Spruce Kings Clinch Third With Win Over Rivermen

This unassisted tally from Coltyn Hansen (10) was the Studio Cuts
Crowning Moment taking the wind out of the sails of the Rivermen

Write it in stone, the Prince George Spruce Kings will play the Chilliwack Chiefs in the first round of the BCHL Mainland Division playoffs later this month.

The Spruce Kings locked up third place in the division on Saturday night with a 4-1 win over the Langley Rivermen at the Coliseum.

Shayne Morrissey scored once and set up another one as the Spruce Kings took the first of a weekend double header against their division rivals.

With Prince George leading 3-1 early in the third period, Morrissey drove to the net and tried a nifty shot between his legs. Rivermen goaltender James Barr was able to make the first save but Chad Staley crashed the net and cashed in the rebound at 2:29 to give the home side a comfortable cushion. Morrissey and Justin Rai picked up the assists.

Kirk Thompson authored another brilliant performance between the pipes for Prince George, with his signature save coming in the third period off Evan Campbell. The Prince George keeper slid post-to-post then flashed the leather to make the stop on the one-timer. Thompson finished with 33 saves, while Barr stopped 25 pucks.

Despite the win, the Spruce Kings can no longer catch Chilliwack for second place and home ice advantage in the playoffs. The Chiefs were 3-0 winners against Cowichan Valley on Saturday and clinched second place. The Rivermen were unable to clinch a playoff berth Saturday, keeping the Coquitlam Express alive for the fourth and final spot in the division.

The Spruce Kings came out flying to start the game, opening up an 11-2 lead on the shot counter and a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard in the opening minutes. Mark Begert opened the scoring when his point shot snuck through traffic in front of Barr and found the back of the net.

David Stephens and Lyndon Martell picked up the helpers at 3:06. Just over five minutes later the Spruce Kings added to their lead on the power play. After breaking into the zone on a three-on-two, Cameron Lawson found Morrissey on the right wing and there was just enough room for Morrissey's sharp-angle shot to get past Barr at 8:25. Skylar Pacheco also picked up an assist.

Thompson wasn't tested much in the opening 20 minutes, but did stop Langley sniper Mario Puskarich from point blank range.

Puskarich didn't waste any time in the second period, burying a shot over Thompson's shoulder for his 39th goal of the season at 1:45. Evan Campbell and Turner Popoff picked up the assists.

The Rivermen came within inches of tying the game on a late-second period power play when Tanner Johnson rung a point shot off the post. Thompson had to be aware to cover up the rebound in the blue paint.

The Spruce Kings' goalie made a great save later in that same penalty kill off a hot shot from the slot by James Robinson.

Prince George also generated its own short-handed scoring chance when Morrissey and Coltyn Hansen broke in two-on-one, but Hansen's saucer pass bounced as Morrissey tried to bat it into the net. On his very next shift Hansen elected to shoot rather than pass on an odd-man rush and beat Barr with a nifty shot at 18:25. Hansen stripped a Langley player of the puck at the Prince George blue-line to start the rush on his unassisted goal.

Playing without Sean Landry (injury) and Jeremiah Luedtke (injury), the Spruce Kings were forced to use a pair of defencemen as forwards on the fourth line. Mitch Eden, who often acts like a fourth forward due to his puck-carrying abilities, didn't look out of place up front and neither did Spencer Schoech. Eden moved back to his traditional spot on the blue line for the third period.

The Spruce Kings and Rivermen complete their nine-game season series at the Castle on Sunday afternoon with a 3 p.m. matinee. There will be a fan skating opportunity after the game.

Preseason Game #1

Liam McLeod gets a little breather in his first
BCHL preseason game and first BCHL preseason win

The Prince George Spruce Kings opened up their preseason schedule with a 2-1 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Tuesday night in Chase, BC. The two teams started their preseason schedule by driving some eight hours each to meet in a central location for a pair of games. The first one on Tuesday night and a second one Wednesday night at the Art Holding Memorial Arena in Chase, BC ... home to the Chase Heat of the KIJHL.

Following the team's training camp, the Spruce Kings preseason roster was cut down to 28 players with twenty getting the nod for Tuesday night's game. All of the young prospects were a given their first taste of hockey in the BCHL and didn't disappoint with the chance to leave an impression. (preseason roster at the end of this post)

Early in the contest the Spruce Kings were generating offensive zone chances and getting the puck to the net but it would be the Trail Smoke Eaters that opened the scoring at 5:47 when Brent Baltus converted on an odd man rush that was started by his teammate Scott Davidson. After getting the pass from Davidson, Baltus found the sweet spot above the right arm of Liam McLeod.

As the game played out that would be the only blemish on the 16 year old's debut in his BCHL preseason debut. In fact as the game went on, Liam McLeod looked to be gaining confidence, playing with poise and focus. In the early goings of the game, McLeod wasn't tested much as the team kept the puck on the opposite side of center much of the time and were finally rewarded for their work.

At 14:26 of the first period the Trail Smoke Eaters found themselves down a man when Dan Holland was called for holding in the offensive zone. Less than a minute later Kody Disher's hard work at the side of the net looking for a loose puck resulted in another Smokie penalty when Wayland Williams was called for roughing for a tackle on Disher.

That penalty gave the Spruce Kings a 1:13 to work with on the two man advantage. Early on in the power play Jeremiah Luedtke and Chad Staley tried to convert on a cross crease pass only to have Lyndon Stanwood come across and rob Staley of a sure goal with a kick safe. On the next shift it was Bryant Christian that got the play started from the left corner carrying the puck behind the net before getting it to Spencer Schoech. Once Schoech had the puck he made no mistake getting it to Kody Disher in front who was able to tap home the tying goal at 15:51.

Not for a lack of trying but that would be it for the goal scoring in the first period and also in the second period despite the number of shots and chances being created. After the first period of play the Spruce Kings led on the shot clock 21-10 and at the mid way mark of the second period when Trail opted to change out netminders, the shots were still well in favour of Prince George 27-14. The total shots after two periods were 31-17 Prince George but the score remained tied at a goal a-piece.

For much of the third period not much changed until the late stages of the game. While on a power play with about 5 minutes remaining, the Smoke Eaters were that close to taking back the lead with Bryce Knapp standing on the top of the crease with a wide open net. Liam McLeod was able to swing around and coral the puck with his left hand and keep the score tied ... easily the Studio Cuts Crowning Moment of the Game.

The save of the game by the sixteen year old sparked the Spruce Kings and just as the broadcast crew was contemplating what would happen if the game remained tied through sixty minutes, the Spruce Kings turned something out of nothing. With the top line on the ice, Chad Staley and Alec Butcher both had a couple of chances at a loose puck in skates that was too far away for Boeckman to grab and was also too much of a hot potatoe for the Trail Smoke Eaters defenders to get a stick on and clear.

Jeremiah Luedtke was finally the person to find the puck and got two chances at stuffing it in the net which is where it finally ended up giving the Spruce Kings their first lead of the game with 1:22 remaining in the third period. On the next rush up the ice by the Smoke Eaters they pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker but just couldn't find the equalizer although their best chance came after a Spruce Kings miss on the empty net.

One thing players learn and learn quickly about the BCHL is that everything happens a little faster. Just when you think you have lots of time and space, someone from the opposition is on you and taking the puck away. That is basically what happened to Liam Board when he found himself staring down an empty net while cruising through the neutral zone with the puck. Opting to go in for the sure insurance marker, Board was caught from the side and had the puck checked off his stick into the corner, allowing the Smokies to head up the ice the other direction.

Unfortunately for Trail, time would run out on their night allowing the Spruce Kings to lay claim to their first win of the preseason. At the end of the game Trevor Esau was seen collecting the puck presumably to give to Liam McLeod to commemorate his first win in the BCHL. The rookie goaltender ended up making 23 of 24 saves for the win while the team in front of him scored twice on the 39 shots they had on goal.

The Spruce Kings will practice tomorrow morning at the arena before playing the Trail Smoke Eaters in a preseason rematch at the Art Holding Memorial Arena in Chase. Game time is scheduled for 7:00pm and is expected to be broadcasted on the Spruce Kings Ustream channel.

It should be noted that there were some technical issues with the broadcast on Tuesday, the biggest being the lack of internet to allow for two broadcasts of the game. Instead Ron Gallo and Chris Wahl of the Trail Smoke Eaters shared the duties on a tandem broadcast. It is not known at this time if the internet issue or any of the other technical issues can be resolved prior to the drop of the puck but here's hoping as the broadcasters need the preseason tuneup as well as the players.

Preseason Roster

G - Liam McLeod (96)
G - Kirk Thompson (92)
D - Keith Bendall (94)
D - Latrell Charleson (95)
D - Robson Cramer (94)
D - Mitch Eden (94)
D - Trevor Esau (92)
D - David London (93)
D - Skylar Pacehco (94)
D - Brad Ryan (92)
D - Spencer Schoech (93)
D - Karan Toor (94)
F - Liam Board (93)
F - Alec Butcher (94)
F - Bryant Christian (93)
F - Kody Disher (95)
F - Tanner Fjellstrom (94)
F - Coltyn Hansen (92)
F - Kirk Hards (95)
F - Ryan Keis (94)
F - Sean Landrey (93)
F - Cam Lawson (93)
F - Jake LeBrun (95)
F - Jeremiah Luedtke (94)
F - Lyndon Martell (93)
F - Rourke O'Briain (95)
F - Chad Staley (94)
F - Tyson Witala (93)

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.