under the blue line. The two went down in a heap with both players throwing punches that never found their target.

Both players would be given fighting majors and game misconducts with Charleson getting a two minute minor for instigating and Wyszomirski two minutes for being the aggressor after trying to a punch well after the linesman had stepped in to separate the two big men. The altercation came at the 19:30 mark of the third period.

The ugliest moment of the night came 24 seconds later when Demico Hannoun's frustration manifested itself in a dangerous knee on Karan Toor away from the play bringing Toor down in obvious discomfort. Sean Landrey immediately went after Hannoun with the two dropping the gloves. Hannoun was given a major for kneeing, fighting and game misconduct while Landrey drew an instigator minor to go along with his fighting major and game misconduct.

The final five plus seconds played out without any further incidents as both teams basically skated away off the faceoff with neither team touching the puck. The Spruce Kings will now await their fate with the new rules cracking down on fighting and instigator penalties with suspensions.

The Spruce Kings next game is Saturday night at 7:15pm in the Langley Events Centre in another Mainland Divisional matchup against the Langley Rivermen. It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams after the Spruce Kings posted a come-from-behind overtime win in the last game of the BCHL Showcase.

Character Win

Spruce Kings celebrate an overtime win Sunday night

The Prince George Spruce Kings came out of the BCHL Showcase with the full allotment of their four points after posting a 6-5 come-from-behind overtime victory on Sunday evening against the Langley Rivermen. The win capped off a big weekend in Chilliwack for the Spruce Kings who opened with a 4-1 victory over the Merritt Centennials Saturday afternoon.

Although the Spruce Kings ended up with two wins and four points in their two games, it certainly wasn't looking that way through much of the game Sunday. Against the Langley Rivermen, the Prince George squad never led the game and twice had to erase multiple goal deficits to get the game to overtime.

As the game started out the two teams traded chances with neither team able to capitalize on their limited chances. At the BCHL timeout midway through the first period the two teams had three shots each in a scoreless tie. After the time out, the Rivermen came out with a physical game and started creating chances for themselves that included a power play opportunity that produced seven shots on goal.

On the first goal a collision in front of the net that should have at least led to a stoppage in play if not an interference call against the Rivermen, was allowed to continue. Kirk Thompson was sent sprawling into the net with players laying on top of him as the puck came out to the point for Tyler Vanscourt to find the top half of the net and the game's opening goal at 15:12 of the 1st period.

The unfortunate circumstances continued for Prince George a couple of minutes later when Latrell Charleson was given a minor for boarding. The call was made by the back official even though the referee that was right beside the play saw it and looked away without raising his arm. The powerplay for the Langley Rivermen was potent early for them.

The Rivermen poured on the pressure with Charleson sitting in the penalty box and were able to double their lead at 18:48 of the first period. The teams headed to the dressing rooms with Prince George down 2-0 on the scoreboard and trailing 14-3 on the shot clock. To make matters seemingly worse, the second period would start the way the first ended.

Forty seconds into the middle frame, Brad Ryan was given a two minute minor for tripping and the Rivermen went to work on their third powerplay. Again pressure was applied but it would be a lucky bounce for the Rivermen this time when Vanscourt's shot from under the blueline went off Karan Toor's stick. The deflected puck took the flight of a three point basketball shot as it lobed up and over four players including Thompson and fell into the back of the net. Vanscourt's second of the game gave Langley a 3-0 cushion 1:47 into the second period.

Cue the first comeback for the Spruce Kings as they started getting small little doses of momentum-building plays. It started defensively with a couple of timely saves and blocks before the top line started getting some chances. Coltyn Hansen was the first Spruce Kings to get a shot on goal in almost 15 minutes of play and although it was stopped it was still something.

On the same shift Hansen found himself with another opportunity to take a shot and this time made no mistake taking a hard shot that took flight about five inches off the ice beating James Barr to the far side. It was just the fifth shot on goal but it put the Spruce Kings on the board and gave Hansen his second goal of the season at 4:12 of the second period.

Just four minutes later on the most unselfish play I have ever seen, the Spruce Kings got to within a goal. The play started on an offensive opportunity for the Rivermen, Thompson stacked the pads to keep the puck out. A redeeming heads up play from Toor saw the defenceman feed the puck up to Liam Board at centre and behind the five Rivermen who were all playing far too up the ice. Board headed straight down the middle on a clear breakaway with Tyson Witala trailing.

Board made only one move after getting to the deep slot and that was to give the puck to Witala. The play surprised everybody in the building and allowed Witala to walk around Barr and give the Prince George forward his second goal of the season. More importantly that put the Spruce Kings within a goal of the Langley Rivermen trailing 3-2.

The Spruce Kings continued to apply the pressure with their next best scoring chance coming just before the second period BCHL time out when Coltyn Hansen and Cameron Lawson found themselves on a two-on-one down low. Hansen fed the puck through to Lawson who was streaking to the net only to have Barr come up with his best save of the night slamming the door shut on the far side.

With momentum on their side the Spruce Kings continued looking for the even up marker which would come at 17:20 on a two man powerplay. The goal itself was a result of a series of related events that started with a huge hit by new Spruce Kings forward Alec Butcher on Bo Pellah. The hit left Pellah groggy and drew an immediate reaction from the referee and Pellah's team mate, Mario Puskarich who dropped his gloves and immediately went after Butcher.

Surprisingly it was the Spruce Kings that came out shorthanded as a result of the original call on Butcher's hit and the lack of an instigator penalty and the Rivermen forward. The Spruce Kings killed that off successfully and shortly after Pellah was seen back on the ice taking his frustrations out on Brad Ryan, two handing the 6' 5" defenceman across the side of the shin. The referee saw the infraction and assessed a two minute minor for the slash.

Twenty seconds later with the Spruce Kings on the powerplay and applying pressure, Trevor Cope was caught for closing his hand on the puck in the crease resulting in another penalty to Langley. With the Spruce Kings on the two man advantage, they worked the puck around the zone until finally Mitch Eden was able to step into a shot in the very high slot. The bullet shot went through everybody and found the back of the net pulling the Spruce Kings even with the Rivermen with a 3-3 score at 17:20 of the second period.

The Langley Rivermen were able to settle down after the tying goal and went back on the attack. Into the final minute of the second period, Cameron Lawson was cross checked into Kirk Thompson sending both Spruce Kings onto the ice and into the back of the net leaving the top open for Trevor Cope to restore a lead for the Rivermen. The period would end with Langley leading 4-3 and enjoying a 21-12 shots on goal lead, although the Spruce Kings outshot the Rivermen 9-7 in that middle frame.

The Rivermen would build up their lead to 5-3 with an early third period powerplay goal scored by Cope at 2:23. Again the Spruce Kings found themselves back in a hole and needing a bailout. That would come with a heads up play while shorthanded. Coltyn Hansen found himself looking to get around a defender on the left side, put on the brakes and fed the puck across the ice to Brad Ryan. Ryan walked in and fired a shot hard along the ice that was kicked out by Barr coming right out to Liam Board who just flipped an easy one up and over the goaltender for his first in the BCHL.

On their next shift the pair that played together last season with the Oakville Blades would setup the Spruce Kings second tying goal. Tyson Witala was the recipient of more hard work and determination getting the puck from Board and Ryan in the corner and coming out front to slip his second of the game past Barr. With 10:08 remaining in regulation time, the teams were tied 5-5.

The remaining time in regulation would end with both Thompson and Barr forced to keep their teams alive. Shots on goal in the third ended even at 7 giving the Rivermen 28 through sixty minutes to the Spruce Kings 19. In overtime the Langley Rivermen had the better of the chances and directed four more shots on Thompson but in the end it was the hockey gods that showed they had been watching the entire game and corrected all of the inconsistencies from earlier on.

With just the Spruce Kings second shot in the extra period, Lyndon Martell came in from the half wall on his backhand. With a simple and harmless looking half flip, Martell's shot fluttered up and over the glove hand of Barr and into the back of the net. The Spruce Kings bench erupted and the players poured over the boards to celebrate the completed comeback and a four point weekend at the BCHL Showcase.

The team's focus will now shift to the Trail Smoke Eaters and the Spruce Kings home opener on Friday night September 14th in the Coliseum. As Brad Rihela (Spruce Kings Assistant Coach) said in the post game show, "I want to see the fans come out, fill the rink and see these guys play!" The Spruce King ended last season with three consecutive sell outs and are hoping to see the same to start the 2012-13 season.

Advance tickets, punch cards and season tickets will be available prior to the game at the Season Opening Tailgate Party sponsored by Save On Foods beginning at 5pm Friday evening. Along with a hot dog bar-b-que, chips and drinks for $3 with proceeds going to Big Brothers Big Sisters, there will also be ticket give-aways for the Stone Temple Pilots concert and Charlie Daniels Band later in the month. A $10,000 "Shoot To Win" will also take place in the first intermission.

Spruce Kings Finish Preseason

Kirk Thompson making a stop on the game's first star

Braden Crone scored twice as the Grande Prairie Storm completed a sweep of a home-and-home pre-season series against the Prince George Spruce Kings with a 5-2 win Saturday night at the Coliseum.

The loss evens the Spruce Kings' pre-season record at 2-2 as they now turn their attention to the opening of the regular season next weekend in Chilliwack.

Kody Disher and Liam Board had the goals for the Spruce Kings while Kirk Thompson took the loss in net.

In addition to the pair from Crone, Grande Prairie also got tallies from Jordan McTaggert, Ryan Matthews and Marc Drapeau. David Readman and Curtis Skip split the goaltending duties for the Storm.

The visitors got on the board first as McTaggert converted a turnover at the Spruce Kings' blue-line and wired a shot past Thompson just under five minutes into the game. Grande Prairie had the territorial edge early and looked poised to open an even bigger lead, similar to the 3-0 advantage they had in the first period in Friday night's contest. The Storm won that game 4-2.

The Spruce Kings found their legs in the middle part of the period and got back on even terms as Disher poked home a lose puck at the side of the net. Disher didn't have much of an angle to work with but he found a way to get the puck pass Readman.

The score was tied 1-1 after one period but the Storm took over in the decisive middle stanza, scoring three times. Matthews got things started with a power-play tally early in the period after Drapeau and Crone scored just over two minutes apart in the middle part of the frame, the Spruce Kings found themselves in a deep whole. Although Prince George generated some chances in the second half of the second, they weren't able to close the gap.

It could have been even worse as Thompson came up big to stop Crone on the breakaway, but the Storm still took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. Board got Prince George back within two with a power-play goal with just over five minutes to go in the third, but that was as close as the Spruce Kings could get. Crone iced it for Grande Prairie with his second of the night with just over a minute to go in the game.

Among the bright spots for the Spruce Kings was the play of defenceman Mitch Eden, who was solid in his own zone and not afraid to join the rush.

The line of Chad Staley, Jeremiah Luedtke and Jake LeBrun had the most sustained offensive pressure for Prince George, but weren't able to connect at even strength. Both Tanner Fjellstrom and David London left the game with injuries.

The Spruce Kings open the regular season in Chilliwack next Saturday afternoon against Merritt as part of the BCHL showcase.

This article was submitted by Peter James

Training Camp Day 3

Bodies all over the place for the tying goal

The big event for Day Three was the third and final Intra-Squad Game between Team Blue and Team White and true to my expectation, this game delivered!

The Training Camp this year was considered to be a small one with 38 players attending for the weekend. Many of the players were either returning players or players that had been carded in the off-season. The remainder of the camp consisted of players that were either looking for a chance to fill an available spot or knock someone out of contention. There were also a handful of players that are considered to be great prospects for the team but may be a season away from being ready to play Junior A hockey in the BCHL.

The teams were made up in advance by the Spruce Kings General Manager, Mike Hawes, who used his knowledge of the players coming in to make up two fairly balanced team. As the weekend progressed it is now safe to say that he nailed it as can be seen in the results of the three Intra-Squad games and even in the fitness testing and practice times.

On Friday night, Team Blue applied all the pressure early and only seemed to ease up when the game seemed to be well in hand. Final score in the first intra-squad game was 4-2 in favour of Team Blue. The following night was a completely different story with Team White applying all the pressure right to the final whistle. Although there was no scoring in the first period and Team Blue even scored the first goal early in the second, Team White won the game 4-1 on the strength of a three point night by Jeremiah Luedtke (2G, 1A).

With the three game series tied at a win a-piece, the game on Sunday had all the makings of a very competitive one. It was all that and more featuring some great goals, big saves, hard hits and a lot of fiestiness between the two teams.

Team White carried the momentum of the win the night before into this game and applied the pressure early with Liam Board getting the first really good scoring chance only to be turned aside by Liam McLeod. Moments later Skylar Pacheco carried the puck in feeding it up to Ryan Keis who in turn dropped it back from Pacheco. The shot from the right point was perfect finding the top corner on the short side at 4:36 of the first period.

Team White continued to carry the play and two minutes later Riley Hawes found himself crashing the net much to Rourke O'Briain's displeasure. The two were given coincidental minors for roughing. Team Blue started to rally shortly after this and caused some grieve for Team White who ended up taking a pair of penalties twenty seconds apart putting the Team Blue on a two man advantage.

Coltyn Hansen (9 Blue) tips in his first of three

The top line for Team Blue wasted little time in finding the open man on the right side of the crease with a perfect pass and perfect tip-in to tie the game up. The play was started by Lyndon Martell who left the puck in the corner for Cameron Lawson. From deep in the corner and through traffic, Lawson found the tape on Coltyn Hansen's stick at 10:49.

That's how the first period would end, tied 1-1 but with Team Blue coming on from the mid point of the period and it showed on the shot clock as they led that stat 12-6. The second period was another low scoring affair with teams trading goals before the goalie change. As they did in the first, Team White opened the scoring in the second period when Kirk Thompson saw nothing but white jerseys up the ice.

With Team Blue dumping the puck into the zone and going for wholesale changes, Thompson picked up the puck and quickly fed it up the ice to Chad Staley who in turn passed it up to wide open Jeremiah Luedtke as he crossed the opposition's blue line. The shot itself was nothing more than a quick snap shot that eluded Liam McLeod giving Team White their second lead of the game 2-1 at 5:28 of the second period.

Team Blue would answer back six minutes later with Rourke O'Briain's first of the weekend at 11:45 after Kirk Hards dished out a nice pass from behind the goal line. Cameron Lawson was also in on the play after keeping it in the zone knocking down the clearing attempt. Again the teams would head to their dressing rooms tied, this time 2-2 with Team Blue still leading on the shot clock 20-15.

I have to rewind here a bit to talk a little bit about a Prince George player that I can't wait to see in a Spruce Kings jersey full time. Kirk Hards is a small player that plays with a big edge and isn't afraid to cause a little commotion when he's on the ice. The agitator reminds me of a Zac Rasmussen with the buzzing capabilities of any one of the Fitzgerald triplets.

With about a minute and a half remaining in the second period, Hards followed the play into the crease and never let up getting in a little extra shot. As he skated away, the usually mild mannered Skylar Pacheco came over and grabbed Hards to let him know he can't do that. Unfortunately for Pacheco it cost him two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct at 18:39.

To start the third period Team Blue were all standing at the bench rallying the players on the ice with the familiar stick slap on the boards. The rally cry worked and worked quickly as Coltyn Hansen scored his second goal of the night again on the powerplay and again on the nice pass from Lyndon Martell with Mitch Eden getting the other assist.

The goal seemed to rejuvenate Team Blue especially the top line when they came out for the second shift of the period. Hansen picked up his hat trick goal and again it was Martell with the first assist at 4:00. The goal took the wind out of the sails of Team White and the next ten minutes of the game didn't seem to generate too many chances until Tyson Witala was sprung on a breakaway. Witala had everything going for him but just couldn't tuck the puck under Adam Griffith.

To make matters worse for Team White, the top line for Team Blue came back out and again Lyndon Martell was the setup man this time for Cameron Lawson who scored his third of the weekend to put the game out of reach at 5-2. Did I say out of reach? Apparently nobody told Team White or at least Tyson Witala wasn't listening.

Witala who had been robbed on the breakaway just a shift earlier made no mistake with the pass from Pacheco to bury his first of the game at 16:13. Team White called their time out, drew up a play and left the Witala line out there and it resulted in a fourth goal for Team White just 35 seconds later. Witala found the loose puck on a goal mouth scramble and buried it with assists credited to Liam Board and Brad Ryan.

Jeremy Matte with the save of the game

If the time out wasn't the Studio Cuts Crowning Moment of the Game, the save Jeremy Matte made off Lyndon Martell was. The setup man on four of Team Blue's goals found himself streaking down the left side on an uncontested 2-on-1 only to have his shot stopped by Matte. Spencer Schoech picked up the puck for Team White and went the other way finding the man with the golden touch. Tyson Witala's bid at a hat trick was stopped but Chad Staley was right there to put in the tying goal at 18:25.

Both teams tried to end it in regulation but there was no denying this one going to a shootout to determine a winner. Team Blue went first electing to go with Lyndon Martell who tried to sneak the puck in on the far side but somehow Matte kept it in front of the goal post even as it came off it's moorings. Chad Staley was given the first shot for Team White and he too would be stopped.

The second shooter for Team Blue was Cameron Lawson who tried to pull Matte off the far post. For a 5' 8" goalie, Matte has pretty good leg extension and was able to get a toe on the shot sending it wide. Team White sent Jeremiah Luedtke up next who went right down the middle. When Adam Griffith wouldn't give up the five hole, Luedtke just picked the corner, putting the pressure on Team Blue to score with their third shooter.

Team Blue elected to go with the defenceman Mitch Eden who came in tight on the forehand and was poke checked before he could get the puck over to his backhand side. The save completed the comeback for Team White who were down by three goals with less than four minutes remaining in the game. As Todd Doherty (Team White coach) said in a tweet after the game, "#teameffort."

It was an entertaining game to watch and the 350 plus fans in attendance showed their appreciation throughout the game especially in those final minutes as they watched the comeback. Also on hand to watch all the games, practices and fitness testing were the coaches and scouts who had the unenviable task of informing players afterwards if they would be staying or not for the exhibition season.

At the time of this blog, I only have an unofficial list of players so I will leave it until tomorrow. The players that will be sticking around for at least a few more days will be practicing on Monday and then heading to Chase for a pair of preseason games against the Trail Smoke Eaters on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Spruce Kings will also play a home-and-home series against the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League on Friday in Grande Prairie and Saturday in Prince George at 7pm.

Training Camp Day 1

Skylar Pacheo scores on this shot for Team White

The Prince George Spruce Kings opened their training camp today at the Coliseum with a total of 38 players (4 goaltenders, 12 defenceman and 22 forwards) in attendance. The numbers this year are a little lower than in past years but that has allowed for the camp to be broke into two teams immediately and pit the teams against each other in three intra-squad game.

After a first look at the players in team specific practices, the two teams reconvened at the Prince George Coliseum for the first of those intra-squad games. Early on Team Blue imposed their way keeping Team White pinned in their own end. Shots on goal prior to the first goal were 7-1 for Team Blue. Kirk Thompson got the start for Team White showing good positioning with the opposition getting some good shots.

Alex Bartel was the first to solve Thompson getting Team Blue on the board at 11:12 of the first period after he found the rebound off a Mitch Eden point shot. Team Blue would go up 2-0 five minutes later when Bryant Christian (yes the younger brother of Spruce Kings alumni Jordy Christian) converted on a play set up by Lydon Martell and Jake LeBrun. That's how the first period would end with Team Blue leading 2-0 on the scoreboard and 17-6 on the shot clock.

Already with three penalties in the first period including one that spilled over into the second, Team White found themselves down in that stat category as well but did a perfect job on the penalty kill. That perfect job went one step farther when Team White found themselves short handed again. Skylar Pacheco was given a gift tip into the neutral zone and wasted no time turning it into a break away. Looking once into the middle for some help and finding none, Pacheco took the shot beating Liam McLeod with the unassisted short handed goal at 5:24.

Before the midway mark of the second period Cameron Lawson made his presence noticed in the game turning on the jets a couple of times. At 9:50 Lawson broke in untouched and snapped a quick wrister that fooled Thompson sneaking in under the goaltenders arm. It was a sour note to end on, but that goal marked the goalie change bringing in Jeremy Matte for Team White and Adam Griffith for Team Blue.

As if the dirty little wrister wasn't enough, Lawson danced around a couple of defenders deep inside the zone and dangled out in front of the net. A quick pull of the puck slid just into the toe of Matte and no further. Matte looked good for his time behind the pipes and was beaten only once by arguably the best line on the ice especially for Team Blue.

Karan Toor got the play started with a point shot from the left side that ended up on the stick of Bryant Christian. Christian was stopped but a juicy rebound in the slot with Lyndon Martell cruising through quickly found the back of the net making it a 4-1 lead for Team Blue.

The third period seemed to be a little more intense with a few big hits and some extended gatherings around the net, but not much on the scoreclock. Chad Staley was the only one to register a goal in the final frame but perhaps it was too little too late as Team White just couldn't seem to fully recover offensively. Staley's goal (assists to David London and Liam Board) would come with 1:38 remaining in the third period and that's how the game would end with Team Blue winning 4-2.

Final shots on goal were 39-30 for Team Blue. Kirk Thompson made 20 saves and Jeremy Matte stopped 15 shots in the loss, Liam McLeod had 11 and Adam Griffith turned aside 17 of 18 shots. Team White was penalized four times while Team Blue received two minor infractions. Neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage but Team White did have that short handed marker.

The officials went with the four man system, Brendon Creyke and Bill Hudyma wore the red stripes while Nick Albinati and Ritchie Rodgers worked the lines. The officials introduced the full set of BCHL rules into the intra-squad game including the no change icing and no change for clearing the puck out of play from the defensive zone.

Tomorrow morning the players will report back to the Coliseum for team practices where they will go over some of the things the coaching and scouting staff picked up in the first game. After the practices, the teams will head over to the Factory Hockey Training facility for some off-ice fitness testing. After the dinner break, the teams will drop the puck for their second intra-squad game beginning at 8pm in the Prince George Coliseum.

Getting To Know: Liam Board

Liam Board (27) is inspired by Joe Sakic and Gordie Howe

Spruce Kings General Manager, Mike Hawes has already been busy this offseason acquiring players that will be able to come in and fill some key vacancies with the list of graduates from last season. Shortly after acquiring defenceman Brad Ryan, Hawes was alerted to another player on that Oakville Blades roster that might be able to fit in nicely for the 2012-13 season.

That player is Liam Board, a 1993 born 6' 185 lbs forward from Oakville, Ontario. Considered to be an excellent athlete, Liam can bring an offensive touch while playing in a power forward position. With the interest of major junior teams there, Liam has his eyes set on securing a NCAA Division I scholarship and sees the Prince George Spruce Kings as the perfect opportunity to achieve that goal.

Liam has a fairly impressive stats sheet that includes a gold medal in the Spring of 2011 with the Appleby College mens hockey team. That season he tallied 9 goals and 8 assists for 17 points. The following season with the Oakville Blades he doubled those numbers to 17 goals, 18 assists and 35 points.

He knows the BCHL will be a little tougher but he is preparing for his first time away from home and wants to make a good impression with his new team. Thanks to the likes of Joe Sakic and Gordie Howe, Liam believes that every game is the next chance to leave a good first impression. I spoke to Liam Board over the phone and was left with the impression of a quiet but dedicated hockey player that is going to work hard to make the most of his time wearing the crown.

download audio file