Wenatchee Runs Wild Over Spruce Kings

VS
1                                 Final Score                                        5
Hoffman	Goal Scorers	Harris, Rockwell, Bates, Puricelli, Raabe
18	Total Shots	50
10	1st Period Shots	11
6	2nd Period Shots	17
2	3rd Period Shots	22
0 for 4	Power Play	1 for 7
McCloskey	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Harris
	1st Star	Rockwell
0-1	Current Record	1-0

The roster introductions for the 2015/2016 Prince George Spruce Kings

     The Wenatchee Wild had a great opening to their BCHL season. Unfortunately for the Prince George Spruce Kings, it was during their own home opener. After recording at least a point in the last five home openers, the team had a poor showing against the expansion Wild. 

     The first period was quite close, as the team were nearly even in shots with Wenatchee having one extra with eleven. Brendan Harris opened the scoring, and it was actually counted as the first goal scored in the BCHL this season with five other games on the schedule. Chase Perry was perfect in the pre-season stopping all 55 shots he faced, but Corey Hoffman who was acquired in the offseason from the Odessa Jackalopes scored the team’s first goal of the season to tie the game at one.

    After that things went downhill for the Spruce Kings. They only managed eight shots combined the next two periods, but the Wild had no such issues collecting 22 in the final period alone. The second period was controlled by the Wild, and they had a pair of goals from Tyler Rockwell and Adam Bates to lead 3-1 after two. 

     Most fans, and the team will want to forget what happened in the third period. Prince George was trapped in their end for nearly the entire period, and had to fend off numerous power play opportunites from the Wild. Dakota Raabe would eventually put home a goal while on the man advantage, which was only two minutes after Brandon Puricelli scored as well for the Wild. Things would get feisty for the two teams, and captain Jake LeBrun received a game misconduct after a hit from behind. 

     What made the period worse though, was that it took the team 18 minutes, and four seconds for the team to register a shot on goal, and the two they managed (one after another) were on a power play so it was expected the team would generate some offensive opportunities. The final buzzer finally sounded, and sent home an attendance of 1,084 that was originally buzzing, home in a quiet mood. 

     There were two bright spots for the Spruce Kings. First was the play of the penalty kill, which killed off the entire five minute penalty that LeBrun received after his hit from behind, which included some time 5-on-3 when Braiden Epp went to the box for slashing. Second, was the play of young goalie Liam McCloskey. The reigning BC Major Midget champion stopped 45 of 50 shots in his BCHL debut, and the score could’ve been a lot worse without his stellar play in net. The rookie netminder received third star honours for his effort in net.   

     Tomorrow the two teams will go at it once again, and you can be sure the Spruce Kings will be out for revenge. Game time is at 7pm with the game being played in the Coliseum in Prince George. To listen to the game you can listen in on Mixlr, or you can watch the game live on FASTHockey.

Training Camp: Day 1

Assistant Head Coach, Adam Maglio with players

     Today kicked off the beginning of training camp for the Prince George Spruce kings. With summer coming to a close, 41 boys waited in the lobby of the Coliseum to sign in, and kick off a week of try-outs. After weighing in, and having their height measured, the group broke into two groups to begin practice, with one team taking the early practice, and the other taking the late night shift.

     The first group had the majority of returning Spruce Kings players, while the second had the three Cariboo Cougar players attempting to crack the line-up. Night one consisted of just drills, so it was tough to get a good read on players, but it was a good opportunity for them to gel together, and prepare for the games amongst themselves that will be going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

     I read an article a while back about Connor McDavid, and it said that while in exhibition games he would score on his first few shifts, and then focus on passing it off to team mates from there on in. Now I'm not saying Cole Todd is Connor McDavid, but that's the kind of performance I saw tonight. The first two shots I saw him take went in, and  from there on while he tried to score, his priority seemed to shift to being a play maker. Being one of the 20 year olds on the team this year, that is exactly the type of leadership that the Spruce Kings are expecting from their returning core.

     For the rest of training camp, Tuesday will consist of fitness testing, and the first intra-squad game, Wednesday will have a "Royal Run" up near UNBC followed by a game at night, and finally Thursday will have rock climbing in the morning followed by the final intra-squad game. All games begin at 7pm, and will be held at the Coliseum.

Returning Faces: Jake LeBrun

     Jake LeBrun scored a goal in the first game he ever played with the Prince George Spruce Kings. It was just a one game stint, but he certainly made the most of it. Fast forward three years, and LeBrun is now entering his fourth full year in the BCHL. After wearing an 'A' on his chest last year, he will be counted on to be a leader this year, and may even be wearing a different letter this time around. Not only is LeBrun a hard hitting power forward that likes creating room for his team mates, but he's also a home town Prince George talent. Having played his major midget career for the Cariboo Cougars, he's stuck with his hometown, and in an interview expressed how excited he is to play for the team in his fourth BCHL season. 

What's it like playing for your home town team?

It’s cool because everyone knows who you are, lots of the local hockey fans have watched you grow up playing bantam, and major midget. Then to be on the Spruce Kings now it’s cool everybody knows who you are and just being out in the community and people coming out to talk to you about being at the mall, or fans will come up to you can talk about the season, or all kinds of different things and I think that’s really cool. 

What do you like best about Prince George?

Definitely the outdoor stuff. You can drive fifteen minutes anyway and get to a lake so you can go swimming, fishing, or camping. I also like that there are just two completely different seasons. You can go from being eight degrees and cold and raining one day, to sunny and thirty degrees the next day. Where in the winter it can be minus 30 or two degrees.

What are your expectations for this season? 

Obviously I’m hoping to be a leader on the team, try to be a guy that everyone can look up to, and just do everything I can to help the team win and make it into the playoffs, and then see where we can go from there.

How did it feel beating Langley in the playoffs last season? 

We had such a big rivalry with Langley all year, and with my three years Langley has always been a team that we’ve been rivals with, and it was really nice to beat them in playoffs. They were pretty cocky about it too going in, and we were the underdog so it was pretty nice to beat them, and obviously winning the first series in a long time was great.

(Side Story from the interview about injuries during the playoffs last year)

I remember one time McCaskill was on the ice for like the first seven minutes of the third period. I just kept looking back and McCaskill was always on the ice. I was like “has he gotten off yet?” and he kept taking drinks out of the goalies water bottle every whistle, and stayed out there. 

Returning Faces: Braiden Epp

After managing 14 points in his first full season, Braiden Epp exploded last year, racking up 43 points in 53 games, and finished tied for second in the entire BCHL with 14 power play goals! Like most players, Braiden is expecting to only get better, and since he was born in Prince George, playing in his hometown is extra special.

Braiden talked over the phone about what winning Game 6 last year against Langley to move onto the second round was like, and what his goals are this season.

How did you feel during Game 6 last year? 

Unbelievable feeling. I couldn’t even hear the final buzzer it was so loud when the game ended, it was crazy.

Being from Prince George, what is the support like in the arena? 

It’s crazy. It’s just electric in the Coliseum every night. You know the fans are behind you every night so it’s just thrilling to play there.

What leadership role are you expecting to take on this season? 

Being a third year player, I think I’ll be leaned on pretty hard here to show the new guys what to do, and how the league works. Just lead by example pretty much.

How do you like all the long bus rides that are included in playing for Prince George? 

For me being from Prince George and playing minor hockey here I’ve pretty much lived on the bus my whole career so it doesn’t affect me personally as much, but some guys coming in not knowing what the trips are like, and having bus legs, but being on the bus that long we tend to bond pretty well, and get to know each other so that helps us in our favour.

Having played with him before, what are your thoughts on Connor Logan? 

Oh he could always score. I know him decently well, I played on his team one year when I lived over on the island, so we know each other.He was a skilled forward, and you could always count on him to score big goals. Some secondary scoring this year would be key. 

What is your main focus this year? 

I just want to win. All I care about. 

Intra Squad Game

Over the past week or so I have fielded a few calls down at the Spruce Kings office asking when main camp is, when and where are the exhibition games as well as a few other scheduling type questions. Obviously there is a feeling that summer has come to an end or at least is quickly on its way out and it is time to start thinking about hockey. The Spruce Kings have been making news over the summer and the stories worth mentioning are escalating, but I just want to give you some dates and times and - in at least one circumstance - a location to help you make the transition from summer.

First of all, look who's back in town ... Joe Morgan, Tyson Hall and Nick DeSousa are already here as is Sam Muchalla and RJay Berra who is back from the Lower Mainland. I spoke with Wes McLeod today who let me know that he will be in Sunday afternoon and Colten Derickson is thinking he will arrive Monday afternoon. The rest of the players will be in town in the first few days of this last full week of August.

As for action on the ice, the players are going to start skating at the Coliseum on Tuesday; although, many of them have had ice whether it be at the Elks Centre and the Coliseum for the local boys or other rinks around the province for those out-of-towners. The ice times will be fairly free flowing with the players themselves pushing each other to be ready for Friday and the start of the team's main camp.

Registration for the main camp begins at noon with the players being assigned to one of four teams. The first two teams will hit the ice for a controlled practice headed up by Ed Dempsey at 2:00 and the rest will run through their drills beginning around 4. In a round-robin style format, there will be scrimmages throughout the weekend beginning with the first two teams meeting at 6:00 Friday night.

Saturday will feature a pair of scrimmages in the morning with the first one at 9:00am and two more in the evening beginning at 6:30pm. In the afternoon all players will go through an intense fitness testing with the team's official trainers from X-Conditioning. The fitness testing will be tough and will include sprinting, the beep test, pro agility test and other strength tests.

Now Sunday might be a day you want to mark down as it will feature the annual Intra Squad Game or Blue and White Game. The day will start with the final two scrimmages of the main camp followed by the Intra Squad Game that gets started at 3:00pm at the Coliseum. This will be a full game with 20 minute periods, floods and all the bells and whistles that you would expect at a regular season game. Admission will be cheap, it's not confirmed yet but it is expected to be just a toonie.

That will then lead into the start of the pre season and the Spruce Kings first test as a team when they play host to the Quesnel Millionaires on Tuesday night at 7:00pm in the Prince George Coliseum. The second game of the exhibition schedule will be played on Wednesday night as the back half of a home-at-home series with the Millionaires in the Smithers Civic Centre. Smithers has been abuzz with the rumours of this event for about a month, but it was only just made official last week and I'm told that more than half the tickets have already been sold.

After a day off, the Spruce Kings will be back at it on Friday night with the three hour bus ride to Williams Lake to welcome the Timberwolves back into the BCHL. After going dark for two seasons, the Cariboo Community Complex will once again be lit up for a Junior 'A' hockey game. The drop of the puck on Friday night in Williams Lake is scheduled for 7:00pm and then the two teams will travel back to Prince George and the final game of the preseason on Saturday night, 7:00pm in the Coliseum.

The following week marks the unofficial end of summer with Labour Day and the return to school, it will also be the first full week of practice for the Spruce Kings in preparation for their first regular season game. The Spruce Kings will open their 14th season in the BCHL at home with a game against the Westside Warriors on Friday September 11th and then Saturday night the Penticton Vees will be in the Castle to meet the royal ones.

It is pretty exciting stuff and the great news is that the ticket prices haven't increased from last year and, in some cases, ticket prices have gone down with the different ticket packages available. One in particular that has come back this year and will provide great value for a family of four is the Family Pack that features game tickets, popcorn and pop for all four people for a cost of $35 ... that's not even $9 a person!

Okay well there you have the schedule of events for the next couple of weeks ... if you would like more, the full schedule is posted on the Spruce Kings website ... or you can CLICK HERE for a printable version (you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader).