Game Preview: vs Surrey Eagles

Kirk Thompson and the rest of the Spruce Kings will be
looking to clip the Eagles wings again tonight

The Prince George Spruce Kings return to the Castle tonight to face a Mainland Divisional opponent in the Surrey Eagles. It will be the fourth meeting of the season between these two teams with the Spruce Kings holding a 2-1 edge in the season series.

The last time the Eagles flew north, they returned home with their wings clipped in a 3-0 loss and promptly made changes to their lineup bringing in Brady Shaw in a trade with the Coquitlam Express. Since joining the Eagles, Shaw has seen his points total double this season to 12 goals and 10 assists in 22 games.

The Eagles have also reaped the benefits of that trade in the standings climbing from the basement to where they sit now – tied for second in the Mainland Division with the Prince George Spruce Kings. After the loss to Prince George, the Surrey Eagles have gone on an 8-2-0-1 run with some big wins and now boast a record of 13-7-0-2.

The Spruce Kings made their own deal with the Coquitlam Express this week trading Bradley Ryan (’92) for another defenceman and a forward. Making his debut with the crown tonight will be Mark Begert, a six foot tall 185 pound defenceman from West Vancouver that shoots right. Expect to see Begert used in all situations – five-on-five, powerplay and penalty kill.

Also coming to Prince George via the Express is Jace Hennig who is a speedy 17 year old forward from Port Moody that has secured a NCAA scholarship to Merrimack College. Unfortunately fans will have to wait at least another weekend to see Hennig in a Spruce Kings jersey as the rookie forward is listed day-to-day with an upper body injury. Hennig did take the morning skate and can’t wait to play in his first game for Prince George.

There was one other deal made on Thursday that will see a new player on the ice for the Spruce Kings. Another 17 year old defenceman, Kevin Guiltinan was acquired from the Vernon Vipers in exchange for Liam Board. Guiltinan is an imposing defenceman that has the ability to deliver punishing hits to those that choose to come in the zone. Guiltinan has also secured a scholarship this year and is committed to Harvard University.

The Spruce Kings are essentially healthy and will be looking to re-establish their dominance on home ice this season.

Game time is 7:00pm in the Prince George Coliseum. Bring your radios to the game and catch the live broadcast with Ron St. Clair, Todd Doherty and Peter James on 93.1 CFIS-FM. For those listening out of town, the free online audio broadcast will be available from CFISFM.com and the pay-per-view broadcast will be on FASTHOCKEY.com.