New Faces

Two new players will be in the Spruce Kings lineup on Friday night after the team swung a deal for a 20 year old forward from Salmon Arm and then picked up a free agent goaltender. The moves should help the team up front and between the pipes.

Okay this one is a steal, I think, afterall this is a player that totally fits the ideal of a Spruce King player. Zac Rasmussen is a feisty player with an edge and no fear at times. I have seen him get under other player's skin and then go hard to the net looking to make something happen out of nothing. This is quite an addition to the Spruce Kings lineup and perhaps the game to watch what Zac can really do will happen on Sunday afternoon in the Coliseum when his new team faces off against his old team.

I like it!

Okay now Kyle Nielsen, here is a goaltender that has had some success in the past and was on the Vancouver NW Giants major midget team that went to the 2007 Telus Cup in Red Deer, Alberta. The following year Kyle played Junior B hockey with the Chase Chiefs where he picked up two shutouts in 37 games played and posted wins in 17 of those games with a 90.35 save percentage. Last season he was one of the few players that stuck through a constantly reshuffling deck of players in Merritt.

Without trying to assume anything, it is safe to say that the new hockey operations staff had their eyes on two other netminders for the role and released Kyle making him a free agent. Cue the Spruce Kings and Kyle finds himself a new home in the BCHL. I don't know what the plan is for Friday's game in Merritt, but that would be kind of interesting to see Kyle get the start against the team that discarded him ... don't you think he would be just a little fired up!

Talking with Mike Hawes and Ed Dempsey, they see both players coming in and making an immediate impact on the team. And we all know that an immediate impact is needed to get the team moving in the right direction again. In Quesnel on Wednesday night, I saw a team that wanted to win and was doing everything right to start the game only to have a bounce go against them. This team is much better than what the stat sheet shows and I'm looking to see the right combination of confidence and execution, skill and work ethic materialize on Friday night against the Centennials.