A Gift Goal Wins It

The Spruce Kings celebrate after Sean Landrey scores
the game's first goal en route to a 3-2 win

The Prince George Spruce Kings took the gift they were given and traded it in for two points in a 3-2 win over the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night. Three highlight reel goals from Sean Landrey, Brogan O'Brien and Jeremiah Luedtke provided the Spruce Kings with their tenth win of the season and third in a row.

Although the game finished with fans holding on to the edge of their seats, the game certainly didn't start that way and was more of a yawner with no energy on the ice and no atmosphere in the stands. It took over five minutes for the first shot on goal to be registered by either team. Perhaps it was that first shot that turned the tide when Matt Painchaud worked his way underneath the Cowichan Valley Capitals defence and drove hard to the net looking to poke the puck in five-hole.

On the next shift, the Spruce Kings would get two more shots and that then seemed to ignite the road weary Capitals. The visitors applied the pressure and had good puck possession in the Spruce Kings end but were having difficulties finding the net firing pucks high and wide. Hemmed inside their own zone, things would change quickly for Prince George when Riley Hawes jumped on a loose puck at the top of the faceoff circle and spotted Sean Landrey breaking out of the zone.

Hawes fed a perfect pass through the middle that Landrey picked up on the fly. With a step on the defender, Landrey let go a snap shot that beat the Capitals goalie high to the blocker side. For Landrey it was his second goal of the season and second in as many games coming at 14:07 of the first period on the Spruce Kings fifth shot on goal. The goal would hold up as the only tally in the opening period and, for a while, looked like it was going to be the only goal of the second period too. Prince George headed to the dressing room leading 12-6 on the shot clock.

On Thursday night the Spruce Kings were put on their heels in the second period but they weren't about to let that happen to them on this night. Even with Karan Toor sitting in the penalty box with over three minutes remaining in a double minor, the Spruce Kings created chances. The best came off the stick of Chad Staley who stole the puck and was looking for the far side of the net before he was hauled down. Some fans in the building were wondering if a penalty shot would be awarded with a penalty shot again, but it was only called a two minute minor. The four on four situation only lasted for a short while before Justin Rai was called for an interference penalty giving the Capitals a 4-on-3 to work with and 12 seconds of 5-on-3.

Even with the extra ice and short two man advantage, the Cowichan Valley Capitals couldn't get anything on Alex Murray. The next three powerplays all went to the Spruce Kings, but they too struggled to get quality shots on goal with the man advantage despite controlling much of the play in the offensive zone. Before the end of the second period, the Cowichan Valley Capitals would get their third powerplay of the game and would make the most of it, scoring the tying goal at 19:10. Despite outshooting the visitors 14-8 in the middle frame, the Spruce Kings could not capitalize on any of their chances.

With the start of the third period it looked like the Capitals were on the verge of taking over the game's momentum and very well might have had it not been for a stunning play by the Spruce Kings youngest player. Coming around from behind his own net, Danny Kiraly spotted Brogan O'Brien the puck just inside the Prince George blue line. The sixteen year old took off with speed through the middle, shook off a couple of checks and stepped around two more defenders. As O'Brien made his way around the last guy, he lost his footing and fell to his knees but never gave up on the puck. From his knees, O'Brien was able to pull the puck from his backhand to his forehand and bury on Robin Gusse (pronounced goose) before sliding into the net himself.

The goal left the entire building in a buzz with people asking the same question all around the Coliseum - "did you see that?" Before the reality of the goal could sink in for the fans in the stands, the Cowichan Valley Capitals answered right back to again put the game into a tie. The tie would hold up for sixteen minutes as both teams traded chances. The Capitals had the best chance to score the go-ahead goal when Mitch Ball had the game on his stick and was robbed by a reach back glove hand save by Alex Murray.

Not a minute later a tense crowd would explode in a goal celebration that was tempered with more disbelief. In the Spruce Kings zone, the Capitals had complete control of the puck and were working it along the left side wall back to the point. The pass back got away from the defenceman and went the length of the ice. Gusse left the net and went into the corner to play it. Jeremiah Luedtke followed the puck into the Capitals end and then curled in towards the slot. Just as Luedtke was passing between the faceoff circles the unbelievable happened. In a bold maverick move to find the far side defenceman, Gusse passed the puck right to Luedtke who grabbed it and fired in to the empty net with 44 seconds remaining in the third period.

After the horror of the situation sunk in for Gusse and the Capitals, they would control the final seconds of play inside the Spruce Kings zone but couldn't find the equalizer before the final buzzer sounded. The Spruce Kings posted the 3-2 regulation time victory sending the hometown fans home happy and the visitors on the bus still shaking their heads on the one that got away on them. After the game, Alex Murray was given the hard hat after making 24 saves on the night including two huge saves in the third period.

Sean Landrey who played a strong game all night long was awarded the game's first star while Brogan O'Brien picked up the second star for his highlight reel goal and smart play all night long. With the three stars being selected a few minutes before the end of the game, the third star came as a bit of a surprise after it was awarded to the player that gave the puck away in the dying seconds of the game - Robin Gusse. Chad Staley and Jeremiah Luedtke were on the short list for Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game, but it would be Staley that picked up the honour after putting together another solid sixty minute effort.

On a side note, both Caleb Thompson and Jake LeBrun who have been out of the lineup for the most of the month of October, were both at the game. At this point it is unclear if either player will be able to travel with the team next weekend for their next set of games. The Spruce Kings will be in Surrey on November 1st and Langley November 2nd.

The Langley Rivermen maintained their two point cushion over the Spruce Kings in top spot in the Mainland Division with a 3-2 overtime win over the West Kelowna Warriors. The Spruce Kings are now four points up on the Coquitlam Express who were idle tonight. After losing 3-2 to the Chilliwack Chiefs, the Surrey Eagles sit seven points back of Prince George in fourth place and the Chiefs are stuck in the basement with nine points.

Save of the Season Leads to a Saturday Night Win

Alex Murray dives across the open net
making the save of the season

The Spruce Kings rolled into Chilliwack for the Chiefs home opener on Saturday night and rolled out with their fourth win of the season and sole possession of second place in the Mainland Division. It was a narrow 2-1 victory that could have easily gone the other way had it not been for the save of the season.

Early in the third period, with the game tied 1-1 and the Spruce Kings killing off a penalty taken late in the second period, the Chilliwack Chiefs intercepted a clearing attempt inside the Spruce Kings zone. Austin Plevy found the puck and then spotted Jared Babych standing all alone at the far side of the net.

Plevy feathered the puck through the top of the crease to his waiting team mate. Babych fired the one timer on net only to find a diving Alex Murray in mid flight reaching out his glove hand. The puck bounced off the inside of the glove and took flight towards the open net where Murray knocked the puck out of the air with his goal stick. With Murray sailing away from the crease and the puck bouncing loose in the blue paint, Mitch Eden came sliding through in a stacked pad fashion to kick the puck out of harm's way.

The save happened early in the third period, but provided a monumental shift in the game as the Spruce Kings rallied around that save and eventually scored the game winner mid-way through the final period. In two consecutive games, the team built on saves made by the goaltenders to complete come-back victories.

Going back to the beginning of the game, the Spruce Kings found themselves without their captain after Bryant Christian was given an automatic one game suspension for picking up a second goaltender interference call the night before. The absence of Christian was very apparent as the Spruce Kings struggled with chemistry after having to shake up most of their lines. Chad Staley came up to play centre with Jake LeBrun and Brent Lashuk.

Meanwhile Jeremiah Luedtke was left without his usual linemates and instead was on a made up line with Braiden Epp and Danny Kiraly who was moved up from the blueline to fill the vacancy. That lack of chemistry was quite evident in the second period when players seemed to be just out of reach of the loose pucks around the net.

In the first period, the well rested Chiefs tried to jump on the Spruce Kings early getting a number of key shots on goal, but it wouldn't be until the final minute of the opening period before they would get a shot that counted. The Chiefs were on a two man advantage with Mitch Eden and Skylar Pacheco in the penalty box for infractions made a minute apart. Shay Laurent, who was returned to the Chilliwack Chiefs just days earlier, kept the play alive and found Austin Plevy along the goal line. Plevy fed the puck through the crease to a wide open Joey Diamantoni on the back door. All Diamantoni had to do was direct the puck into the wide open net for the game's first goal.

In the second period the Spruce Kings were the better team and controlled much of the play in the offensive zone. While on a powerplay of their own, the Spruce Kings worked the puck down low and got a shot in on Lyndon Stanwood. Although the rebound was given up and came out into the slot for Jake LeBrun, the back official lost sight of the puck and blew the play dead as LeBrun fired the puck into the net. The goal would not stand up as the play had been blown down.

The Spruce Kings didn't give up and kept the pressure on the home team. Not long after the Spruce Kings were given another powerplay chance and Skylar Pacheco would make amends for his earlier infraction that put his team down the two players. With the puck on his stick, Pacheco came off the right point, stepped around one defender and then just hesitated before wristing a shot over the blocker hand of Stanwood.

The Spruce Kings continued to control much of the middle frame finishing with 19 shots on Stanwood, but only one goal to show for their efforts. Late in the second period Derek Bulmer was called for a trip when he was trying to play the puck behind his own net. The penalty carried over into the third period leading to the Chiefs starting that period looking for the go-ahead goal only to be denied by Murray and Eden with the save of the season.

As the game progressed the Spruce Kings would pick up the pace and would get a break. With some pressure down low the puck came to rest in the blue paint, Stanwood stretched out over the goal line and kept the initial try out of the net. As the bodies piled up around the goal, LeBrun found the puck and lifted it up over the bodies into the back of the net. The puck was loose the whole time and the whistle didn't sound until after the puck came back out of the net and was finally seen sitting in the blue paint again.

The Spruce Kings celebrated a goal, the Chiefs claimed no goal and the officials didn't make a signal either way so the BCHL timeout was called which ended up benefiting the Spruce Kings. The officials took a little over 30 seconds to discuss the play as they saw it and then pointed at centre ice indicating a good goal. As the BCHL timeout ended, the Spruce Kings were once again celebrating the goal, LeBrun's eighth of the season, and the video evidence was allowed to play for all to see on the big screen where the puck was clearly seen going into the back of the net.

The Chilliwack Chiefs would get one more chance late in the game when the Spruce Kings were called for another penalty with just over 2 minutes remaining. The Chiefs played the first half of the man advantage five on four before pulling the goaltender for the six on four situation. Neither team would get a shot on goal in those final two minutes as the Spruce Kings defenders stepped up and kept turning back the Chiefs to secure the 2-1 win.

The win gives the Spruce Kings nine points and sole possession of second place in the Mainland Division, one point back of the Surrey Eagles who defeated the Vernon Vipers. Prince George is now two points ahead of the Langley Rivermen who lost to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in a game that was delayed by over two hours due to inclimate weather delaying BC Ferry crossings. The Spruce Kings next opponents, the Coquitlam Express sat idle on Saturday night and are also two points back of the Spruce Kings.

This sets the stage for the Spruce Kings to turn a good weekend into a great one as they prepare to head back to Coquitlam for the third game in two and half days on the weekend. A win will put the Spruce Kings in top spot in the Mainland Division while a loss to the Express will see Coquitlam pull even with Prince George for second place in the Mainland Division. Sunday's game is 2pm start and will be broadcast on Fasthockey.com and also on the Spruce Kings Mixlr channel.

Unlikely Hero Emerges Tonight

Defensively the Spruce Kings were solid and were
rewarded by the play of one blueliner

The Spruce Kings started a three game weekend with a come-from-behind win over the Coquitlam Express with Karan Toor getting his first BCHL career goal to seal the victory.

Ask anybody cheering for the Spruce Kings on this night what Toor's goal looked like and I'm sure they'll all remember being a bar-down snipe. In reality it was more a case of the hockey gods smiling on one of the hardest working defenceman in the BCHL, crowning Toor the hero on a play that started with a gamble and finished with a scramble at the side of the net.

Early in the game, both teams traded chances and were being stymied by a pair of goaltenders that were able to see almost everything coming there way. Two of the best chances for Prince George to open the scoring in the first period came off a pair of rushes from Bryant Christian and the AP call up, Brogan O'Brien.

Just past the midway mark of the first period, Christian was sprung from his own blue line on a break away. As he closed the gap on the Coquitlam goaltender, Christian though he saw a little daylight on the glove hand side. Gordie Defiel had other thoughts and quickly snared that shot with the big mitt.

A few shifts later it was the Cariboo Cougars call up and future Spruce Kings player, Brogan O'Brien that started a play inside his own zone after muscling the puck away from the opponent. O'Brien carried the puck down the wall and cut to the middle of the ice in the deep slot before attempting a shot. That shot snuck wide after he took a slash from the defender.

The Spruce Kings would come up empty on the ensuing powerplay; in fact both teams were 0 for with the man advantage. The Spruce Kings had just two powerplays to work with in the game while the Express ended up with four on the night.

Before the first period ended, the Coquitlam Express capitalized on a forced turnover in the neutral zone when Adam Rockwell stopped the Spruce Kings breakout attempt and then found Joey Santucci on the the right wing. Santucci came in to the top of the faceoff circle before snapping home a shot that fluttered over the glove of Jesse Jenks.

The Express kept the pressure on to start the second period and four minutes in would be rewarded with a second goal when Bo Pieper strode in on the left wing before zinging a shot to the far side high glove on Jenks.

The Spruce Kings wouldn't take much time to respond and were able to get that one back 78 seconds later when the top line of Brent Lashuk, Jake LeBrun and Bryant Christian came up with the puck and took it to the Coquitlam net. Christian's first shot was stopped but the rebound came right back to the captain who bunted in his second of the season off the side of goaltender.

There would be no more scoring in the middle frame, but the score keepers would be kept busy with a succession of six penalties starting with a quick tilt at centre ice. With Chad Staley busting into the offensive zone, Riley Hawes and Adam Smith dropped their gloves on the Coquitlam Express logo where they quickly exchanged blows before both went down heavily on the frozen canvas. Both would have to go to their respective dressing rooms for repairs.

The rest of the penalties were mostly the result of players crashing the net after saves. One such play resulted in a two minute minor to Bryant Christian for goaltender after he bumped the netminder playing the puck out of the crease area. That penalty would extend into the third period which the Spruce Kings were able to kill off.

At the 5:20 mark the Spruce Kings would tie up the game on a goal mouth scramble that saw the puck come out to the top of the crease for Brent Lashuk to pot his second of the season. On the very next shift, that top line of Lashuk, LeBrun and Christian would stay out and get in on top of the crease again. Cruising through the lower portion of the ice, Christian again bumped the goaltender drawing a second minor for goaltender interference and an automatic game misconduct for the Spruce Kings captain.

With the game tied, the penalty setup the framework for the Studio Cuts Crowning Moment of the Game. If the Coquitlam Express score a powerplay tally it would give them back their lead, but if the Spruce Kings kill it off that should lead to a momentum shift. Sure enough the Spruce Kings would kill it off with big thanks to Jesse Jenks and also Karan Toor who was blocking shots and taking away the down low options.

In a season and a bit, Toor has been one of the most consistent players night in and night out; always battling for puck possession and not giving up position to a puck carrier. In an uncharacteristic gamble, Toor read the play and showed his faith with his team mates on the ice. Toor saw Brent Lashuk challenge the rush and stepped up on the play with Lashuk chipping the puck off the wall. Toor picked up the puck and slid it over to Jake LeBrun as the two turned up the ice on an odd man break.

LeBrun fired the puck on net with the rebound coming over to Toor who looked to be giving the puck back but instead caught just enough of it to put it along the goal line. With a second effort, Toor got another touch on it and watched as the puck crossed the goal line for the defenceman's first BCHL tally in seventy games.

The Spruce Kings bench erupted for the veteran's first goal and Eden was the first to go over and make sure the puck ended up on the Prince George bench. The coaching staff left Toor out there and were rewarded with his tenacious style at protecting the puck as the Express poured it on looking for an equalizer. That even up goal would not come on this evening setting the stage for the Spruce Kings full come-from-behind win, putting the team in a three way tie for second in the Mainland Division.

Jesse Jenks was named the game's first star with Jake LeBrun picking up the honours in second place, but really Karan Toor's name should have been slotted in there. Riley Hawes earned the nod for the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game.

The Spruce Kings will now look to follow this win tonight up with another one Saturday night against a very well rested Chilliwack Chiefs squad. Surprisingly the Chiefs haven't played a game since the double header in Prince George back on September 13th and 14th. The game Saturday night will be the Chiefs home opener and only their fifth game of the season whereas the Spruce Kings will be suiting up for their eighth of the season.

Saturday's game will be the first Prince George Motors Spruce Kings Game of the Month on 99.3 the Drive. Ron St. Clair will have the call of the game with Ron Gallo sliding into the colour commentary role for the big game. The game will also be on Fasthockey.com and the Spruce Kings Mixlr channel.

Spruce Kings Tally Seven on the Chiefs

Danny Kiraly (5) finishes the two-on-one

The Prince George Spruce Kings first crowded the net, then filled it on Friday night as they defeated the visiting Chilliwack Chiefs 7-1 at the Coliseum.

Making the most of offensive chances was key to the Spruce Kings' game plan coming into Friday night's home opener and the trick seemed to be getting as many bodies as possible in front of Chiefs starter Lyndon Stanwood.

That was certainly the case in the decisive second period as all three of the Spruce Kings goals in the middle stanza came with Stanwood's crease crowded.

Jake LeBrun gave Prince George a lead it would never relinquish at 3:11 of the second when his shot from the high slot beat Stanwood. Brent Lashuk and Mitch Eden picked up the assists, but it was Bryant Christian in front who provided the screen. Christian even waved his stick at the puck as if to tip it and that may have distracted Stanwood enough to allow LeBrun's shot through.

There was even more chaos in front of the Chiefs net when Lashuk made it 3-1 at 14:32 of the second. Stanwood was laying on his back after getting knocked down by a pile of players battling for position in front of the blue paint. Lashuk found the loose puck and lifted it over Stanwood while the Chiefs' bench protested for a goaltender inference penalty. None was forthcoming and instead the head coach, Harvey Smyle was given a game misconduct. Mitch Eden and Bryant Christian were awarded the helpers on the Lashuk goal.

Caleb Thompson put a dagger through the Chiefs' chances at 16:39 of the second when his seeing-eye point shot found its way through the traffic out front and past Stanwood. The power-play tally was assisted by Riley Hawes and Christian Weidauer.

Into the third, LeBrun added another insurance marker at 7:55 when he was left alone in the slot and fired one past Stanwood. Lashuk had the lone assist, his third point of the night.

LeBrun could have had even more if the pesky posts would have gotten out of the way. He clanked shots off the iron in the first and second periods.

Defenceman Danny Kiraly added to the onslaught at 14:14 of the third, converting a feed from Justin Rai on a two-on-one break. Thompson set up the rush and picked up another assist.

And to prove things were just really going the Spruce Kings way, a Skylar Pacheco dump-in attempt found its way in for the Spruce Kings seventh goal of the night at 17:53 unassisted.

Wideauer also had a multiple-point night, picking up an assist in the first to go along with his second period helper. He maintained the early season team scoring lead with six - one goal, five assists - in three games. His first helper came just 1:21 into the game when he helped set up Justin Rai's game-opening goal. Chad Staley picked up the other assist.

Jaret Babych tied the score before the first period was out, taking a feed from Austin Plevy and beating Spruce Kings goalie Alex Murray.

Traffic in the crease wasn't the only key to the Spruce Kings offensive success Friday, they also directed plenty of rubber Stanwood's way even when the goalie had clear sight lines.

The home side held the edge on the shot counter every period and finished the night with 53 shots to Chilliwack's 19. The two teams meet again on Saturday night at the Coliseum, game time is 7 p.m.

Blog written by Peter James

Silverbacks Claw Past Spruce Kings in Regular Season Finale

Derek Bulmer (26) and Riley Hawes (24) were emergency callups
from Midget Tier I Cougars saw a lot ice in their first BCHL games

The Prince George Spruce Kings fell behind early and couldn't recover in their regular season finale on Saturday night at a sold out Coliseum.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks spoiled the party for the hosts and the 2,116 fans who packed the Castle building a 3-0 lead in the first 6 1/2 minutes and hanging on for a 5-3 win.

With six regulars out of the lineup due to illness and injury, the Spruce Kings called three affiliate players - including two making their BCHL debut.

Reece Forman took a regular shift on the blue-line, while local products Riley Hawes and Derek Bulmer played up front. Often paired together, Hawes and Bulmer generated a handful of scoring chances, with Bulmer ringing one off the cross-bar in the first.

Salmon Arm, riding high after clinching a playoff spot in Merritt on Friday night, stormed out to a three-goal lead just 6:22 into the game. First Steven Iacobellis wristed a shot over Kirk Thompson's right shoulder at 3:59; then Josh Bowes took a feed from Brayden Sherbinin, cut to the front of the net and slid one under Thompson at 5:36;then Harlan Orr lifted a rebound over Thompson's pad at 6:22.

The third goal prompted Spruce Kings head coach Dave Dupas to use his timeout and settle his team. The tactic seemed to work as a couple of shifts later Coltyn Hansen found Shayne Morrissey in front and he fired the puck past Silverbacks' goalie Angus Redmond as a pair of graduating Spruce Kings players connected at 8:17.

That score held through the rest of the first and the entire second, but it was Prince George who was beginning to take control of more and more of the play as the game went on.

Hansen got the home side within one at 13:13 of the third when he tipped home Chad Staley's shot for the prettiest goal of the game. Lyndon Martell got the play started, finding Staley with a nice pass in the high slot.

Salmon Arm snuffed any budding momentum with a goal a couple minutes later on the power play. Jordan Levesque's harmless looking point shot hit a Spruce Kings' player in front and fooled Thompson as the visitors resorted their two-goal lead.

Prince George battled back one more time, with Martell snipping a laser of a shot past Redmond at 15:58. Bryant Christian and Hansen picked up the helpers.

Ryan Schwalbe iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:13 of the third.

The loss had no impact on the Spruce Kings final standing as they finish the regular season third in the Mainland Division and will play the second-place Chilliwack Chiefs in the first round. The best-of-five series begins Friday and Saturday in Chilliwack, with Game 3 coming back to Prince George on Monday March 18.

Training Camp Day 2

Chad Staley prepares to launch the medicine ball
during fitness testing

Day two of the Spruce Kings Training Camp was highlighted by the fitness testing at the Factory Hockey Training facility. The testing was based around what players went through at the NHL Draft Combine in Toronto featuring the beep test, medicine ball toss, lateral jump, pull ups and a mixture of other physical tests designed to measure the players overall strength and conditioning.

The standouts in the fitness testing included Jeremiah Luedtke who made it to level 13-4 in the very tough beep test. In this test the player has a measured length of time to go 20 meters. The time between beeps, when players have to reach the end of each length, is shorter as the test continues. The other big test was the 12 pound medicine ball test that saw Trevor Esau complete a toss of 42 feet, 7 inches.

In all the physical testing took over an hour to complete right in the middle of the day after the morning practice and the evening intra-squad game. An interesting comment I overheard from one of the scouts in attendance spoke to how the fitness testing is becoming an important part of the whole process because of the importance put on off-season training. Kinda makes hockey a year round sport.

Day two finished off with the second intra-squad game with Team White knowing they had to do something after dropping a 4-2 decision the night before. A good sized crowd for an unadvertised game was on hand and were treated to highly entertaining contest with lots of shots, scoring chances, hits and hard work on display.

The game started with Team White setting the tone and tempo for the rest of the night getting three early scoring chances off some hard work. Team Blue was able to weather the early storm and come up with a few chances of their own. Really the story of the first half of the game was the goaltenders who both posted scoreless opening periods. Jeremy Matte turned aside 10 shots for Team White while Adam Griffith stood tall stopping an even dozen for Team Blue.

Jeremy Matte making one of his 18 saves on the night

The scoreless tie was broken 1:34 into the second period when Cameron Lawson tapped in his second of the training camp off a nice setup from Lyndon Martell and Sean Landrey. Team White kept up their pressure and were rewarded shortly after with the first of two on the night from Jeremiah Luedtke. In the right place at the right time, Luedtke was able to tap a loose puck into the open side of the net before being checked. Spencer Schoech (pronounced shook) took the original shot that deflected off a defenceman's skate.

That would be it for the goal scoring on the starting goaltenders with Matte stopping 18 of 19 shots during his time in net for Team White and Griffith making 21 saves for Team Blue. Shortly after the goaltending change, Team White was given their third power play chance and used up only 15 seconds to setup the eventual game winning goal - Ryan Keis from Alec Butcher and David London.

Less than two minutes later, Team White doubled their lead with Riley Hawes scoring the goal with helpers going to Chad Staley and Jeremiah Luedtke. Hawes was a last minute addition to the game after another player was unable to go. One player's misfortune becomes another's opportunity! The teams went to the dressing rooms with Team White leading on the scoreboard 3-1 and the shot clock 27-22.

For the longest time it looked like that would be it for scoring as neither team seemed to be able to create good enough chances. That led to some spirited play and few more odd-man situations. With less than three minutes to play a couple of returning players got caught up together and Landrey ended up with the worst of it after flipping Kirk Thompson's stick out to the blue line.

Jeremiah Luedtke had a great game
finishing with two goals and an assist

Landrey was assessed a double minor giving Team White an opportunity to finish the game with the man advantage. Less than 20 seconds into the powerplay Luedtke was again found to be in the right spot at the right time and able to snap home his second of the game with helpers going to Skylar Pacheco and Brad Ryan. The final shots were extremely close with Team Blue getting to within one (33-32) but unable to get anything past Thompson.

With the intra-squad series now tied at a win a-piece and Team White with a slight edge in the goals for and against category (6-5), this sets up for an interesting tiebreaker Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm in the Coliseum. Prior to the game both teams will have one more practice, Team Blue at 9:00am and Team White at 10:30am.

Following the game will come the difficult decision of deciding who and really how many players will stay on for the exhibition season that gets underway on Tuesday. The Spruce Kings are playing four preseason tuneups starting with a double header against the Trail Smoke Eaters in Chase on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Following a day off, the Spruce Kings will play the first half of a home-and-home series in Grand Prairie against the Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The lone home game in the preseason will go Saturday night in the Coliseum against the Storm.