Latrell Charleson Added to Spruce Kings Roster

In Monday's edition of the Prince George Citizen, Sheri Lamb has an excellent article on this past weekend's roster change. I have posted the entire article here and added a picture taken by Les Gagnon of LG Photography to ensure that everybody has a chance to read it. Thanks to Sheri and the Prince George Citizen for your coverage of this and other Spruce Kings related stories ...

Latrell Charleson will stand out on the Prince George Spruce Kings' blueline.

The six-foot-four, 220-pound 16 year old signed with the Kings after competing in his final game Sunday with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League.

"Last year I learned a lot from my [Hawks] coaches especially playing with a lot of the older guys," said Charleson. "I'm looking forward to jumping up even higher now, playing at a faster pace and learning more."

Charleson led the Hawks defencemen in goals with seven this season and added seven assists in 23 games. He played in three British Columbia Hockey League games with the Kings as an affiliate player, including a pair of wins over the Westside Warriors last week, which extended the team's win streak to four. He also suited up for the Kings in a pre-Christmas game in Chilliwack.

Jesse Leung, Hawks assistant coach, said the team is going to miss the big defenceman.

"You can't replace a player like Latrell," said Leung. "All you've got to do is look at the faces of his teammates to know the impact he has - he's irreplaceable. He'll be missed."

Kings general manager Mike Hawes said it's nice to know Charleson had as good an impact off the ice as he did on it with the Hawks.

"It's good to know that Latrell is going to be missed," said Hawes.

"He did well within the peer group here with his midget team and we expect that he's going to get along well with all our players and be an easy transition for him.

"He's a very physical player and has some great size," added the Kings' GM. "He's going to come in and provide that physical presence for us on the back end. He's young so it's going to be a steep learning curve for him, but he's definitely going to be a good player for us in the next few years."

At the same time the Kings were welcoming Charleson to the fold, they said goodbye to 16-year-old forward Michael Klonarakis.

The rookie parted ways with the Kings after Friday's 5-2 win over the Warriors and will head back to his midget club, Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna to finish the season. In 30 games with the Kings, Klonarakis had one goal, four assists and four penalty minutes.

"It was just a situation where Michael needed some more playing time to get his confidence back up and as we move down to the last one-third of our season here Michael's playing time probably would've been a little bit less," said Hawes. "For his development it's a good fit for him right now."

Klonarakis' departure frees up a second spot at forward and with the BCHL trade deadline on Tuesday, Hawes expects to fill those roster spots soon.

"Yes, there will be some moves before Tuesday for sure," said Hawes. "The phone's been ringing off the hook and I've been communicating with lots of different teams. I definitely anticipate there being some roster moves."

The Kings (19-13-2-3) have an important weekend ahead as they try to catch the Merritt Centennials (21-10-2-5) for second place in the Interior Conference with games in Chilliwack, Penticton and Vernon from Friday to Sunday. Prince George has posted a pair of wins over the Chiefs (19-14-0-2) in their last two trips to Chilliwack, while Penticton leads the league and Vernon is always dangerous.

"Those are the types of challenges I want our group to go through," said Hawes. "It's going to be a really good test for us and a good gage to see where we're at going up against the No. 1 team in the league."

The Spruce Kings Dominate the Smokies

Spruce Kings are all smiles after posting an 8-0 win

It was the most complete game of this young season and showed exactly what the Spruce Kings are capable of. Prince George controlled the game tonight, beating out the Smoke Eaters in just about every category, including the most important one - the scoreboard as they took home an 8-0 decision. The best line on the ice tonight was definitely Prince George's first line as they combined for 11 points and 5 of the 8 goals. Marcus Beesley was also a bright spot as he notched his first career shutout of his BCHL career. Let's recap tonight's game between the Spruce kings and the Smoke Eaters

The Recap:

It didn't take long for the Spruce Kings to open up the scoring as Michael Colantone picked up where he left off at the Coliseum, scoring at the 3:30 mark of the 1st to give his team the lead. The next 10 minutes saw both teams generate some scoring chances, but Prince George was still getting the better of Trail, and it continued to pay of at the 16:34 mark as Paul De Jersey added to his league leading goal total by firing one past Reed Vogt. His linemates Michael Colantone and Jujhar Khaira added assists on the goal, helping their team head into the dressing room up by two.

The second period is where the game broke open for the Spruce Kings, with nothing seeming to go wrong. Spencer McHaffie opened up the scoring in the 2nd with the first of his BCHL career. Ben Matthews and Paul De Jersey helped the twin notch his first goal. Prince George would continue to pour it on as Michael Colantone got his second of the game, Michael Klonarakis got his first career BCHL goal and Jujhar Khaira his first of two as the Spruce Kings went into the break up 6-0.

The third saw more of the same as Prince George applied pressure and capitalized on their chances while Marcus Beesley did his part stopping any and all shots thrown his way. Myles Fitzgerald and Jujhar Khaira put the official nails in the coffin as the Spruce Kings took the contest by a score of 8-0. Both goaltenders saw action for the Smokies as Reed Vojt was pulled halfway through the second in favour of Matt Larose. Vojt made 19 saves while Larose posted 11 saves.

The Stats:

Jujhar Khaira had an outstanding game for the Spruce Kings, notching 2 goals while adding a couple of assists. Those 4 points moved him up to 5th in the BCHL scoring race. Paul De Jersey added to his league leading point total scoring once and adding 3 assists. De Jersey continues to sit a top the league in scoring with 19 points. Michael Colantone had another great night for Prince George, scoring twice and grabbing an assist. As listed above, Spencer Mchaffie and Michael Klonarakis got their first goals of their BCHL careers. Congrats to those two men, and here's to many more. Beesley finished the game making 26 saves to post his first ever shutout as a BCHL goaltender. It was also Marcus Beesley's 3rd straight win.

For a full recap of the game and to check the official score sheet, click here

The Three Stars Tonight:

3) (PG) Michael Colantone

2) (PG) Jujhar Khaira

1) (PG) Marcus Beesley

Next Game:

These two teams will do battle once again tomorrow night at the Castle, with the puck dropping at 7pm. If you can't make it down to the Castle tomorrow, you can catch the game a few different ways. The webcast will be available on the BCHL website here, and you can listen to the FREE audio broadcast here. Hope to see you at the rink, or chat with you online.

Until tomorrow Spruce Kings fans.

Spruce Kings Drop One To The Centennials

Two games, two nights and we have a split. Two games in and we already get to use a playoff term. The Prince George Spruce Kings had a great a chance to start off the season with two wins in a row and send an Interior Conference rival home with a losing record on opening weekend. Merritt though, decided they wanted to have a happy trip back home.

The game started off nicely for the Prince George Spruce Kings as Jujhar Khaira picked up his second goal in as many nights. His new line mats Paul De Jersey and Michael Klonarakis picked up the assists to start the game. Merritt answered right back, proving that they were not going to get rolled over in game 2, as Payton Schaefer fired one past Kirk Thompson midway through the 1st. The period was just about over when the Fitzgerald Triplets all combined together on the second goal. Leo found the back of the net, while Myles and Gerry started it off. The period ended with the momentum shifted in flavor of the Spruce Kings

The second period saw the penalties come fast and furious as the Spruce Kings found themselves down a man throughout a good chunk of the period, and that is exactly how the game got all tied up. Brandon Pfeil ripped one form the point on a 5 on 3 power play and this game was even once again. It didn't take long for the Centennials to use the newly stolen momentum, and took their first lead of the game as Stephen Wall found a rebound and out it past Thompson. The possible turning point of the game came when the Spruce Kings were awarded their own 5 on 3 power play for a full two minutes. Although things fizzled quickly, as they only generated a few shots, none of which were quality scoring chances. The period ended with the Centennials heading into the dressing room with the lead

The third period saw the fast paced, physical play continue, with both teams providing entertaining action and giving the fans their money's worth. At the halfway point of the period, the Fitzgerald Triplets combined together once again to tie the game up at three. It was Leo once again who found the back of the net as his brothers made a few nifty plays. But just over 2 minutes later, the Centennials would put home the eventual winner as one of their top offensive threats Regan Soquila found the back of the net. His line mates Evan Stack and Brandon Bruce would help out on the goal. The last five minutes saw the Spruce Kings get a late power play opportunity, and saw an exciting sequence in the final minute that almost lead to a tying goal. The game ended 4-3 in favour of the Merritt Centennials as they were able to pick up a split in Prince George and head back home happy. Tyler Steel had his first start tonight, and although he was a bit shaky through the first two periods, he was exceptional in the third facing 21 of his 38 shots in that final frame

For a full recap on scoring, penalties etc, click here

The 3 Stars

3) Tyler Steel - 35 Saves

2)Leo Fitzgerald - 2 Goals

1) Regan Soquila - 1 Goal (GWG) 1 Assist

Unlike last night, the bounces just didn't favour Prince George tonight, and some undisciplined play left them shorthanded one to many times. It was a gutsy effort tonight, but again it was a tail of two teams. At one point they were firing on all cylinders, the other they made a few mistakes, and the Cents capitalized. Irk Thompson will now move to 1-1 on the season, but should be happy about his play this weekend, as he made some great saves on both nights. Overall, there are a few really good things to take away from this weekends 2 game series against Merritt. They did get a win in the opener, and a good one at that. Even though they did lose tonight, thy didn't get run over, and they were one more bounce away from forcing overtime. The top line has found some early chemistry and the Fitzgerald triplets are a lot of fun to watch.

The Spruce Kings will now have this week to work on their game and get ready for the first road trip of the season. They will play two very tough games next weekend as Friday the Spruce Kings will play in Penticton and then travel to Vernon. These are two of the best teams in the league, and will be a great measuring stick early in the season for Prince George. As always keep checking in with this blog, our facebook and twitter for all your Spruce Kings updates