Pregame ...
With the regular season coming down to the wire, the Prince George Spruce Kings find themselves on the road where they will meet two of the top teams in the league. In a season when things just haven't come easy for the team, this weekend certainly isn't any different as the Spruce Kings continue to fight for a playoff spot and will meet the Vernon Vipers tonight. The Spruce Kings are coming off a three game homestand that saw the team pick up some much needed points, the offense some much needed confidence and three players get short listed for league player of the week honours. Building on those positives and finding their first points against the top team in the BCHL, is the goal tonight.
The current BCHL Player of the Week is Zac Rasmussen who went on a three game tear scoring a total fo seven goals including his first BCHL career hat trick. His linemates, Sam Muchalla and RJay Berra, also had big games as the trio combined for a total of 13 goals and 17 assists. The line is expected to stay together for the weekend as the spruce Kings go looking for those all important two points in their games against the Vernon Vipers and the Penticton vees on Sunday. A strong supporting cast will be required both offensively and defensively if the Spruce Kings are to pick up points against a possible first round playoff opponent.
Not prepared to write off the season just yet, the players are looking at sending a message to "Goliath" of the BCHL and were in the Wesbild Centre last night when both the Vees and the Vipers faced off against each other. The game on Friday night featured the top two teams in the BCHL in a game that could ultimately decide the League Champions. The Spruce Kings watched as the two battled it out and in the end it was the Vernon Vipers that held off the Penticton Vees to post a 5-2 victory in advance of their final meeting against Prince George. In two other games tonight that impact the Prince George Spruce Kings, the Penticton vees will be hosting the Merritt Centennials and the Westside Warriors will play the second of a double header against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
If the Spruce Kings are to make it into the playoffs they have to find wins and hope that the teams they are chasing don't. Both the Trail Smoke Eaters and the Merritt Centennials were victorious last night putting the pinch on Prince George. The Spruce Kings are currently six points back of Trail and seven points back of Merritt with two games in hand on the Centennials. This weekend set against the Vipers and the Vees are the toughest of the five remaining games for Prince George, but points should not be considered completely elusive as both of the top two teams have shown that they too can be beaten.
Prince George will have to come out strong, manufacture scoring chances and convert on those chances to take advantage of the fact that the Vipers did have a tough game against Penticton vees just the night before. They will have to play a smart and disciplined game against a team that has shown lots of success with the man advantage and have been as effective on the penalty kill. In the three previous meetings, the Spruce Kings have not scored an odd man advantage goal in ten opportunities. The top line of Muchalla, Rasmussen and Berra will have to be flying again tonight with offensive support coming from the next two waves with Morgan, DeSousa and Earnest expected to fill out the second line.
Line combinations and other news, notes and thoughts about tonight's game can be heard on 93.1 CFIS-FM beginning at 6:40pm with the Spruce Kings broadcast. Ron Gallo will provide the live broadcast on both the radio and online from the Spruce Kings website. Following the game, the Spruce Kings will turn their attention to the South Okanagan Events Centre and the Penticton Vees for a Sunday night game. Questions and comments can be sent to Ron Gallo by clicking on the "comments" link below.
Rosters ...
Vernon Vipers
3 Garrett Noonan (D 6'01" 205 1/28/91 Norfork, NC, USA) (GP 53 G 2 A 13 Pts 15 56 PIMs)
5 Mike Collins (F 6'00" 180 5/25/90 Boston, MA, USA) (GP 55 G 28 A 45 Pts 73 41 PIMs)
6 Darrin Robak (D 6'02" 180 11/05/91 Red Deer, AB, CAN) (GP 14 G 2 A 5 Pts 7 23 PIMs)
7 Dan Nycholat (D 6'02" 190 2/04/92 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 54 G 6 A 34 Pts 40 41 PIMs)
8 Curtis Gedig (D 6'03" 190 9/14/91 Kelowna, BC, CAN) (GP 49 G 11 A 9 Pts 20 20 PIMs)
9 Dylan Walchuk (F 5'09" 170 2/04/92 McBride, BC, CAN) (GP 52 G 19 A 27 Pts 46 20 PIMs)
10 Connor Jones (F 5'09" 165 8/16/90 Montrose, BC, CAN) (GP 47 G 34 A 41 Pts 75 36 PIMs)
11 Cory Kane (F 6'03" 190 9/15/90 Irvine, CA, USA) (GP 55 G 21 A 27 Pts 48 44 PIMs)
12 Cole Ikkala (F 6'01" 195 7/27/90 Philadelphia, PA, USA) (GP 53 G 21 A 22 Pts 43 28 PIMs)
14 Braden Pimm (F 6'00" 175 12/28/89 Fort St. John, BC, CAN) (GP 55 G 25 A 41 Pts 66 65 PIMs)
15 Kellen Jones (F 5'09" 165 8/16/90 Montrose, BC, CAN) (GP 37 G 10 A 38 Pts 48 18 PIMs)
17 Sahir Gill (F 5'10" 180 4/21/92 Terrace, BC, CAN) (GP 12 G 0 A 8 Pts 8 04 PIMs)
18 David Robinson (F 5'10" 170 6/09/90 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 15 G 10 A 9 Pts 19 19 PIMs)
19 Jonathan Milhouse (F 5'10" 170 1/30/89 Yorba Linda, CA, USA) (GP 51 G 19 A 31 Pts 50 20 PIMs)
20 Rob Short (F 6'00" 200 6/05/89 Coldstream, BC, CAN) (GP 47 G 20 A 23 Pts 43 34 PIMs)
21 Kevin Kraus (D 6'02" 205 9/05/89 Garden Grove, CA, USA) (GP 52 G 4 A 20 Pts 24 70 PIMs)
22 Sawyer Mick (F 6'01" 180 9/22/91 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 44 G 9 A 13 Pts 22 31 PIMs)
24 Steve Weinstein (D 5'09" 165 8/13/90 Los Angeles, CA, USA) (GP 55 G 4 A 18 Pts 22 00 PIMs)
27 Bryce Kakoske (F 6'01" 200 4/27/90 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 54 G 12 A 27 Pts 39 12 PIMs)
28 Adam Thompson (D 6'01" 190 6/27/90 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 52 G 5 A 17 Pts 22 22 PIMs)
29 Patrick McGillis (F 5'10" 185 3/14/91 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 36 G 7 A 13 Pts 20 13 PIMs)
30 Brad Voth (G 5'10" 170 12/27/91 Herbert, SK, CAN) (GP 21 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
35 Graeme Gordon (G 6'02" 183 4/15/89 North Vancouver, BC, CAN) (GP 36 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 02 PIMs)
Prince George Spruce Kings
4 Reid Blinkhorn (D 5'11" 170 12/23/91 Winfield, BC, CAN) (GP 9 G 1 A 0 Pts 1 13 PIMs)
5 Justin Fillion (D 5'11" 175 4/23/90 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 55 G 6 A 34 Pts 40 85 PIMs)
7 Jesse Scrimbit (D 6'01" 180 12/19/90 Sicamous, BC, CAN) (GP 50 G 0 A 7 Pts 7 38 PIMs)
8 Jonathan Gibson (D 6'01" 205 2/01/90 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 51 G 5 A 5 Pts 10 51 PIMs)
9 Nick DeSousa (F 6'00" 180 11/13/90 Fraser Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 51 G 22 A 17 Pts 39 35 PIMs)
10 Brad Bourke (D 6'01" 175 4/21/89 Onoway, AB, CAN) (GP 51 G 7 A 28 Pts 35 59 PIMs)
11 Kyle Manlow (F 5'10" 165 6/28/91 Murrieta, CA, USA) (GP 53 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 21 PIMs)
14 Lyndon Martell (F 6'01" 190 1/13/93 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 39 G 13 A 15 Pts 28 16 PIMs)
15 Luke Hannas (F 6'02" 185 9/09/91 Williams Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 44 G 2 A 6 Pts 8 123 PIMs)
16 Jeff Earnest (F 5'10" 175 2/08/91 Anchorage, AK, USA) (GP 47 G 10 A 12 Pts 22 62 PIMs)
18 Riley Spraggs (F 5'09" 175 11/23/91 Coldstream, BC, CAN) (GP 4 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 02 PIMs)
19 Joe Morgan (F 5'08" 180 4/07/89 Kitimat, BC, CAN) (GP 43 G 14 A 23 Pts 37 24 PIMs)
20 Jeff Datoff (D 5'10" 160 5/26/92 Nanaimo, BC, CAN) (GP 40 G 0 A 6 Pts 6 13 PIMs)
21 Stewart Lambert (F 6'00" 175 4/05/90 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 33 G 2 A 2 Pts 4 09 PIMs)
22 Jeremy Wiebe (F 6'00" 180 7/20/91 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 47 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 101 PIMs)
23 RJay Berra (F 6'00" 180 7/26/90 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 55 G 14 A 19 Pts 33 15 PIMs)
25 Zac Rasmussen (F 5'09" 178 5/08/89 Kamloops, BC, CAN) (GP 51 G 23 A 25 Pts 48 105 PIMs)
26 Sam Muchalla (F 5'08" 150 8/14/90 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 53 G 29 A 51 Pts 80 61 PIMs)
30 Andrew Walsh (G 6'02" 185 12/15/90 Dawson Creek, BC, CAN) (GP 37 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 24 PIMs)
35 Kyle Nielsen (G 5'10" 170 7/21/90 New Westminster, BC, CAN) (GP 23 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 02 PIMs)
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