Exhibition Weekend vs. Merritt

     This weekend marked the first exhibition games for both the Merritt Centennials and the Prince George Spruce Kings. The teams each came away a victory, both taking a win while on the road.

     First, on Friday night the two teams played in Prince George where the Spruce Kings dropped a 7-4 decision (with one goal coming as a result of an empty net). That was a bit more of a young stars game though, as between the two teams there was one player born in 1996, and others were all born in 97, 98, or 99.  The Spruce Kings never trailed going into the third period tied at four goals apiece. The Centennials were sparked by power play goals though, and Josh Tetlichi who came in to play the second half of the game in net, and didn't allow a single past him.

     The bright spots for the team though were the play and chemistry of Cavin Tilsley and Parker Colley. The pair each scored a goal in the game, and then assisted on one another’s goals.

     Looking for revenge, the team headed out for Merritt the next morning. After a long bus ride, and a dinner at Whitespot in Kamloops, the team arrived at Nicole Valley Arena. Some of the guys from the East who hadn't done the drive before marvelled at what a nice drive it was coming down the valley to Merritt. The arrival time was sooner than expected, so the team browsed around the rink, and grabbed some snacks nearby. Finally before they started their official warmup, they juggled a soccer ball amongst themselves.

     Game two had Merritt suiting up a young lineup similar to the previous night, but the Spruce Kings wanting to get chemistry boiling for the season played a much more experienced team that was close to what the opening day roster will look like. They wound up taking a 4-1 decision, and the top line of Corey Hoffman centring Jake LeBrun and Luc Soares sparkled. Soares scored twice and added an assist, Hoffman potted the first goal of the game and had two assists, and captain LeBrun chipped in two assists himself. Alex Brooks-Potts had a solid game in net, and the defence in front of him did a good job of limiting chances.

     Coming up this week, Prince George will travel to Grand Prairie on Tuesday, and then play host to the Vernon Vipers on Friday before playing the team again on Saturday in Vernon. Friday’s game against the Vipers will also be broadcast on FASTHockey.

Nachbaur Goes Wild

The Prince George Spruce Kings would like to announce that they have traded 20 year old forward Daniel Nachbaur to the BCHL’s newest team, The Wenatchee Wild, in exchange for future considerations.

Nachbaur was acquired by the Spruce Kings on November 29^th of last season from the Merritt Centennials. He tallied 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points plus 12 penalty minutes in only 17 games played, after missing significant time with an injury after being acquired.

“Daniel was acquired last season to provide some energy and much needed depth to our forward group. He was able to do that although he was slowed by an unfortunate injury that limited his games played. He is a veteran BCHL player that Wenatchee is excited to add to their lineup” said Spruce Kings General Manager Mike Hawes.

Daniel and his new Wenatchee Wild teammates will be in Prince George to start the BCHL regular season with a double header at the Prince George coliseum on Friday September 11^th and Saturday September 12^th.

(Press Release from the Prince George Spruce Kings)

A Tough End, But What a Ride!!

Leo Fitzgerald scored a short handed goal

It was a tough way to end a magical run, but alas, the season has come to a close. They fought hard through 4 games, but couldn't come away with the much needed “W”. Tonight's contest had it's moments, but when the horn sounded, the better team was moving on. The game featured many wild sequences, most not in favour of the home team, with the 2nd period featuring an all out circus. But, let's start with the first, a period that was mainly dominated by the Centennials.

Once again, the Centennials opened up the scoring, but this time it took them over 18 minutes to find the back of the net. The goal came on the power play, by who else than the Spruce Kings killer in the series, Evan Stack. The Centennials forward scored the overtime winner the night before and had already potted a game winner earlier in the series. The goal was the only one in the first period, with the shots all tied at 10. Merritt did out chance the Spruce Kings in the period, and were really taking it to the home team. Prince George came out a little tentative, and it showed.

The second period is where things really started to unravel for Prince George. Leo Fitzgerald scored a short handed marker half way through the 2nd to tie the game up and send the fans into a frenzy. It didn't last long though as a weird transition saw Tyson Witala get hauled down going after yet another short handed breakaway. Shortly after Jarryd Ten Vaanholt dropped to the ice after taking a knee on knee hit, which then lead to Merritt breaking in on a 3 on 1 and scoring their second power play goal of the game. Chad Brears would get the goal, but the whole scenario took only 10 seconds, and left the fans furious. The crowd rained down boos, chanting “NO GOAL” over and over, which obviously fell to deaf ears. From a broadcasting stand point, I agreed with them. Tyson Witala was clearly interfered with on his way to the puck. I understand letting teams decide the game in playoffs, but that's not what happened. The non call and subsequent goal changed the tempo of the game, and took away any momentum that Prince George had gathered with the short handed marker.

After all of this, Paul De Jersey ended up losing his cool, cross checking Brent Fletcher in the chops behind the play to get himself ejected from the hockey game. It was obviously emotions boiling over, but the penalty put his team in a 5 minute short handed scenario, and took yet another weapon away. Merritt wouldn't capitalize on the major penalty, but 9 minutes later Carter Shinkaruk put a wrister past a screened Ty Swabb to out a strangle hold on the hockey game.

The third period saw Prince George receive 3 power play opportunities, but non of which would produced goals. Before it was all said and done though, Captain Ben Matthews showed why he is the captain of this hockey club. With 15 seconds on the clock, Merritt trickle a puck towards the empty Prince George net, but in a last second desperation move, Matthews fought off a Centennials, dove out, and swiped it off the goal line. The move caused him to go face first into the post, but it really showed why he was made captain. He has the heart of a champion, and with 15 seconds remaining, some would have packed it in and let the puck go to protect himself, but not Mr. Ben Matthews.

The game would end 3-1, giving Merritt the sweep over their Interior conference rivals. When the dust settled, Prince George was just out matched by a group of players that were playing as a complete unit. Merritt doesn’t have the flashiest of guys, or the top scorers of the league. What they have is a hard nosed style, and a group of men who go to war. Package that with a fine goaltending performance by Laval native Lino Chimienti, and they are a force to be reckoned with next round.

The Three Stars:

3)(PG)Michael Colantone

2)(PG)Ben Matthews

1)(PG)Jarryd Ten Vaanholt

To read the full box score recap, click here.

Next Up:

As we said before, it was a magical season that eventually had to come to an end. I don't think many fans expected it to go down this way, but sometimes that's just hockey. It'll be a tough way for some of these players to end their BCHL careers, but they can hold their heads high knowing they've helped rejuvenate a franchise and a city. We will take a couple of days to regroup, and then give you one final run down on the season and our final thoughts on this blog. Thanks for everything this season, we could not have done it with out YOU, the fans!

It's Do or Die Now....

Another very entertaining game at the Castle, but this time, the home team couldn't come away with the “W”. Game 3 in the best of 7 with Merritt was what a lot of us expected, a close, gritty contest that would take until the final shot or two to decide. Ultimately, that is what we got, as Merritt took another win, but this time needing an extra frame. The Spruce Kings certainly aren't eliminated yet, but they have a big hole to climb out of, and they don't have a lot of time to figure out how to do it. If they plan on picking up their first win of the series tomorrow, they will need a much better start than they did tonight.

We talked about it during the pre game, how the Spruce Kings needed to establish their game earlier. It seemed though that the playoff jitters had hit them as the Centennials came out flying, out chancing the home team early. They eventually got the games first goal, as Reece Willcox put home a feed from Jakob Reichert. The tally silenced the crowd, and got things off to a sour start. Luckily for the Spruce Kings, they were blessed with a power play opportunity, and Gerry Fitzgerald had no intention of letting the game stay the way it was. He put home a nice passing play that started with Chase Golightly and his brother Myles. The goal was the teams first power play marker of the series, although it wouldn't hold them in a tie for long. Sean Maktaak just 3:30 later to give his team the eventual lead they would take into the intermission.

Things then took a turn for the worst, as the Centennials scored just over 1 minute into the period to take their first 2 goal lead of the game. Dylan Chanter got the goal on a weird play that saw Thompson end up on his stomach, with a bunch of players just standing around, wondering where the puck even was. As it turned out, it bounced back to Chanter, who easily slapped one into a yawning cage. The goal sucked the wind out of the Coliseum, and left many wondering if we were witnessing a blue print of the first two games. But, just as we mentioned in the broadcast that we'd like to see more out of the top line, they responded with an energy shift that eventually saw Paul De Jersey put home a Michael Colanotne rebound. It was the only one of the period for the Spruce Kings, but put them down only by one heading into the final frame.

The third period ended up being owned by the Spruce Kings, but unfortunately for them, they could only score once. Myles Fitzgerald tied the game up half way through, and the building regained it's electricity. The Spruce Kings used that momentum to fire shot after shot at Lino Chimienti, but alas, could not beat him. Their best chance came in the final minute, as Jujhar Khaira had a decent look at an open net, but couldn't capitalize. When the horn sounded, the scored was still identical, so it was off to overtime we went.

The start of the extra period started as the third period looked, all Prince George. They attacked, and pounded away, but couldn't beat the Centennials net minder. Paul De Jersey even had a breakaway attempt just 30 seconds in, but he made one to many moves, lost control of the puck and allowed a stream of players to crash into the net stopping play. The crowd tried to argue that the puck had crossed the line, but Chimienti fought off the surge. After some more Spruce Kings pressure, the Cents worked up ice, applied a few chances before taking advantage of a fortunate bounce. A Prince George defender attempted to clear the puck, but it took an unlucky bounce off of a stanchion, bounced right in front of Evan Stack who than stepped into the gift, sending it top corner. Players and fans looked on in disbelief as Stack was mobbed by his teammates in Kirk Thompsons crease. It was a sour end, to a great push by the Spruce Kings.

In the end, a slow start, bad bounces and sloppy play in the first two periods helped cost Prince George their first playoff win since March 2nd, 2009. They had chances at the end of the 3rd, and even quality chances in overtime, but couldn't bury them. When that happens, you usually lose off of a unlucky, or in Merritt's case, lucky bounce. They'll need to play a full 60 minutes, and leave everything out on the ice if they hope to start the comeback tomorrow. They fought extremely hard at times tonight, and really poured it on the ice in the final two frames, but the disappointment of being swept now looms. They'll have to dig deep, find every ounce of strength and get ready for what they can only hope, is the ride of their lives.

To read the full box score recap, click here

The Three Stars:

3)(PG)Myles Fitzgerald

2)(PG)Chase Golightly

1)(MER)Billy Marshall

Next Up:

Plain and simple, win and live to see another day. Game 4 will play out at the Coliseum tomorrow night, with the puck dropping at 7pm. After what has been a magical season for the Spruce Kings, being swept in your first playoff appearance in a few years would certainly leave a disappointing taste. Battle hard, don't panic and earn another trip into Merritt. Don't forget, the game will be broadcast on CFIS, so bring your hand held radio's with you and get the full play by play as you watch. We hope to see a packed rink supporting the boys!! Let's get that playoff win!

Another Battle With The Centennials

Prince George is getting set to host the Centennials yet again tonight. It is quickly becoming the Spruce Kings biggest in division rivalry, thanks in large part due to the fact that these two have already squared off six times this season. The two squads have each won three games, but tonight, one team will look to grab hold of the lead in the season series. The games have all been competitive and fast paced, and we really shouldn’t expect anything less tonight. So let’s preview the seventh game between the Merritt Centennials and your Prince George Spruce Kings:

The Break Down:

These two squads know each other quite well, having played multiple times this season. They started off their seasons against one another in a back to back weekend at the Coliseum. The Spruce Kings won both of those games, but only were able to take one out of the next four match ups. The most recent time fans have been able to see these two play, was the BCHL celebration weekend, where the Centennials beat PG at home, then took them out in Overtime in their own home barn. It was a couple of games that showcased the physical dislike these two teams have for one another. IN the new BCHL, with the new playoff format, every night and every point becomes that much more important. Only four teams will play more than 60 games, and right now only Merritt would make it if the season ended today. Divisional games have never been more important than they are this year, and with the series tied at three games a piece, you can bet that both coaches have prepped their boys for an all out war tonight.

Although Prince George hasn’t faired as well against Merritt as they did at start of the season, they do have one big thing on their side tonight, their fans! The Spruce Kings are tied for the second most home wins in the BCHL. Home ice advantage is always nice, and the boys have definitely benefited from having the Prince George faithfully chant their names this season. On the other side Merritt has battled this season on the road, and they come into the Castle sporting a 6-6 -2-1 record. Though it should be added again, the last time these two battled in Prince George, Merritt was able to skate away with the “W”.

Who’s Hot:

The Spruce Kings top line of Jujhar Khaira, Paul De Jersey and Michael Colantone continues to impress and put up points. Shutting these three down becomes essential for any team that plays Prince George. The Spruce Kings two newest players come into tonight’s contest having impressed last weekend. Michael Betz scored his first as a King, and had a stellar night on the ice. Ty Swabb also recorded his first win as a Spruce Kings last Sunday, and will likely look to carry that momentum into tonight.

Also earlier this week a couple of Centennials and Spruce King players made the NHL draft watch list. Prince George forward Jujhar Khaira and Merritt defenseman Reece Wilcox made the list along with six other BCHLers. A big congrats goes to all the boys as they look to be drafted this season

Game Time:

Tonight’s match up will have the usual start time of 7pm at the Coliseum. It’s also the “Drop your gloves and sock it to em” night at the Castle. Bring some new gloves, socks, toques etc in a bag, and when the Spruce kings score their first goal, toss the bags onto the ice. Hope to see you at the rink, go Spruce Kings

The Centennials Take Down Prince George In a Rough One

Round 1 goes to the Centennials! It was the first of a home and home series, and the Centennials were the better team tonight. They were able to capitalize on key mistakes, as all three goals came from break downs int heir own end. Kirk Thompson played a great hockey game, stopping 28 shots, many of which were stellar saves, but his team couldn't add enough insurance to capture the win at home. Round 2 goes tomorrow night, but let's recap tonight’s match up between the Merritt Centennials and your Prince George Spruce Kings:

The Break Down:

The first period started out well for the Spruce Kings, and through the first ten minutes, they controlled the action. But the Centennials were able to turn things around after that, and grab hold of the momentum. Merritt would make good on their second power play of the game, which turned out to be the second half of a four minute penalty to Trevor Esau, as Silvan Harper put home a wrap around attempt. It didn't take to much longer for the Centennials to add to their lead, as Harper potted his second of the evening, a one timer out front, at 16:29 of the first. The period would end this way, But not before Paul De Jersey and Peyton Schaefer would drop the mits. Although the fight ended with both men crashing to the ice before landing a punch, the scrap seemed to pump up both squads

The big play to remember from the second period, was an elbow that lead to the games first ejection. Myles Fitzgerald hit his man with what the referee called an elbow to the head. The call lead to Myles getting the gate early, and leaving his team with the task of killing a 5 minute major. Kirk Thompson made multiple incredible saves to help his team eventual kill off the major, leaving many to believe that this could be a potential turning point. The Spruce Kings forwards rewarded their goaltenders play with a goal 4 minutes afterwards as Paul De Jersey ripped home his 22nd of the season. Ben Woodley and Michael Colantone added the helpers on the Spruce Kings first tally. It was a 2-1 hockey game in favour of Merritt heading into the third, and momentum was starting to tilt in favour of Prince George.

Although the Spruce Kings had lots of good things to work off of starting the third, it as Merritt who once again capitalized on another Prince George mistake behind their own net. Reece Wilcox found puck that squirted out of a pack, and wrap one past the sprawling Thompson. The goal would be the eventual game winner for the Centennials. Chase Golightly would make things interesting late, firing one home form the point, but it became to much to over come for the Spruce Kings. The end of the game saw things start to turn ugly as Ben Woodley and Jakob Reichert fought, as did both teams coaching staffs. Emotions boiled over on ice, leading to a few more shoving matches, and setting the stage for an intense rematch tomorrow night. Tyler Steel received the win tonight, making 26 saves

It should also be noted just how short handed the Spruce Kings became as the game went on. Prince George started the game with just 11 starting forwards as Sean Landrey and Michael Klonarakis sat with injuries. Myles FItzgerald was the next to go, getting ejected for an elbow to the head. Stefan Bazar then left the game with an undisclosed injury, with Ben Woodley getting the gate for a fighting major late in the game. When it was all sad and done, with 8 minutes to play, the Spruce Kings had 9 forwards and 5 defenseman on the bench.

To get a check out the full recap and box score of tonight's match up, click here

The Three Stars:

3) (PG) Gerry Fitzgerald

2) (MER) Silvan Harper – 2 Goals

1) (PG) Kirk Thompson – 28 Saves

The Next Game:

These two teams will do it again tomorrow night in Merritt. This is exactly what the BCHL had in mind when they scheduled this BCHL 50th anniversary celebration weekend. It was a great game tonight between division rivals, and one that neither team wanted to lose. The emotions ran high, and boiled over on the ice and on the benches. The stage for tomorrow's game has been set, and this one is going to be a rough hard fought battle. Be sure to not miss this one tomorrow night in Merritt. The puck will drop at 7:30 and you can watch the web cast here

Feels Like The First Time

Another Thursday trip to Merritt for a one and done game with the Centennials. With the relocation of the Quesnel Millionaires to Chilliwack this season, the Spruce Kings knew before the schedule was drafted that there would be some tough road trips to deal with. Tonight's game in Merritt is the second time in as many weeks that the Spruce Kings have to travel 6 hours south for a single game and then return home for their next opponent. It's something that does leave the team a little perplexed, but something that they know they will deal with and expect different results this time around.

Last week when the Spruce Kings boarded the bus and headed down to the Nicola Valley Arena for their third game of the season against the Merritt Centennials they were left licking their wounds all the way back after suffering a 7-4 loss. That loss seemed to inspire the team who recorded a 5-2 victory over the Victoria Grizzlies. That win along with the return of some previously missing players has injected a new level of confidence for their second appearance in Merritt.

Through the first 19 games of the season the Spruce Kings had to enlist the assistance of affiliate players (AP's) in their line up to fill the holes created by injuries and absences for players skating for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge. In all the Spruce Kings saw a total of 35 slots filled by APs over the course of those 19 games with a total of four APs appearing at a time in five games.

Tonight's game will see a full roster of players in the game with Jujhar Khaira playing in his first game back after winning gold with Team Canada West. Jeff Earnest is also back after dealing with an upper body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since just after the season's opening weekend series against these same Merritt Centennials. But the team is not 100% healthy with some players dealing with minor issues and Sean Landrey still sidelined with his lower body injury.

I mentioned "these same Merritt Centennials" and they really are the same team they were at the beginning of the season ... at least in personnel, but in the game they seem to be so much different. After suffering an opening night 6-3 loss to the Spruce Kings, the Centennials have responded with two victories (4-3 on September 24 and 7-4 November 11) against Prince George. In their last twelve games, Merritt has picked up points in 11 of those games (10-1-0-2) and have an overall record of 10-5-1-3, good for third in the Interior Division.

There is only one Merritt Centennial in the top twenty among the League's scoring leaders and nobody on the team has reached double digits for goals scored yet. In fact the Centennials are only sixth best in the Interior Division for average goals scored in a game with 3.32 ... so where does their success come from? Regan Soguila is their leading points getter with 6 goals and 19 assists, 10 points better than Chad Brears who has the team's lead in goals scored with 7 and 8 assists.

Defensively the Merritt Centennials don't have impressive numbers here either giving up an average of 3.47 goals against per game, which is only .5 better than Prince George who has a 3.95 goals against average per game. The difference appears to be in the actual goal spread. The Centennials have been in eight overtime games so far and two more that were decided by a single goal with a record of 6 wins, 3 overtime losses and 1 tie. Of the other games that were decided by two or more goals, they have been in three two-goal games (2-1), five three-goal games (2-3) and one loss in a game that was decided with a five goal spread.

Close games seem to go the way of the Merritt Centennials, especially on home ice where they will dump and chase the puck all night long looking for a turnover that they can capitalize on. The Spruce Kings are aware of this and will have to be prepared for it if they hope to even up the season series with the Merritt Centennials. Prince George has had its own roller coaster ride already this season having been on a five game winning streak high and recently coming out of a five game winless stretch that saw them pick up only two points in some hard fought battles prior to the 5-2 win their last time out.

Game number 20 against the Merritt Centennials marks the one-third mark in the season and the Spruce Kings would love nothing more than to be one game above .500 coming back home for a double header against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday and Sunday. Before they can look ahead to the home dates, they will have to deal with the Merritt Centennials and there is certainly a lot of optimism heading into that game with the return of Khaira and Earnest.

Both players are NCAA Division I committed players that have the ability to open up a game offensively while punishing the other team with their physical play. When Jujhar Khaira last skated with the Spruce Kings, he was sitting in second place among the League's leaders; he comes back still in the top 15 and wanting to start climbing back up the list. Jeff Earnest only has two games under his belt this season and wants to get back in the game and start climbing the ladder himself as he is the only player on the Spruce Kings roster without a point.

Khaira will return to his left wing position on the top line with Michael Colantone at centre and Paul De Jersey on the right side. Earnest will play left wing on a line centred by Tyson Witala and right winder Stefan Bazar. The other lines will remain the same with the Fitzgerald triplets (Myles, Leo and Gerry) skating together and the McHaffie twins (Spencer and Scott) with Michael Klonarakis. Defensively there has been very little movement with Ben Woodley, Chase Golightly, Trevor Esau, Ben Matthews, Skylar Pacheco and Cody Bardock patrolling the blue line. Kirk Thompson is expected to get the start with Marcus Beesley the backup.

I had a chance to catch up with coach Dave Dupas and talk about all of this and a few other things before the team boarded the bus to head to Merritt. I started by asking him about getting to full regular roster for the first time this season.

download audio file

I did talk to Coach Dupas about a few other things including being a .500 team, scheduling nightmares and what the team has been working on during the weekend for these next few games coming up.

download audio file

Spruce Kings Win Their Season Opener

Paul De Jersey (8) was the centre of attention all night
and for all the right reasons, scoring twice in a
Spruce Kings 6-3 win to start the season

The Prince George Spruce Kings have opened up their 40th Anniversary season with a win! It was brilliant at times, it was slow at times, but as they say, a win is a win. The Spruce Kings will look to use this momentum tomorrow, as they will host the Merritt Centennials once again. But before we go that far, let's take a quick look back at tonight's big win.

The game started as one would expect for a season opener. Both teams spent the first half of the game trying to find their legs and establish some chemistry with their new teammates. The all important first goal went to the Spruce Kings as Paul De Jersey capitalized on a broken play and put home a bouncing puck at 11:31 of the 1st. Scott McHaffie and hulking defenceman Ben Woodley added the assists on the first goal of the season for Prince George. Then Jujhar Khaira picked up where he left off last season picking the corner with a beautiful wrist shot that bounced out of the net just as fast as it went into it. The rest of the period saw the physical play continue; the period ended with the Spruce Kings leading it 2-0

It seemed things were about to get out of hand in the 2nd, as Leo Fitzgerald fired one home after some nice work from his brother Myles Fitzgerald and Ben Woodley. But, the Cents did not come to Prince George to be rolled over. They stormed back after that goal and controlled the next 10 minutes of play, firing all sorts of chances and finally captain Evan Stack put home a power play marker at 10:23. But, as it did many times tonight, the momentum shifted once again and an ill advised penalty by the Centennials lead to Paul De Jersey notching his second of the game setup nicely by line mate Jujhar Khaira. Again, the momentum shifted, and with just 27 seconds left in the period, Chad Brears made it a two goal hockey game and gave the Cents a much needed boost going into the dressing room.

The third period saw the Centennials come out strong, and come to within a goal as Evan Stack put in his second of the game at 4:43 of the third. That was as close as they would get as Gerry Fitzgerald scored twice in the third to ice the game for the Spruce Kings including the insurance marker 31 seconds after Stack's goal. The shots on goal ended 33-17 in favour of the home team. Kirk Thompson made some sharp saves throughout the game for the Spruce Kings as did Lino Chimienti for the Cents but the bounces went Prince George's way tonight.

Overall it was a game that showed at times just how good the Spruce Kings can be but also showed they still have room for improvement, which is exactly what you want from a win.

Your 3 Stars for the game:

• 3)Centennials: Evan Stack – 2 goals
• 2)Spruce Kings: Jujhar Khaira – 1 goal 2 assists
• 1)Spruce Kings: Paul De Jersey – 2 goals 1 assists

I caught up with the first star of tonight's game afterwards and asked him what he thought of the win to start the season.

download audio file

For a full recap of scores, shots, penalties etc, click here

The Spruce Kings will now get ready to host the Centennials once again, tomorrow night at the Castle. Puck drops at 7:00pm as Prince George will look to start off the season with a 2-0 record. After the physicality we saw tonight, especially in the 3rd period, we should be in for a great game tomorrow night. As always, if you can't be at the Coliseum for a home game, you can find the broadcast with myself and Todd Doherty on the BCHL's website here.

Season Opener Preview: Spruce Kings VS Centennials

Apologies for the delay and for the lack of posts this past week on the blog, I’ve just had a baby and understandably so, she has taken up a good chunk of my time. But it's finally here, game one of the 11/12 season, the 40th Anniversary Season of the Prince George Spruce Kings!! It's a brand new season and one that should have Spruce Kings fans excited. Seven players will be returning to Prince George for opening night; although Sam Waterfield won't be taking to the ice due to a knee injury.

To get a full history of the Prince George Spruce Kings as they head into their 40th anniversary season, click here

The Spruce Kings have a great chance to set the tone for this season as they will host an interior conference rival, the Merritt Centennials, in back to back games. Prince George had some mixed results during preseason play; against the NAHL's Dawson Creek Rage they finished in a tie after beating them at home in a two game series. They dropped games to the Westside Warriors and against tonight's opponents the Merritt Centennials to start the preseason. But, that is why they call it preseason - it is a chance to see which players will seize the opportunity and crack the roster, and who needs another year to develop.

Both teams will see players return to the organization, but the Cents have more familiar faces than the Spruce Kings do. The Centennials will dress 15 returnees to the Spruce Kings 7. So, let's take a look at what we can expect, a few trends from the past few years and preview the season opener between the Merritt Centennials and your Prince George Spruce Kings.

The Spruce Kings have 1 win and 4 losses in their last 5 opening night games and the last time Prince George hosted the Centennials in back to back games to open the season was in the 08/09, where the Spruce Kings won both games. These two teams battled 6 times last season, with Prince George coming out on top 4 of those 6 times. But, this is a completely different Spruce Kings squad this year. As we said, only seven players who grace the roster are returnees this season; which leaves fifteen new faces skating in the Castle on opening night. That though, is precisely why fans should be excited about this season. General Manager Mike Hawes brought in a lot of offensive fire power and big bodied defenseman at the end of the season and in the off season. Add in the fact that Jujhar Khaira now has a whole year under his belt, as does starting goaltender Kirk Thompson, and this is one to get excited for.

A few tidbits to watch out for tonight:

• 13 players from both rosters will take to the ice for the first time in the BCHL. How will they handle the pressure?
• Both teams needed to address special teams this off season as the Spruce Kings and the Centennials were in the lower end of both the Power Play and Penalty Kill categories. Did they do enough?
• -Speaking of special teams, the Spruce Kings allowed the most short handed goals against last year with 14. Here's hoping the added bulk they have on the back end can bring that number down
• -Both teams now have starting goaltenders that have BCHL experience under their belts.
• The majority of players that the Spruce Kings will ice tonight and tomorrow night haven’t played together before. How long will it take to find that ever important team chemistry?

Puck drops tonight at the Coliseum at 7:00pm with the big pre game tail gate party starting at 6:00pm. If you are out of town and can’t make it to “the Castle” tonight, you can catch the full broadcast with myself and Todd Doherty here. Check back after the game tonight as we’ll have a recap of tonight’s game.

See You at the Rink Hockey Fans!

CNC Challenge Cup, the Playoff Race and Magic Numbers

It comes down to this weekend to crown a champion in the CNC Challenge Cup Series between the Quesnel Millionaires and the Prince George Spruce Kings. Over the course of the nine year history of the championship between these two long-time rivals, it is the Spruce Kings that have enjoyed the bragging rights seven times including the last six in a row. Seventh heaven hasn't been nearly as easy to secure as the early championships and it could very well come down to the final game and some quick tie-breaking calculations.

This season the CNC Challenge Cup Series is based on the ten regular season matchups between the two teams. Through eight games, the Quesnel Millionaires have a slight 9-8 lead in points awarded through head-to-head wins. The Spruce Kings have a record of 4 wins and 4 losses with one of those wins coming in overtime which gave the Millionaires the one extra point with a record of 4-3-0-1.

The simple scenarios is a pair of regulation time games where four points would be split up. If the Millionaires split a pair of regulation time games, they will hoist the Cup at centre ice in the Coliseum on Saturday night. For Prince George to hold onto their title and extend it to an unprecedented seventh consecutive time, they have to pick up a minimum of one more point than Quesnel.

The scenarios of overtime, including a no-decision tie, could leave both teams with the same amount of points leading to the first tie breaker of goals for and goals against. The Spruce Kings have the edge in that stat heading into the weekend thanks to one game in particular that saw the royal ones break the bank with an 11-4 victory back on November 21st. Hang on though, don't get ahead of yourself as the differential is closer than you might think. The Spruce Kings have scored 30 goals through the eight games while the Millionaires have tallied 28 times.

Should make for an interesting couple of games from a couple of teams that have everything to gain at the other's expense. Of course there is the CNC Challenge Cup itself, but there is also the points in the Interior Conference where four teams are battling for three playoff spots. The Quesnel Millionaires head into the weekend with 17 games remaining sitting in fifth spot with 34 points. The Merritt Centennials have a share of that fifth spot with 34 points, but only have 16 games remaining. The Trail Smoke Eaters are right behind those two with 33 points and a game in hand on the Spruce Kings.

The Quesnel Millionaires and the Prince George Spruce Kings have almost identical schedules to the end of the regular season with both teams still to make the Island road trip as well as host Nanaimo, Victoria and Burnaby. Both teams have a pair of games against the Penticton Vees and a single with the Merritt Centenials. The only difference is that the Millionaires have to play the Westside Warriors, while the Spruce Kings have to go into Vernon still to play the Vipers. The extra game for Quesnel will be against Williams Lake as they still have four games remaining against the Timberwolves while the Spruce Kings only have three.

The Trail Smoke Eaters have arguable the toughest remaining schedule with a total of eight games against the top five Coastal Conference teams including two against each of the top three teams from the other division. The Smokies also have to contend with the Penticton Vees four times before the end of the season as well as a pair of meetings with both the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and the Westside Warriors. There is also a single against the Merritt Centennials that could become the decisive game for a playoff position.

The Merritt Centennials don't have a much easier schedule with the exception of not having any real Coastal Conference road trips remaining. The Centennials will play in Surrey and will host Nanaimo and Cowichan Valley. Where it becomes tough for Merritt is their three game sets against Penticton and Salmon Arm. The Cents also have a pair against Vernon and singles against Westside, Quesnel, Prince George, Williams Lake and that season ending home date with Trail.

It isn't fair to completely rule out the Williams Lake Timberwolves in all of this either as they have the most games remaining at twenty. The T'wolves do have one four game Coastal Conference road trip with two on the island and two in the Lower Mainland. The remaining sixteen games feature three against Coastal teams and four against the upper Interior Conference teams. It's the other nine games that are the most interesting as the Timberwolves could play the role of spoiler or even propel themselves into the hunt for one of the bottom three playoff spots.

It's still too early to be counting magic numbers but if you are wondering, the Spruce Kings magic number against the Quesnel Millionaires is 41. That's any combination of points gained by the Spruce Kings and lost by the Millionaires. It is that magic number that puts so much importance on the games this weekend as the magic number has the potential to change by eight points. The other magic numbers are 40 against Trail, 39 against Merritt and 32 against Williams Lake.

Coming Full Circle

Reporters and sports writers everywhere are using the cliché of writing the September standard essay on summer activities and I'm no better as I used it to tee up my interview with RJay Berra earlier today. Catching up with the Prince George Minor Hockey product in a rink in the Lower Mainland, Berra was heard chuckling about what he has gone through this summer.

The chuckle wasn't to mask nerves, but could only be characterized as relieve ... relieve that a whirlwind tour of the BCHL had come to an end. The tour is an interesting one with Berra showing up on three team rosters before coming full circle and ending up on the roster of the team he last played for. This is one of those stories that can only happen if all the cards fall in just a certain way.

It has now been learned that the Merritt Centennials, with Al Glendenning filling the roles of general manager and head coach, were very impressed with Berra. So much so in fact that they decided they were going to take Berra as their pick for the future considerations in the Alex Goodship trade. Now part of the rules of this poker game is that the future considerations can't be executed until the end of the season.

Just days after the Vernon Vipers hoisted the RBC Royal Bank Cup, the Merritt Centennials went through a shakeup in the hockey operations office that saw a new general manager come in. Shortly after arriving in Merritt, Joey Bouchard contacted the Spruce Kings informing them that Berra was now property of the Centennials. Despite an attempt to keep Berra in Prince George, the Spruce Kings had to concede and the first roster move for RJay was completed.

For whatever reason, it became apparent that Berra was not going to fit in to the plans of the new Merritt Centennials and almost as quickly as Berra showed up on their roster, he was off it. On June 1st, less than two weeks after acquiring him, the Merritt Centennials struck a deal with the Burnaby Express that saw the Cents get a younger player and Berra a spot on his third team.

Through all of this RJay remained upbeat and focused on the task at hand of using the summer to prepare for a new season of the game he loves. While in Vancouver Berra worked out and also skated with Andrew Pickering and Adam Baldassare not realizing that Ed Dempsey had begun talks with the Burnaby Express to bring him back. Talking with Ed after the trade, he told me that summer holidays were probably as much to blame as anything as to why the proceedings took so long to finalize.

But finalize it is exactly what the Spruce Kings hockey operations office was able to do late last week. RJay told me that the Burnaby Express head coach and general manager Dave McLelland used the words persistent when telling him that he was going back to the Spruce Kings. Berra was in Prince George at the time playing tennis with his brother and says he couldn't be happier; although his exuberance may have left the younger sibling hoping for a trade to New Zealand.