Tough Opening Weekend

VS
0                                    Final Score                                   8
	Goal Scorers	Makowski, Drabin, Puricelli, Stephan, Raabe (2), Rockwell, Conzo
23	Total Shots	41
5	1st Period Shots	15
11	2nd Period Shots	18
7	3rd Period Shots	8
0 for 5	Power Play	4 for 7
	3rd Star	Matthew Burchill
	2nd Star	Kyle Stephan
	1st Star	Dakota Raabe
0-2-0-0	Current Record	2-0-0-0

The Wenatchee Wild are a force to be reckoned with. They proved that after dominating the Prince George Spruce Kings for the second game in two nights. On Friday night, the Spruce Kings started strong, but went downhill with each period. Saturday was the opposite, as the team allowed four first period goals, but slowly improved play with each period.

 Before the game even started the team was given some bad news, as Jake LeBrun was suspended for two games after a hit from behind in Friday’s game. The captain would sit with Ryan Fritz who is out after MCL surgery in the stands.

Special Teams Mishaps

The PG penalty kill did a good job Friday, only allowing one goal on six opportunities, but that wasn’t the case Saturday as the units allowed four power play goals on seven chances. That included a goal in the second from Tyler Rockwell with one second left. Drabin, Stephan, and Raabe also scored while on the man advantage.

Since the start of the pre-season, the team has had issues while on the power play. They struggled in exhibition games, and that has transferred over to the regular season where they are now 0 for 9 after failing to convert on five opportunities Saturday.

Line Pump Up

One highlight for Prince George was the play of the line consisting of Connor Logan, Nic Ponak, and Cavin Tilsley. The line started the second period, and came out guns a blazing seeming to catch the Wild on their heels. The trio didn’t manage a goal, but did a good job of creating energy for the team on an overall slow side. Connor Logan slotted in for his regular season debut, after sitting out last night’s game. Tilsley did have a pair of penalties, but the Spruce Kings managed to kill off both of those situations.

Running into a Brick Wall

Chase Perry was perfect on the night, and now after four games against BCHL opponents (two pre-season and two regular) has only allowed a single goal after facing 96 total shots. The Detroit Red Wings prospect spent last year in the NCAA, but decided to return to the Wild this year who he played a season with before going to college. Perry faced a fair amount of pressure in the game, not necessarily on shot attempts, but the Spruce King players did all they could to get in his face after every time he covered up. The Minnesota native collected his first regular season shutout of the season.

Hometown Blues

Coming into this year, The Coliseum, nicknamed “The Castle” was a safe haven for the team where they had one of the best attendances in the league. The crowd was there this weekend, but the results were not. The past five home openers had the Spruce Kings coming away with points, but this time spelled a different story as the team was outscored 13-1 in the two games.

Going Ahead

Prince George will try to move on from this weekend as quickly as possible, and will faceoff against Langley and Surrey next weekend. Saturday will mark the Langley Rivermen’s home opener, and it will be starting off with a bang as there is set to be a firework display. This will mark the first meeting for the two teams since last year in the playoffs where Prince George beat Langley in six games in the first round. The Spruce Kings will then take on the Surrey Eagles on Friday. Langley and Surrey played on Friday night with the Langley coming away with a 6-3 decision.

Both games can be seen on FASTHockey and listened to on Mixlr

Scoring Report

1st Period

1-0 Wenatchee Wild - Jeff Makowski from Hunter Alden

2-0 Wenatchee Wild (PP) - Joseph Drabin from August Von Ungern and Brendan Harris

3-0 Wenatchee Wild - Brandon Puricelli from Troy Conzo and Logan Milliken

4-0 Wenatchee Wild (PP) - Kyle Stephan from Mike Coyne and Matthew Burchill

2nd Period

5-0 Wenatchee Wild- Dakota Raabe from Logan Milliken and Matthew Baker

6-0 Wenatchee Wild (PP) - Tyler Rockwell from Kyle Stephan and Dakota Raabe

3rd Period

7-0 Wenatchee Wild (PP) - Dakota Raabe from Kyle Stephan and Logan Milliken

8-0 Wenatchee Wild - Troy Conzo from Matthew Baker and Brandon Puricelli

Wenatchee Runs Wild Over Spruce Kings

VS
1                                 Final Score                                        5
Hoffman	Goal Scorers	Harris, Rockwell, Bates, Puricelli, Raabe
18	Total Shots	50
10	1st Period Shots	11
6	2nd Period Shots	17
2	3rd Period Shots	22
0 for 4	Power Play	1 for 7
McCloskey	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Harris
	1st Star	Rockwell
0-1	Current Record	1-0

The roster introductions for the 2015/2016 Prince George Spruce Kings

     The Wenatchee Wild had a great opening to their BCHL season. Unfortunately for the Prince George Spruce Kings, it was during their own home opener. After recording at least a point in the last five home openers, the team had a poor showing against the expansion Wild. 

     The first period was quite close, as the team were nearly even in shots with Wenatchee having one extra with eleven. Brendan Harris opened the scoring, and it was actually counted as the first goal scored in the BCHL this season with five other games on the schedule. Chase Perry was perfect in the pre-season stopping all 55 shots he faced, but Corey Hoffman who was acquired in the offseason from the Odessa Jackalopes scored the team’s first goal of the season to tie the game at one.

    After that things went downhill for the Spruce Kings. They only managed eight shots combined the next two periods, but the Wild had no such issues collecting 22 in the final period alone. The second period was controlled by the Wild, and they had a pair of goals from Tyler Rockwell and Adam Bates to lead 3-1 after two. 

     Most fans, and the team will want to forget what happened in the third period. Prince George was trapped in their end for nearly the entire period, and had to fend off numerous power play opportunites from the Wild. Dakota Raabe would eventually put home a goal while on the man advantage, which was only two minutes after Brandon Puricelli scored as well for the Wild. Things would get feisty for the two teams, and captain Jake LeBrun received a game misconduct after a hit from behind. 

     What made the period worse though, was that it took the team 18 minutes, and four seconds for the team to register a shot on goal, and the two they managed (one after another) were on a power play so it was expected the team would generate some offensive opportunities. The final buzzer finally sounded, and sent home an attendance of 1,084 that was originally buzzing, home in a quiet mood. 

     There were two bright spots for the Spruce Kings. First was the play of the penalty kill, which killed off the entire five minute penalty that LeBrun received after his hit from behind, which included some time 5-on-3 when Braiden Epp went to the box for slashing. Second, was the play of young goalie Liam McCloskey. The reigning BC Major Midget champion stopped 45 of 50 shots in his BCHL debut, and the score could’ve been a lot worse without his stellar play in net. The rookie netminder received third star honours for his effort in net.   

     Tomorrow the two teams will go at it once again, and you can be sure the Spruce Kings will be out for revenge. Game time is at 7pm with the game being played in the Coliseum in Prince George. To listen to the game you can listen in on Mixlr, or you can watch the game live on FASTHockey.

Pre-Game: Spruce Kings vs Wenatchee Wild

VS
Pre-Season Statistics
1-3-0-1	Record	3-0-0-0
N/A	Last Seasons’s Matchup	N/A
14	Goals For	14
20	Goals Against	1
0-2	Home Record	0-0
1-1-0-1	Away Record	3-0

Venue: The Coliseum, Prince George

Game Time: 7pm

Season Series: N/A

Fun Fact: In their last five home openers, the Prince George Spruce Kings have always taken at least a point away going 3-0-0-2

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

Adam Brubacher – D: One of the off season additions, Brubacher spent the last three seasons with his hometown Elmira Sugar Kings. The 6’3’ defenceman picked up two assists against the Grande Prairie Storm, and that should come as no surprise seeing as how he had 45 points in 48 games last year. Born in ’95, Brubacher will be expected to be a leader both on and off the ice.

Braiden Epp – FW: A Prince George native, Epp missed the first three pre-season games with an ankle injury. In his first game back in the lineup, he scored a power play goal, and had numerous chances in the following game. Having scored the most goals last year of any Spruce King player, Epp will again be counted on to find mesh this season.

Wenatchee Wild:

Kyle Stephan - FW: Has the most points of any Wild player with 42 points in 53 games last season split between Wenatchee and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. From Barrie, Ontario Stephan has picked up right where he left off, scoring against the Coquitlam Express, and then picking up a goal and two assists in the team’s latest game against Surrey.

Chase Perry - G: After playing for the Wild two years ago, Perry spent last year in the NCAA with Colorado College. Now the 2014 Detroit Red Wings draft pick is back in Wenatchee, and was perfect in both exhibition games against Coquitlam and Chilliwack stopping all 55 shots in the two games.

BCHL Expansion: This will mark the first game in the BCHL for the Wenatchee Wild. They will be the first team from the U.S.A since the Bellingham Ice Hawks played in the league from 1990 to 1995. Although this is their first year in the BCHL, that doesn’t mean it’s their first season. They have operated in the North American Hockey League since 2008, and have never had a losing record. The team also has a great fan base, with an average attendance of nearly 3,000 people in last year’s 30 home games. Being an American club, they will be allowed to have up to four players on their roster from Canada. One of the players will be right at home this weekend in Prince George, as Daniel Nachbaur spent the end of last season with the team, and before that he spent the last season and a half with the Merritt Centennials.

Pre-Season Recaps:

Prince George Spruce Kings

The Spruce Kings went 1-3-0-1 in their pre-season games this year. It started out with a pair of games against the Merritt Centennials, where Prince George dropped the first game 7-4 in what was a young roster for both teams. The team would dress an older lineup the next night, and take a 4-1 decision over the Centennials who stuck with a younger team. The Spruce Kings then travelled across the border to Alberta where they took on the Grande Prairie Storm, and dropped a heart breaking 4-3 overtime loss. The Spruce Kings led 2-1 in the third, but then allowed two goals for the Storm to take their first lead. Kyle Johnson would erase that almost immediately though putting one home to tie the game and send it to the extra frame. Then less than a minute in, Josh Zablocki would play hero for the home team burying one past McCloskey for the win. To close things out, Prince George dropped a pair of games 5-3 and 3-0 against a very good Vernon Viper side, but coach Chad van Diemen said their final game where they lost 3-0 was the best the team had played in the exhibition games, so that was a bright spot ahead of the season. Special teams were very different for the team, as they had good success on the penalty kill, but struggled to get much going while up a man, so that is one area the team has focussed on in practice.

Wenatchee Wild:

The Wenatchee Wild had one blemish in their pre-season. That wasn’t a loss, but one single goal. In three games, the Wild outscored their opponents 14-1. Chase Perry the Detroit Red Wings prospect was perfect in his two games, stopping a combined 55 saves in his two games against Coquitlam and Chilliwack to collect the shutouts. Those games were 6-0 over Coquitlam, and 4-0 over Chilliwack, the reigning mainland champions. The final game was against Surrey, where Garrett Nieto allowed one goal on twelve shots to lead his team to a 4-1 win over Surrey. After a very successful pre-season, it doesn’t look like the Wild are having nerves in their first year in the BCHL.

Injuries: One of the new additions for the Spruce Kings, Frank Sullivan will be out of the game, after suffering an upper body injury in the team’s home game against Merritt last Friday.

Broadcast Info: Friday’s game offers a trio of options for viewing or listening to the game! Tune into 99.3 The Drive, watch on BCHL FASTHockey or listen on Mixlr.