These two teams are proving to be more closely matched than either team would like to admit. Heading into this contest the Spruce Kings and the Millionaires are separated by a single point in the Interior Conference with the advantage going to Prince George and both having played 24 games. This is the fifth meeting between the two teams having split the previous four games with a pair of wins each. The teams will meet a total of ten times through the season with the winner of the season series winning this year's CNC Challenge Cup.
In the last two meetings it was the visitors that took home the victories in each other's rinks ... a trend the Spruce Kings would like to see continue, at least for tonight. The Spruce Kings are currently riding a two game winning streak having beat the Williams Lake Timberwolves twice in a row and both times by 6-3 margins. Prior to the games versus the Timberwolves, the Spruce Kings turned a corner in their season in a game against the league leading Vernon Vipers. It was a game that the Spruce Kings lost but ultimately came away with many morale victories in.
It was the game prior to Vernon that the Spruce Kings wish they could call a mulligan on after coming up with a poor performance against the Millionaires on home ice. That loss will still be fresh in the minds of all the players as they head into the Vault tonight. In that game the Millionaires introduced the BCHL to Catlin Bigsnake, at 6'5" 275, the younger brother of Bigsnake is an imposing presence on the ice and intended only to be an enforcer for Quesnel. Jonathan Gibson ended up in a dust up with Bigsnake and it is safe to say that Gibson still remembers the big man dusting off his hands after their no-decision tilt. But speaking with Gibson, the rookie only wants to see him and his team put the damage on the score clock and more specifically in the win column.
It is expected that Kirby Halcrow will get the start tonight after bringing home silver from the World Junior A Challenge as the backup goaltender to Sean Bonar for Team Canada West. As for Wes McLeod he is feeling much better today and after putting up a four point night in Williams Lake on Tuesday, that is definitly a good thing for Prince George. Kyle Nielsen is expected to get the start for the Spruce Kings with Steve Papciak still nursing a "skate bite" injury on his ankly. Papciak meanwhile will be adding some colour to tonight's broadcast as he joins myself for the play-by-play of the game beginning at 7:15pm with the pregame show and opening faceoff at 7:30pm. The game can be heard on 93.1 CFIS-FM and also online from the Spruce Kings website by clicking on the CFIS-FM Listen Live link.
Rosters ...
Quesnel Milllionaires
1 Michael Smith (G 5'09" 170 4/19/1991 Spokane, WA, USA) (GP 1 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
3 Anderson White (D 6'04" 205 8/16/1991 Caledon, ON, CAN) (GP 9 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
5 Sam Higgins (D 5'10" 165 3/23/1990 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 22 G 1 A 11 Pts 12 25 PIMs)
6 Spencer Graboski (F 6'02" 170 1/6/1993 Quesnel, BC, CAN) (GP 18 G 3 A 5 Pts 8 04 PIMs)
7 Matthew Herskovitz (D 6'02" 200 12/3/1989 Montreal, PQ, CAN) (GP 24 G 5 A 6 Pts 11 12 PIMs)
8 Tyson Price (F 5'11" 178 8/18/1991 Slave Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 13 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 04 PIMs)
9 Brett Howe (F 5'11" 185 5/22/1990 Lethbridge, AB, CAN) (GP 22 G 1 A 3 Pts 4 53 PIMs)
10 Catlin Bigsnake (F 6'05" 275 3/17/1990 Sihsike, AB, CAN) (GP 3 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 07 PIMs)
14 Skyler Smutek (D 6'00" 175 5/7/1990 Seattle, WA, USA) (GP 24 G 3 A 9 Pts 12 44 PIMs)
16 Trevor Hertz (F 6'00" 189 10/11/1989 Jaffray, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 18 A 12 Pts 30 02 PIMs)
17 Taylor Holst (F 6'01" 185 4/24/1989 Kelowna, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 13 A 12 Pts 25 45 PIMs)
18 Erik Hansen (F 5'11" 175 10/10/1989 Minnetonka, MN, USA) (GP 24 G 3 A 9 Pts 12 04 PIMs)
19 Breyden DeCock (F 5'09" 176 3/1/1990 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 18 G 2 A 2 Pts 4 16 PIMs)
20 Darick Ste-Marie (F 5'11" 195 9/19/1989 St-Bruno, PQ, CAN) (GP 24 G 6 A 13 Pts 19 20 PIMs)
21 Tyler French (F 5'07" 165 9/15/1990 Westside, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 8 A 7 Pts 15 13 PIMs)
22 Mitch Galbraith (F 6'02" 183 4/21/1990 Quesnel, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 3 A 1 Pts 4 32 PIMs)
23 Matt Hutchinson (D 6'01" 195 7/1/1991 North Vancouver, BC, CAN) (GP 7 G 1 A 0 Pts 1 04 PIMs)
24 Brandon Watson (F 5'11" 173 2/24/1992 Keremeos, BC, CAN) (GP 13 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 25 PIMs)
25 Rylan Stanyer (D 6'02" 210 4/19/1990 Burns Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 11 G 0 A 2 Pts 2 14 PIMs)
26 Chris Kerr (F 6'00" 175 10/22/1992 Penticton, BC, CAN) (GP 19 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 00 PIMs)
26 Jon Puskar (F 5'10" 193 5/14/1989 Canton, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 9 A 15 Pts 24 25 PIMs)
27 Eliot Raibl (D 5'11" 184 3/28/1989 Vancouver, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 2 A 17 Pts 19 37 PIMs)
28 Tyler Billon (D 6'02" 190 7/18/1992 Chilliwack, BC, CAN) (GP 16 G 0 A 2 Pts 2 08 PIMs)
31 Kirby Halcrow (G 6'02" 218 3/13/1991 Grande Prairie, AB, CAN) (GP 16 G 0 A 2 Pts 2 06 PIMs)
35 Luke Siemens (G 5'11" 165 11/6/1992 Delta, BC, CAN) (GP 9 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
Prince George Spruce Kings
3 Wes McLeod (D 6'02" 185 9/30/1990 Kamloops, BC, CAN) (GP 19 G 6 A 14 Pts 20 31 PIMs)
4 Clayton McEwan (D 6'00" 180 11/26/1991 Kelowna, BC, CAN) (GP 20 G 0 A 1 Pts 1 08 PIMs)
5 Justin Fillion (D 5'11" 175 4/23/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 3 A 13 Pts 16 33 PIMs)
7 Jesse Scrimbit (D 6'01" 180 12/19/1990 Sicamous, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 0 A 1 Pts 1 16 PIMs)
8 Jonathan Gibson (D 6'01" 205 2/1/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 2 A 3 Pts 5 32 PIMs)
9 Nick DeSousa (F 6'00" 180 11/13/1990 Fraser Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 7 A 4 Pts 11 12 PIMs)
10 Brad Bourke (D 6'01" 175 4/21/1989 Onoway, AB, CAN) (GP 1 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 02 PIMs)
11 Kyle Manlow (F 5'10" 165 6/28/1991 Murrieta, CA, USA) (GP 23 G 3 A 0 Pts 3 10 PIMs)
14 Lyndon Martell (F 6'01" 190 1/13/1993 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 0 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
15 Luke Hannas (F 6'02" 185 9/9/1991 Williams Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 19 G 0 A 3 Pts 3 62 PIMs)
16 Jeff Earnest (F 5'10" 175 2/8/1991 Whittier, AK, USA) (GP 22 G 8 A 6 Pts 14 31 PIMs)
17 Brooks Robinson (F 5'11" 180 8/18/1989 Duncan, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 8 A 27 Pts 35 20 PIMs)
19 Joe Morgan (F 5'08" 180 4/7/1989 Kitimat, BC, CAN) (GP 19 G 4 A 10 Pts 14 11 PIMs)
22 Jeremy Wiebe (F 6'00" 180 7/20/1991 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 20 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 63 PIMs)
23 RJay Berra (F 6'00" 180 7/26/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 6 A 6 Pts 12 06 PIMs)
24 Josh Pineiro (D 5'10" 211 8/25/1989 Huntington Beach, CA, USA) (GP 18 G 5 A 12 Pts 17 25 PIMs)
25 Zac Rasmussen (F 5'09" 178 5/8/1989 Kamloops, BC, CAN) (GP 23 G 8 A 11 Pts 19 55 PIMs)
26 Sam Muchalla (F 5'08" 150 8/14/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 12 A 20 Pts 32 30 PIMs)
30 Marcus Beesley (G 5'10" 165 11/24/1992 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 0 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
35 Kyle Nielsen (G 5'10" 170 7/21/1990 New Westminster, BC, CAN) (GP 6 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
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