Game Preview: vs Victoria Grizzlies

Cameron Lawson celebrates his most recent goal this season

As the Spruce Kings return to the ice for the first and only time this week, the team welcomes volunteers from MADD Canada to the game to help raise awareness and hand out red ribbons for the national Project Red Ribbon campaign. The campaign is designed to remind the entire community of the importance of planning ahead before celebrating this holiday season.

Fans will be given a red ribbon to attach to their vehicle’s antenna or car keys to serve as a constant reminder to plan ahead for a safe ride home if they’re going to be drinking. The ribbon also serves as a tribute to those who have been killed or injured in impairment related crashes.

The Spruce Kings family knows this pain all too well after an alumni lost a loved one in May of 2011. Cody Schlamb played for the Spruce Kings the year they went to the RBC Royal Bank Cup and won silver. A few years after this celebration, Cody found himself grieving the loss of his finance who was struck while waiting to make a turn through an intersection.

After the ceremonial puck drop and a moment of silence to recognize Remembrance Day, the Spruce Kings will play host to the Victoria Grizzlies in their first of two meetings this season. For Coltyn Hansen and Cameron Lawson this will be their first chance to play against their former team after being a part of the six player trade.

Last year Lawson (13G, 24A) and Hansen (19G, 17A) finished second and third in Victoria’s team scoring.

This year the pair are again at the top of the leaderboard with Coltyn Hansen leading the way – Hansen 7G, 10A and Lawson 9G, 7A. The other player in that trade has yet to play a regular season game with the Spruce Kings but David London is well on his way to a full recovery of his preseason injury.

Going the other way were arguably the fan favourites of Prince George – Leo, Myles and Gerry Fitzgerald. The trio are having a good season playing closer to their home and find themselves leading the way offensively this year with the Victoria Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are growing accustomed to being on the road having played nearly twice as many games away from Bear Mountain and compiling a road record of 7-5-0-0 including a 5-4 loss last night to the West Kelowna Warriors. The Spruce Kings are quite comfortable at home but will have to be sharp against the 13th ranked team in the Nation to remain unbeaten in the Castle.

Tonight the Spruce Kings put their 6-0-1-1 home record to the test when the puck drops at 7pm in the Prince George Coliseum. Bring your radio to the game and catch the exciting play with Ron St. Clair on 93.1 CFIS-FM. The audio broadcast can also be found on the community radio station's website CFISFM.com and the pay-per-view broadcast is available on FASTHOCKY.com.