Game Preview: vs Alberni Valley Bulldogs

Spruce Kings will be looking to keep the celebrations going

The Alberni Valley Bulldogs make their one and only regular season visit to the Castle tonight to face the Prince George Spruce Kings in a Coastal Conference matchup. The Bulldogs playing out of the Island Division currently sit in second spot with 17 points while the Spruce Kings are second in the Mainland Division with 20 points.

The Spruce Kings are currently riding a four game win streak that started two weekends ago against another Island Division team in the Powell River Kings. The Bulldogs haven’t fared as well in their past four games suffering a pair of regulation losses and another two in overtime.

The Bulldogs are a bit of an enigma having scored the second most goals in the League with 54 but having also allowed the second most goals with 64. When compared as an average with the Spruce Kings, the Bulldogs come out ahead 3.38 to 3.33 but the Spruce Kings goals against average is much better with a 2.67 compared to the Bulldogs 4.00.

Numbers aside, the Bulldogs are certainly not a team that can be taken lightly with one of the most efficient power plays in the League and the most power play goals scored to date. Discipline is always a key factor in any game and the Spruce Kings have been watching their special teams numbers improve over the past few games, especially on the penalty kill.

The Spruce Kings are as close to healthy as they have been at any point this season with Lyndon Martell, Tyson Witala and Trevor Esau all returning tonight. Tanner Fjellstrom has been skating with the team during practices and is almost ready to return to game action. David London remains at his home in Kelowna rehabbing an injury suffered in the preseason.

The Alberni Valley Bulldogs have been hit hard by the injury bug and have four players placed on the Injured Reserve List. That has turned into an opportunity for four additional players to suit up for the Bulldogs and play in the BCHL when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Tonight’s game will be attended by Super Dog of the SPCA as he gets the message out for pet safety during Halloween and the arrival of colder weather in Prince George. The local SPCA is one of the busiest with 2200 animals moving through the shelter last year and being on pace to eclipse those numbers this year. The SPCA is fully funded with financial contributions from the public as well as donations of pet food and supplies.

Game time is 7:00pm, fans are encouraged to bring their radios to the game and listen to the call of the game with Ron St. Clair on 93.1 CFIS-FM. If you can't make it to the game, a free online audio broadcast is available from CFISFM.com and a pay-per-view full broadcast on FASTHOCKEY.com.