Game Day at Victoria Grizzlies

One time member of the Spruce Kings, Leo Fitzgerald (9) is
questionable to return to action tonight against his former team

The Prince George Spruce Kings are back on Vancouver Island to start a three game in three day road trip beginning with a stop in the Bear cave tonight. The Coastal Conference best team, the Victoria Grizzlies will play host to the visiting royalty tonight as Prince George goes looking for win number four in a row and number 25 on the season.

A win tonight for Prince George all but assures them of a playoff spot with sixteen games still remaining in the regular season. The team's magic number is technically 2 points but that would put them in a tiebreaker scenario with the Chilliwack Chiefs. If Chilliwack loses, the Spruce Kings would officially become the second team in the BCHL to secure a minimum of four games in the post season.

Not getting ahead of themselves will be very important for a group that has seen some highs and some lows this season while remaining near the top spot of the Mainland Division for almost the entire season. The Spruce Kings come into the game tonight with a three game win streak after posting back-to-back wins on home ice last weekend over the Surrey Eagles. The Victoria Grizzlies will be a little ornery after suffering a mid-week 4-3 loss to the Nanaimo Clippers.

Prior to that the Grizzles were 5 and 0 in their previous five game - all of which were played on home ice. The Grizzlies have an impressive 13-5-1-1 record on home ice and start another four game home stand tonight against the visiting Spruce Kings. On the road, Prince George has fared extremely well posting a record of 12-8-2-1, good for half their wins and half their points. Perhaps if there is a concern it will the Spruce Kings road record against Island Division teams where they are yet to pick up a point.

Although they played a very close game against the Powell River Kings, the Spruce Kings came up empty with a 2-1 regulation time loss. The following night in Port Alberni, the team played a forgettable game that saw them drop a 5-2 decision to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Finding a way to play against the more physical style of the Island based teams will be a priority for the Spruce Kings tonight as they look to start a tough weekend road trip on a positive note against a tough team in the Victoria Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies recently went through an ownership change that filtered down to an immediate change behind the bench. Gone is long time BCHL coaching Bill Bestwick. Perhaps best known for his days with the Nanaimo Clippers and for bringing the Fitzgerald triplets into the League, Bestwick is now a senior advisor with the Clippers. Craig Didmon is now the head coach in Victoria with Scott Hawthorne the assistant coach. From Victoria with long time ties to game of hockey in the Province's Capital, Didmon started this season as his fifth season behind the bench as an assistant and was immediately promoted to bench boss with the vacancy.

The team itself has been performing well since game one and comes into their 43rd game of the season tied with a league best record of 27-10-3-2. The Penticton Vees have a similar record of 27-10-2-3 while the Langley Rivermen have played more games but also have a 59 points with a record of 27-12-1-4. The Grizzlies have a better record, than the other two, in their previous ten outings with 8 wins and 2 losses.

Leading the way offensively are two thirds of the Fitzgerald triplets, Myles and Gerry have combined for 112 points while Leo has been sidelined for much of the season and has only been on the ice for three games, he suited up for a fourth but never made it to the opening faceoff and hasn't played a game since September 13th. There was speculation that Leo would make his return to the game on Wednesday night but didn't. That same speculation exists for tonight's game and we will have to wait and see if the one-time Spruce King will be able to play against his former team.

Victoria has a number of weapons in their arsenal, besides the Fitzgerald triplets there is Jesse Schwartz (14G, 30A), Travis Stephens (13G, 18A), Garrett Forster 12G, 9A), Jay Mackie (7G, 14A) and Mark McLellan (10G, 10A) are all into the 20+ point club among forwards. Then there's the offensively minded defenceman led by Brandon Egli (8G, 17A) and Jacob Kearley (3G, 16A). Rounding out the team is the goaltending duo of Alec Dillon (2.32 GAA, .923 SV%) and Nic Renyard (2.72 GAA, .911 SV%). Dillon ranks 3rd in both stats among the League's best netminders.

On paper, these two teams match up pretty evenly in styles with the offensive edge going to the Victoria Grizzlies, but the Spruce Kings are used to being the underdog and play better when they are in that role. In their first meeting of the season, the Grizzlies were able to claim the points in a tough defensive battle that ended in a 1-0 regulation time loss for the Spruce Kings playing their first game without Jake LeBrun in the lineup.

The Spruce Kings are basically healthy with the lone exception being Cooper Rush who was hurt in his first game playing for Prince George against his former team. The Spruce Kings have also brought along a pair of affiliate players (APs) and are expecting to get both Mitch Barker and Stefan Wood into the lineup at some point this weekend.

Prince George does come into the game tonight riding a bit of a high after those two wins over Surrey last weekend that feature a pair of hattricks against their Divisional opponent. On Friday night, Brent Lashuk picked up his second hattrick of the season and coincidentally, his second against the Surrey Eagles while Just Rai started on Friday with a goal and an assist and then provided the overtime heroics to register his first BCHL career hattrick against a team he grew up watching.

Finding different players to contribute offensively tonight will be another key to picking up valuable points in their race to the top of the Mainland Division. Tonight's game is one of three games that Prince George has on the front running Langley Rivermen who have a seven point cushion. One other game in the BCHL tonight of interest to the road team is being played in Coquitlam where the Express are hosting the Chilliwack Chiefs. As mentioned earlier, points for Prince George coupled with any points lost by Chilliwack will officially put the Spruce Kings into the post season.

Tonight's game from Bear Mountain Arena in Colwood has a 7:15pm start time and will be broadcast live online with the pay-per-view feed available through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 6:50pm. Following the game, the Spruce Kings will return to their home base in Nanaimo and will play the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night and the Clippers Sunday afternoon.

Game Day vs the Surrey Eagles

The Prince George Spruce Kings look to take the season series away from the Surrey Eagles tonight as the two teams play their final regular season game against each other. The two teams have split seven games evenly down the middle and have seven points each with three regulation time wins and a single point in a 4-4 tie.

Tonight’s game also completes this weekend’s doubler header that saw the Spruce Kings take the first half in a wild 6-3 final. Both teams tallied a controversial goal and created lots of chances to put the other team away, but in the end it was a hat trick from Brent Lashuk that capped off the Prince George victory.

For Lashuk, this was his second hat trick of the season and, coincidentally enough, both came against the Surrey Eagles. Not only were both against the same team, but both were tallied in Prince George on the first game of a double header. In both cases Lashuk scored all three goals in consecutive order for the Spruce Kings.

With the similarities between the two games, it begs the question, “what happened on the second night?” Well the Spruce Kings will be looking to avoid that repeat as they dropped a close 2-1 decision to the Eagles who earned their split.

This is the third double header of the season between the two teams and in the first it was the Surrey Eagles that had the lopsided win on night one while the two teams took home the single point on night two. As it all goes to show, these two teams are far more evenly matched than either side probably wants them to be.

Despite the loss, the Surrey Eagles come in to the game tonight feeling like they deserved a better fate and can be expected to play as well and perhaps better than they did a night ago. Despite missing two key players including the team leading scorer in Jonah Renouf, the newly acquired Eagles filled in nicely with both Anthony Conti and Chase McMurphy picking up goals.

The Spruce Kings will want to continue what worked for them last night and capitalize on their chances but the coaching staff will also want to see a lot more defensive accountability as well. For head coach Dave Dupas and assistant coach Colton Buffie, there were a few too many missed assignments that led to odd man rushes and goal mouth scrambles. In the third period, the Eagles seemed to take over momentum when they were credited for a goal after the puck slid along the goal line and was ruled to have crossed it before Alex Murray could clear it away.

The goal inspired the Eagles and led to another shot that left half the building wondering if it had actually hit the inside cross bar and should have actually been a goal. The Eagles did add a third goal on their fifth powerplay of the game, but then popped their own balloon after taking a penalty with less than three minutes remaining. Prince George was able to end the game on a high note when Bryant Christian found the puck in the neutral zone and unselfishly looked off the lone defender before passing the puck to Brent Lashuk for the empty net finisher and hat trick goal.

The Prince George Spruce Kings are looking to keep pace with the Langley Rivermen in the chase for top spot in the Mainland Division while the Surrey Eagles have their sights set on the Coquitlam Express and third place. Both the Express and the Rivermen are in action tonight in Vernon and Chilliwack respectfully.

Tonight's game is the fifth Prince George Motors Feature Game of the Month on the Drive and will be broadcast live on 99.3 FM Listen Live Link. The game will also be available on Fasthockey.com as a pay-per-view broadcast. The pregame show begins at 6:45 with puck drop at 7pm from the Prince George Coliseum. Ron St. Clair, Thomas Bohmer and Ron Gallo will bring you all the action from the Castle on 99.3 the Drive.

Game Day vs Surrey Eagles

Spruce Kings will be wearing their dark blue jerseys tonight
when they host the Surrey Eagles

For the first time in 2014, the Spruce Kings return to home ice for a regular season game. Tonight Prince George host the Surrey Eagles in the first half of a weekend double header between these two Mainland Divisional opponents.

The Spruce Kings sit in second place with 48 points (22-13-2-2) and are coming off a 3-0 shutout victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs last Sunday. The year did not start out the way it was hoped after Prince George dropped their first two games after the Christmas Break before responding with the shutout win.

With a record of 17-22-1-0, the Surrey Eagles are looking for this trip North to spark themselves to a win and gain some ground on the Coquitlam Express. Sitting in the last playoff spot in the Mainland Division, Surrey has struggled after the Christmas break dropping back to back games to the Chilliwack Chiefs and another loss to Langley in their last outing.

Recent injuries have left a few holes in the Eagles roster with notable scratches being Jonah Renouf and Colton Mackie. Renouf has been out since last weekend when he was caught by a big hit that left the team’s number one scorer requiring medical attention on the ice and an overnight stay in the hospital.

Renouf is with the team this weekend for their trip to Prince George and is waiting for the doctor’s approval to get back in the lineup. The same can’t be said of Mackie who has been out since December 28th. The injuries open up two spots for a pair of affiliate players in Matthew Houston and Quinn Lenihan.

Even with the APs in the lineup, the Surrey Eagles come into the game tonight one player short of a full bench. Ahead of the trade deadline, the Eagles were involved in two pretty significant player transactions that included their captain. Brett Mulcahy was traded to the Vernon Vipers in exchange for Chase McMurphy and future considerations.

McMurphy is expected to centre the Eagles top line tonight with Danton Heinen and Joesph Drapluk. In another transaction, Surrey picked up Anthony Conti and future considerations in exchange for Nicholas Pierog. Conti will play on the left wing with Nathan Renouf at centre and Braeden Russell on the other side.

As the trade deadline closes in for another year, the Spruce Kings have made only one move of note. In a deal made just ahead of puck drop on Sunday, the Spruce Kings and Chiefs traded D-men sending Caleb Thompson to Chilliwack in exchange for Cooper Rush. In an unfortunate turn of events, Rush was hit low and is now out of the lineup undergoing treatment and may miss the next two to four weeks.

This time of the year can be seen as a stressful time for players, coaches, management and fans alike with the knowledge that teams are looking to get better for the playoff stretch. The Spruce Kings are very much in the hunt for a home start to the playoffs and want to make sure they are positioned for a long post-season run. Before that though there are 19 more games in the regular season including this double header this weekend against the Surrey Eagles.

Puck drop is scheduled is for 7pm at the Prince George Coliseum with the game broadcast live online with a pay-per-view feed available from Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 6:40pm. Coming up in the first intermission, Ron Gallo will talk to Spruce Kings alumni and former captain Brody Mott about what it is like from a player's perspective to be dealt during the trade deadline. In the second intermission, Gallo will also talk with current captain, Bryant Christian. Ron St. Clair and Tom Bohmer will have the complete call of the game.

Game Day at Chilliwack Chiefs

Jeremiah Luedtke has three points (2G, 1A) so far in 2014
and will be looking to add to that total tonight in Chilliwack

The Prince George Spruce Kings are looking at a third attempt to get their first win of 2014. The Spruce Kings started the new year sitting in second place in the Mainland Division with 46 points. Two outings against Island Division teams didn't change that status but didn't do anything to improve it either.

On the heels of Friday's 2-1 loss to the Powell River Kings, the Spruce Kings could not redeem themselves on Saturday night dropping a 5-2 decision to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The home team last night played much better than their record indicated and forced the issue the entire game leaving the Spruce Kings reeling after their 13th loss of the season.

The Spruce Kings pre-Christmas record of 21-11-2-2 was largely the result of hard work in the face of adversity while the team went through a patch of injuries to some key personnel. Although the team has been mostly injury free for the month of December and the start of 2014, the wins have dropped off with only one win in their last four games.

That win came against their divisional oppenent, the Chilliwack Chiefs back on December 20th in Chilliwack. In that game the Spruce Kings exploded for five goals in the second period en route to a 7-2 win. Since then the Spruce Kings have managed only three goals, two from Jeremiah Luedtke and the other from Justin Rai set up by Luedtke.

Since December 20th, the Chiefs have played four games picking up three wins including back-to-back wins against the Surrey Eagles to close out 2013. The other win came a night after the loss to Prince George. In their last game, Chilliwack lost 4-3 in overtime to the Langley Rivermen.

Given the recent turn of events for both teams, it is safe to say that this matchup will not have the same feel as some of the previous meetings. The Chiefs have regained their confidence while the Spruce Kings are hoping for something to turn in their favour.

Prince George has shown the ability to respond after a poor showing and the coaching staff will be looking for that tonight. In last night's game, it was felt that the Spruce Kings were being beat to all the loose pucks and kept to mostly low percentage scoring chances.

Remaining defensively sound while getting back to their own offensive attack will be a priority as a number of players look for their first goals of 2014 and the team, as a whole, looks for their first win in 2014 before returning home for a double header against the Surrey Eagles.

Tonight's game has a scheduled 5pm puck drop and will be broadcast live online with the pay-per-view feed available through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 4:40pm. Following the game, the team will return home to prepare for their first game in the Coliseum for 2014 on January 10th versus the Surrey Eagles. The game will be sponsored by the four Save On Foods stores in Prince George with some great prizes up for grabs.

Game Day at Alberni Valley Bulldogs

The Spruce Kings are looking for a clear sailing to the win column as they make their way from Powell River to Port Alberni. Last night in Powell River the Spruce Kings suffered their first loss of 2014 and are still looking for their first win of the New Year. Game two of three game weekend goes tonight against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs beginning at 7pm.

The Spruce Kings 2-1 loss was a close game but also indicative of the shots tallied in the game as the Island Division Kings outshot the visitors by a margin of 2-1 (40-20). The first period was a close one with teams trading chances and powerplay opportunities but it wasn't until the last minute that Prince George was able to capitalize on a turnover in their own zone and head up the ice on a 2-on-1 break.

Justin Rai and Jeremiah Luedtke played a quick game of pass up the middle of the ice before Luedtke completed the multiple give-and-go play with his tenth of the season with less than 30 seconds remaining in the opening period. The one goal lead would hold up for over 20 minutes despite Powell River opening up a shooting gallery on Jesse Jenks. The rookie goaltender was stellar in net and came up with one of his biggest saves off a penalty shot chance for Kurt Keats. Before the middle frame ended, Powell River was able to capitalize on a chance out of the corner and tied the game with less than 15 seconds remaining in the middle frame.

Powell River came out strong to start the third period and would again capitalize on a loose puck when the puck was finally poked past Jenks' skate and the goal post. The goal would hold up as the eventual game winner as the home team played a tough defensive style game working at keeping the Spruce Kings shooters to the outside and separating them from the puck.

The Bulldogs are also coming off a loss last night dropping a 4-1 decision to the League's top team, the Victoria Grizzlies. They will be hungry for their first win of 2014 and 11th of the season sitting in the basement of the Island Division with 10 wins, 22 losses, 2 ties and 4 overtime losses. The Bulldogs have allowed the fifth most goals against in the League and are 14th for goals scored. The Spruce Kings would be wise not to look at those numbers as they look to improve their goals for themselves.

Creating and capitalizing on scoring chances will be the focus for the coaching staff as they look for a full sixty minute effort from the players. Following the game Friday night, Spruce Kings Assistant Coach, Colton Buffie was pleased with the effort shown in the first game back from the Christmas break through the first 20 minutes. There was some concern with the amount of shots that got through in the second and third periods but recognized that a lot of those came from the outside and were considered to be low percentage chances.

The Spruce Kings will want to build on those positives and create quality chances of their own in the first meeting of the season against the Bulldogs. The 'dogs are known to be a team that will work hard, putting in a full effort looking for chances to capitalize on. The Bulldogs have five forwards with over twenty points each (Hunter Stewart 31, Justin Georgeson 30, Tryg Strand 29, Mitch Makin 21 and Harlan Orr 20) with the defenceman Darian Henry sitting one point back at 19.

The Alberni Valley Bulldogs earlier this week acquired the playing rights of Prince George hockey product Nathan Warren as their second goaltender. It's not certain if Warren is ready to play his first game for his new team or not as that will be a game time decision. The Spruce Kings will go with Jesse Jenks tonight, Alex Murray will be scratched with a back muscle strain and Tate Sproxton will be in the backup role.

The game is a 7pm start and will be broadcast live online with the pay-per-view feed available through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 6:40pm.

Game Day at Powell River Kings

The Prince George Spruce Kings start the New Year on the road in a matchup of BCHL royality. The Spruce Kings are in Powell River tonight to take on the Island Division Kings. This is the first game following the Christmas break for both teams making for an interesting start to 2014.

Although a season is defined by all the games played, there seems to be a point when teams and players step it up a notch and make that proverbial push for the playoffs. That point is now. Sometimes the first few games after the break are the toughest if for no other reason than the players have had some time off and might be a little "rusty" getting back.

The Spruce Kings headed into the break after posting a big 7-2 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs. That win came a day after suffering a loss to the Surrey Eagles. In all the Spruce Kings were performing very well in the first half of the season having played above .500 on the road as well as home. Their record saw them sitting at or near the top in the Mainland Division.

To start 2014, Prince George has a record of 21 wins, 11 losses, 2 ties and 2 losses through 36 games. Those 46 points are good for second place in the Mainland Division, three points back of the Langley Rivermen who have played three more games then the Spruce Kings. The Powell River Kings also sit second in their division, but with 52 points in 36 games played.

The Powell River Kings have a very impressive 14-4-1-0 record on home ice which may be a testament to just how much of a toll the trip in takes on the visiting team. The Spruce Kings started their journey on January 1st from Prince George stopping overnight in Richmond to gather up the players returning from their homes. On January 2nd the team made the 200 kms journey that took almost 8 hours and two separate ferries to complete.

A full practice on Thursday before leaving Richmond and a full day on the Sunshine Coast to recover should leave the Spruce Kings as close to game ready as anyone could hope for. But you know the Powell River Kings will be ready too, especially after ending their pre-Christmas schedule with a disappointing 5-0 shutout loss to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

Powell River is a very potent machine and they showed it in their two previous games with big wins over Coquitlam (8-3) and Vernon (7-2). Despite scoring the second most goals per game on average in the League (3.81), what makes the Kings dangerous is that they spread the goal scoring around.

Their leading goal scorer, Jarid lukosevicius is ranked 20th among the BCHL goal scorers with 16 goals and 22 assists. Ryan Scarfo also has 38 points with 15 goals and 23 assists. Drew Dorantes leads the team with 20 goals and has 16 assists. The next five players on that team list are fowards sharing 126 points between them and then comes the defenceman. Brian Rideout has 20 points (4G, 16A) and then four more blueliners with double digit point production so far.

Like Prince George, Powell River has a good tandem in net. Jeff Smith leads the entire League with a 2.01 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. For the Spruce Kings, Jesse Jenks will get the start tonight after Alex Murray reaggrevated a minor injury. Tate Sproxton was called up to travel with the team this weekend as the backup.

There should be a lot of excitement in the Powell River Recreational Complex tonight as the game marks the first game on home ice in four weeks for the Kings and is also their night to draw for a winner in their Annual Dream Lottery.

Tonight's game is scheduled to start at 7:30pm with the opening faceoff. The game will be broadcast live online with the pay-per-view feed available through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 7:10pm.

Game Day at Chilliwack Chiefs

Braiden Epp (26) skates through the top of the crease with a
scoring chance against the Chilliwack Chiefs last Monday

The Prince George Spruce Kings will wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule and play their final game of 2013 tonight in Chilliwack when they face the Chiefs for the third time in four games. The Spruce Kings and the Chiefs have met five times already this season with Prince George leading the head-to-head series with four wins and an overtime loss. But don't think this game is going to be an easy one for the visitors.

The Chilliwack Chiefs have shown that they are a capable team and had the Spruce Kings in a good old fashioned shoot-out in their last meeting. Getting Prince George off their defensive game is no easy task, but on Monday the Chiefs found a way to build up a pair of two goal leads and finished the game with five goals total. Last night the Spruce Kings allowed five goals again but the difference was they weren't able to score the eight against Surrey that they did against Chilliwack.

In Thursday's game, the Spruce Kings had some great chances in the first half of the first period and were outshooting the Surrey Eagles 7-2 after 12 minutes of play. After the BCHL timeout, it was the Eagles that came up with some chances of their own and closed down the lanes to the net that were open earlier, holding the Spruce Kings to without a shot on goal. The drought continued into the second period allowing the Eagles to find the bounce they needed to open the scoring.

The game's first goal came two minutes into the second period when Colton Mackie centered a pass from the left corner to a crowd skating down the slot in front of the net. The puck was directed into the net off the foot of Brett Mulcahy and, after a brief discussion by the officials, was ruled a good goal. The Eagles would continue to get chances and were rewarded with their first powerplay of the game mid-way through the middle frame. They made short order of the man-advantage scoring thirty seconds in to give them their first two goal lead of the game.

Jake LeBrun was able to get that one back after he pounced on a loose puck at the side of the net and pushed it in. The Eagles restored their two goal lead moments later but before the second was over, Jeremiah Luedtke lifted his ninth of the season over the reach of the Surrey netminder. The third period started with another early goal for the Surrey Eagles giving them their third two goal lead of the game. Again the Spruce Kings would come back with a lucky bounce of their own after Mitch Eden's dump in shot deflected off the stantion and got in behind the netminder.

An empty net goal late in the third period sealed the fate of the Spruce Kings in a 5-3 loss. With no points in game number 35 of the season, the Spruce Kings can no longer catch the Langley Rivermen before Christmas. The Rivermen sit idle until December 28th with 48 points through 37 games played, the Spruce Kings can close the gap with a win tonight. Prince George has 44 points heading into tonight's game and will still have a game in hand afterwards.

The Chilliwack Chiefs have tonight and one more game to get through before their Christmas break and it will be a short break. The Chiefs play on December 21st and again on December 28th whereas the Spruce Kings will head home after tonight's game and will reconvene in time for their next game on January 3rd in Powell River. The shorter break for the Chiefs along with their current situation in the Mainland Division makes them a dangerous team at this time of the year.

When you look closely at the Chiefs record, what's missing is how close some of those games were and how a bounce here or there could have completely turned the outcome of games completely around. The Spruce Kings have been there and have seen that scenario play out themselves firsthand. The team has also experienced the thrill of a second half season turn-around and know that the Chilliwack Chiefs will be looking to start their own surge tonight.

The game will be broadcast live online with the pay-per-view feed available through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only webcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with a pregame show at 6:40pm.