Recap vs Penticton Vees

VS
2                                          Final Score                                        5
Brubacher (2)	Goal Scorers	Fabbro, Bowen (2), Lavallee, Brar
24	Total Shots	37
10	1st Period Shots	11
9	2nd Period Shots	12
5	3rd Period Shots	14
1 for 6 (16.7%)	Power Play	1 for 5 (20%)
	3rd Star	Dante Fabbro
Adam Brubacher	2nd Star
	1st Star	Dixon Bowen
1-6-0-1	Current Record	7-1-0-0

For the second night in a row, the Prince George Spruce Kings lost 5-2. Friday night it was against the Cowichan Valley Capitals, and Saturday it was at the hands of the power house Penticton Vees.

The visiting team got on the board early, as a point shot from Dante Fabbro beat Sam Tanguay with a point shot. That lead didn’t last long though, as a blast from Adam Brubacher tied the game just two minutes later. The two teams went to the intermission tied at one, and the home team was very happy with their start.

In the second though, the Vees got rid of the bus legs, and rallied for three goals in four minutes. Dixon Bowen started the push, Jason Lavallee scored his first BCHL goal, and Bowen scored his second in the period after being sprung on a breakaway from Fabbro. Just over two minutes later Prince George went to the power play, which has struggled this year, but for the second game in a row they scored on the man advantage, as Brubacher unleased another bomb for his second goal of the game.

That was as close as the Spruce Kings would get though, as the rookie Banjamin Brar scored his first BCHL goal to seal the game at 5-2.

Turning Point:

In the second period, the Vees scored three goals in less than four minutes to take a three goal lead in the game that the Spruce Kings couldn’t recover from.

Jost Shut Down

Tyson Jost entered the game with 16 points in his last six games, but the Spruce Kings put an end to that streak as he was held off the scoresheet outside of a late penalty he took. One of the reasons for that was the excellent play of Cavin Tilsley. Right from the opening faceoff Tilsley was matched up against the future NHL draft pick, and was giving him some knocks with his stick off the opening draw. Jost was one of those players where every time he had the puck in the offense zone you held your breath, but overall Tilsley and the Spruce Kings did an excellent job of shutting him down.

Dante Keeps Buzzing

After a pair of points in the previous game against the Merritt Centennials, Dante Fabbro once again flexed his offensive muscles. It started with the opening goal, and he added two assists to make him the highest scoring player of the match. In the second intermission assistant coach Steve Cawley said he was highly impressed with the defencemen considering he was nursing a leg that had taken a number of blocked shots in the same spot the night before. As the other possible 1^st round NHL draft pick, Fabbro showed that he only needs one good leg to make a difference.

Games Ahead

The next two weeks aren’t going to the easy for the Spruce Kings, as they head off on a pair of road trips. Both will be to the interior, and in the two weeks, they’ll play all of their away games against that division. Next weekend will be Trail on Friday, Vernon on Saturday, and Salmon Arm on Sunday. The trip after will be against Merritt Thursday, Penticton on Friday, and close it out against West Kelowna on the 17^th. Following that Prince George will get a home stand, as they play Coquitlam twice the first weekend back, and then a pair of games against the Wenatchee Wild in the last weekend of October.

Current Standings

With the win, Penticton remains tied for first in the BCHL with fourteen points after Powell River also beat Alberni Valley 5-1. The loss put the Spruce Kings back, as three other Mainland Division teams picked up points. Langley and Chilliwack went to overtime with Langley eventually winning on a goal from Matty Saharchuk. The Coquitlam Express tied Cowichan Valley 3-3, and the Wenatchee Wild lost their first game of the season 4-2 against the West Kelowna Warriors.

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Penticton Vees at 1:04 - Dante Fabbro from Owen Sillinger

1-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 3:03 - Adam Brubacher from Rylan Bechtel and Connor Logan

PERIOD 2

2-1 Penticton Vees at 9:49 (PP) - Dixon Bowen from Dante Fabbro and Scott Conway

3-1 Penticton Vees at 13:25 - Jason Lavallee (unassisted)

4-1 Penticton Vees at 13:50 - Dixon Bowen from Dante Fabbro and Colton Poolman

4-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 16:19 (PP) - Adam Brubacher from Rylan Bechtel

PERIOD 3

5-2 Penticton Vees at 12:53 - Benjamin Brar from Easton Brodzinski

Game Preview vs Penticton Vees

VS
1-5-0-1	Record	6-1-0-0
11	Goals For	27
32	Goals Against	12
2 for 34	Power Play	10 for 36
25 of 38 killed	Penalty Kill	26 of 29 killed

Venue: The Coliseum

Game Time: 7pm

Last Year’s Matchup: Penticton won both games, one in overtime.

Season Series:  N/A

Prince George Home Record: 1-2-0-0

Spruce Kings Leading Scorer: Corey Hoffman (two goals, two assists)

Penticton Road Record: 3-1-0-0

Vees Leading Scorer: Tyson Jost (5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points) tied for 1^st in BCHL

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

Bryan Basilico – FW: The big power forward made a good impression for his new team, scoring a goal on the power play in his first game of the season. Basilico was acquired from the Trail Smoke Eaters just before the BCHL showcase, and didn’t have time to make it, but as he’s already committed to Lake Superior State University missing the showcase wasn’t the end of the world for the twenty year old.

Matthew Stief – D: After 33 points in 58 games with Prince George last year, Stief went down to Waterloo, and had a brief stint playing with the Black Hawks. He is back with the team now though, and will be a welcome addition to the backline. Unlike when Bechtel joined the team, Stief has been playing the last month, so he should already be in game shape for tonight.

Vees:

Tyson Jost- FW: Last night against the Merritt Centennials Jost had a goal and four assists to give him 16 points on the year good for first in the BCHL alongside Sheldon Rempal of the Nanaimo Clippers. Since he was held scoreless in his first game, that means all 16 of those points have come in the last six games, for a 2.7 points per game average.

Dante Fabbro- D: In seven games this season, the Whistler native is also a point per game player with nine points in seven games. Last night against the Centennials he had a goal and an assist. Like Jost, he is number one in scoring for defencemen, and is again tied with a Nanaimo Clipper as both he and Yanni Kaldis have nine points, but Fabbro has a game in hand.

In the Standings:

In the mainland division, the Spruce Kings currently sit in fifth place, five points behind Coquitlam, Chilliwack, and Langley. They have two games in hand on all those teams, and have one in hand against Surrey who is just one point behind them. With Wenatchee already looking like the Penticton of the Interior division (guaranteed top spot) it will be the other five teams battling it out for the final three playoff spots.

Speaking of Penticton, they sit first not just in their division, but the entire BCHL. They are tied with Powell River with for 12 points, but have a game in hand on them. Wenatchee is just one point back of Penticton, and have a game in hand over Vees.

Limit the Damage:

A betting man would put money on Fabbro and Jost putting points on the board tonight. The Spruce Kings will do their best to shut down the two players, but it’s not like other teams haven’t been doing that already this season. Prince George needs to make sure that they at least limit the chances for both players. The pair are big and fast, so that is going to be a very difficult job for whoever is tasked with looking after them all night.

Keep the Chemistry Brewing

With a lot of new faces in the lineup, the Spruce Kings haven’t had a lot of time to gel as a team, but hopefully there won’t be changes for a while, so the team can now settle down. Stief will be added into the lineup tonight, and that should help add some defensive depth for the team who will definitely need it against the Vees. Basilico and Hovde each have a game of experience under their belts with the team now, so look for them to improve once again.

Avoid the Box like the Plague

Prince George has struggled on the penalty kill this season, and if they send a march of players to the box, that coud spell an early night for the team. Penticton enters with the third best power play in the league, and it’s no wonder why with their arsenal of weapons. There are usually at least a few penalties to each team in a game, but the Spruce Kings just have to make sure they don’t take an foolish penalties, because the Vees won’t hesitate to pounce on opportunities. Earlier in the year, the team had a 6-2 lead over Surrey late in the third, and continued to send out their top unit looking to rack up the points.

Broadcast Info: For all games, you can listen to the action on Mixlr

 or watch live at BCHL FASTHockey. For tonight’s action, you can also tune into 99.3 The Drive.

The Spruce Kings Drop One To The Vees

It was a spirited effort tonight, but, it wasn't enough as the Penticton Vees downed the Prince George Spruce Kings 5-2 at the Coliseum. The game saw waves of offensive attack from both sides, but it was the Vees who made the better of those chances, putting in goals every way possible. The Vees scored a power play goal, a short handed goal, an even strength goal and an empty netter in the win tonight. But, it wasn't all Vees as the Spruce Kings did have moments of momentum, and came within inches of tying the game up. So, let's recap tonight's game between the Penticton Vees and the Prince George Spruce Kings

Period one was a back and forth affair that saw both teams generate chances, with Prince George getting the better of them. The 9-1 loss to the Vees was well documented coming into tonight, and if you thought that Prince George couldn't match the Vees in speed or talent, you were wrong. The 1st period definitely swayed in favour of the Spruce Kings as they lead 10-6 after one period. Both goalies made stellar saves as Thompson and Garteig started a sew saw match of anything that you can do, I can do better. One of the turning points may have came at the end of the first as Trevor Esau was ejected from the game for a check from the behind. This penalty left the Spruce Kings short handed heading into the 3rd.

The Vees had 1 minute worth a power play to take the lead, but they needed just just 27 seconds to do so. Joey Benik put home a back door feed from Connor Reily and Travis St. Dennis. The Vees didn't take long to add to their lead as Travis St. Dennis found the back of the net on a very weird goal. The assists went to his line mates Connor Reily and Mairo Lucia as the Vees snatched the momentum away quickly and swiftly. The rest of the period saw some more back and forth action, that featured a couple of key and brilliant saves from Garteig. The Spruce Kings were playing well, and although Penalties were hurting them, they were in the game, but still were behind the eight ball

The third period didn't start out any better for the Spruce Kings as Travis St. Dennis scored on a short handed break away attempt to put the Vees up by three. Prince George wasn't willing to go down without a fight though, as the Fitzgerald triplets combined for the Kings first goal. Myles was the goal scorer, while Leo and Gerry did the dirty work to set it up. It only took 1:32 for the Spruce Kings to make things very interesting as Paul De Jersey proved why he is one of the best offensive talents in the league, riffling a shot top shelf to bring the game within one. New comer Michael Colantone and Ben Woodley added the assists on the goal. Though just when it looked like the Spruce Kings were going to tie the game and change the course of the game, the Vees found a way to deflated the building as Mario Lucia put a wrist shot past Kirk Thompson. The goal turned out to be a killer and the final dagger in the Spruce Kings. Ryan Reilly would add an empty netter to seal the deal to bring the score to 5-2 in favour of the Vees

To see the full recap and box score of tonight's game, click here

Your three stars in tonight's contests

3) (Pen) Michael Garteig

2) (PG) Paul De Jesery

1) (Pen) Travis ST. Dennis

The score isn't necessarily a good indicator of how this game went. A quick look at the box score would indicate that the Vees handled the Spruce Kings, but that just isn't the case. The Kings played extremely well 5 on 5 against the Vees and it could even be argued that they were the better team 5 on 5. But, as talked about during the pre game, special teams were the difference, and it was the Vees who owned that part of the game. They scored a goal just about every you could, and took advantage of the bounces that went their way. The Spruce Kings, although they won't want to hear it, have some good things to use and move forward with going into tomorrow night/ If they can stay out of the box, and grab a hold of the positive bounces thrown their way, tomorrow can be a completely different game

Game two of this back to back Coliseum match up between the Vees and the Spruce Kings will go tomorrow night, with the puck dropping once again at 7pm. You can catch updates on our Facebook page and on our Twitter. We'll have the webcast on the BCHL Website as usual, and we'll also have the free Audio Feed Here

See you at the rink, or online

The Sun Came Up

Forgive me for bringing up that old cliché, but I couldn't resist after the gorgeous start to the day on the heels of what can only be described as a meltdown from the previous night. The Spruce Kings opened their 2009/10 season with great promise and were greeted by cheers and rounds of applause by the nearly 1,500 in attendance for the home opener. Unfortunately the newest incarnation of the Spruce Kings were shown just how important it is to play a complete 60 minutes in the British Columbia Hockey League.

After the opening roster introductions and national anthem was sung, the puck dropped to open the 2009/10 season. The visiting Westside Warriors went on the attack early, but some good defensive zone coverage and some early saves got the fans into the game and allowed the momentum to shift in favour of the home team. Prince George was awarded consecutive powerplays and while up a man on a 4-on-3 situation, Nick DeSousa found himself at the right spot and the right time to open the scoring and give the Spruce Kings a 1-0 lead.

Penalty troubles continued for the visiting Westside Warriors to the point where the Spruce Kings actually had a two man advantage with a third penalized player sitting in the box waiting for his penalty time to start. The Spruce Kings were able to test out their power play with the extended two-man advantage and it was during this sustained pressure that a high shot found the newly strung (tightly strung, I might add) twine just under the cross bar and inside the goal post. Unfortunately it was ruled at the time a save because of how quickly the puck came back out into the play. Maybe that was a sign of things to come ...

After a long run with no whistles, the Spruce Kings players and coaching staff had a chance to call over the referee to plead their case, but to no avail. As the play resumed, the Westside Warriors took advantage of the seemingly confused Spruce Kings and tied the score up at one. The Spruce Kings would get that one back on a nice shot by off-season acquisition Brooks Robinson and took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room after the first period.

The Spruce Kings came out strong in the second period and drew two more consecutive penalties against the Warriors in what would ultimate prove to be the turning point of the game. In their second two man advantage of the game, Prince George was unable to get anything past the visitor's netminder despite good puck possession and control in the offensive zone. Shortly after the penalties expired, Westside went down the other end and got their first good scoring chance of the period but were stopped by a quick whistle just before the puck crossed the goal line.

The Warriors were undeterred and made the most of their limited chances in the second period, scoring three times before the buzzer sounded to send the teams to their dressing rooms to regroup. The Warriors came out even stronger in the third and limited Prince George to just six shots while scoring four times on their 13 shots in the final frame. The game ended on the rough side with a total of three fights in the final minute. I fully expect there to be a suspension or two as a result, but will have to wait until the league releases its decision.

Meanwhile, under the warm sunshine of a new day, the Prince George Spruce Kings will have to turn their attention to the return of the Penticton Vees into the Coliseum. The last time this Interior Division team was here saw an exciting playoff game go the way of the Spruce Kings as they forced a fifth and deciding game back in Penticton. It is always exciting to see the first meeting between two teams that last met in the playoffs and I don't suspect tonight's contest will lack any enthusiasm.

There is always just enough players on both squads to keep memories alive and well and this is the stuff that builds rivalries ... so let the Vees and Spruce Kings rivalry begin anew tonight. Game time is 7:00pm at the Prince George Coliseum with doors open at 6:00pm.

On a side note, the BCHL Commissioner John Grisdale will be in attendance tonight as he makes a northern road swing. Last night he welcomed the Williams Lake Timberwolves back into the league after a two season absence and, after checking out things in the northern most stop of the league, will welcome coach Glen Watson back to the BCHL when he visits Quesnel.