Spruce Kings/Rivermen Recap

VS
0                                        Final Score                                       5
	Goal Scorers	Szeto, Franco, Ginnetti, Fregona, Masson
10	Total Shots	23
3	1st Period Shots	8
2	2nd Period Shots	8
5	3rd Period Shots	7
0 for 7	Power Play	3 for 11
Nick Guerra	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Justin Fregona
	1st Star	Cameron Ginetti
0-3-0-0	Current Record	2-0-0-0

Dating back to the pre-season now, Prince George has scored one goal in their last four games. That goal came off a centring pass that went off a defenders leg. The Spruce Kings have been experiencing some turbulence, and the team has gotten off to a rough start of the season after getting shutout 5-0 by their rivals the Langley Rivermen.

Game Summary

The game didn’t start out too badly for the Spruce Kings, as they only allowed a single goal in the first period. Justin Szeto scored at just past the halfway mark of the frame, but that got the crowd of 2432 buzzing in the Langley Events Centre.

In the second the Spruce Kings would take an early too many men penalty, which would prove to be costly as the Rivermen scored while up a man, courtesy of Dominic Franco.

For a game that was the first between the two teams since their meeting last year in the playoffs, the first two periods were oddly lacking much grit. Then to finish up the second period Luc Soares and Jordan Schneider took roughing penalties, after the final buzzer went, but that was the first pushing match of any in the game.

Then the third period came around, and the two teams seemed to remember that they have a fierce rivalry to live up to. That came after Langley potted a pair of goals, starting with ex Grandview Steeler Cameron Ginnetti pinching down from the point on the power play, and booming one home for his first BCHL goal. Less than ten minutes later, Zachary Bleuler took a shot from the point, and took a double deflection that eventually made it’s way through the five hole of Sam Tanguay.

Obviously frustrated, the Spruce Kings would take one shot on net that the Rivermen didn’t appreciate. Skating in with the puck, Cavin Tilsley passed the blue line, but his team mate was a step off side, so the ref blew the whistle for offside. End of story right? Not quite. Tilsley then glided in between the circles, and poked the puck into the net as Didur skated into the corner to get some movement. Taking a shot after the whistle, and into the empty net is a big no-no so Langley let Tilsley knew what they thought of it. A brawl ensued, and Rider Stoglin dropped the mitts with Justin Fregona. The Rivermen forward would eventually wrestle Stoglin to the ground after both got in a few good shots. End of story right? Nope! With Stoglin covering his head on the ground, Fregona continued raining down blows. Adam Brubacher decided it was time to step in, and pulled the Langley player off his team mate.

Langley would wind up with the last laugh on that play, as they came away with a power play, and Zac Masson put one past for Tanguay for the teams fifth and final goal.

Not So Special

Once again, special teams were at the forefront for the team, as they were held scoreless on seven man advantages, and conceded three power play goals themselves. In three games they are now the only team in the BCHL without a power play goal, and have given up the most in the league with eight. Langley was ferocious on the penalty kill, and had a very aggressive duo up front with Dominic Franco and Adam Sinclair. Both took turns pushing the puck into the Spruce Kings zone, and then harassing the defenders as they went back to retrieve it.

One moment that could be considered a turning point was in the second period when the score was still just 2-0. The Spruce Kings had just drawn a second penalty, and were headed to a minute and a half of 5-on-3 hockey. That vanished quickly though, as Kyle Johnson took a cross checking penalty while back checking. The team still had a 4-on-3 opportunity, and probably created their best chances of the game (a few nice give and goes between Hoffman and Brubacher) but couldn’t get one past Didur.

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS

In three regular season games, the team has only scored once, and part of that has to be put on the lack of opportunities. Game one against Wenatchee produced 18 shots, game two had 22, and in the match against Langley they managed a meager 10 shots in three periods. Remember also, that is ten shots…with seven power plays in the game. Yes man advantages were cut short by penalties of their own, but ten shots is still more likely to be seen in a period rather than a game. Bo Didur had a solid game, but didn’t need to make any spectacular saves. The Spruce Kings had two very good scoring opportunities in the game though. On the before mentioned 4-on-3, Brubacher would sit just above the hash marks on the inside of the circle, and pass the puck to Hoffman down on the goal line, and then unleash a canon on the return feed. They managed the exact same play three times in a span of twenty seconds, with two shots going high, and the other into the chest of Didur. Luc Soares also led a 3-on-1 rush, and took a shot looking for a rebound, but that was saved and held onto.

Tanguay the Hero

            Appearing in his first game with the Spruce Kings since being traded from the Aurora Tigers Sam Tanguay could only do much. He allowed five goals, but when the team in front only puts up 10 shots in the game that means a lot of time was spent in the Spruce King Zone. Tanguay made a number of stellar saves, and the damage certainly could’ve been a lot worse if it weren’t for the Quebec netminder.

Balanced Attack

With Bo Didur making just 10 stops in his shutout, he wasn’t awarded a star of the game, but picking the three was no easy task. Langley had 13 players with points, but not a single multi-point player. There were five separate players who put the puck in the net, so the accolades went to Fregona and Ginnetti who each scored. Nick Guerra was the third star from the Spruce Kings, and it was nice that he was honoured as he didn’t pick up a point, but did play a very strong game, and didn’t stand out for any bad reasons during the game. 

Pre-Game Scope vs Langley Rivermen

VS
0-2-0-0	Record	1-0-0-0
4-4-0-1	Last Season’s Matchup	5-4-0-0
1	Goals For	6
13	Goals Against	3
0 for 9 (0%)	Power Play	1 for 6   (16.67%)
9 of 14 killed (64.29%)	Penalty Kill	6 of 8 killed (75%)
Hoffman/Epp: 1 Point	Leading Scorer	Butcher, Graham, Szeto: 2 points
2 Game Losing Streak	Current Streak	1 Game Winning Streak

Venue: Langley Events Centre

Game Time: 6pm

Season Series: 0-0-0-0

FUN FACT: This will be the first time the Langley Rivermen have ever hosted the Prince George Spruce Kings in a home opener.

Coming In:

Last weekend was one to forget to for the Prince George Spruce Kings. They played the Wenatchee Wild in a home double header, and wound up getting outscored 13-1 in the two games. Game 1 ended in a final score of 5-1, and Game 2 was 8-0 with Detroit Red Wings prospect Chase Perry picking up both wins and the one shutout. The Spruce Kings had a rough time on special teams as well, and currently rank last in both aspects (although to be fair it’s only two games in).  The power play continued the struggles it encountered in the pre-season, and went 0 for 9 against the Wild. The penalty kill was good on Friday, killing off 6 of 7 penalties, but dropped off Sunday allowing four goals on seven opportunities.

Corey Hoffman scored the lone goal on the weekend, with a centring pass aimed for Jake LeBrun that went off a defenceman’s leg and in. In the first game against the Wild, LeBrun was given a game misconduct for a hit from behind, and was suspended two games. He missed the 8-0 loss, and will now be out for Saturday’s game against Langley. The captain can’t be happy about missing the game, as it will be the first game against the Langley Rivermen since the Spruce Kings knocked them out of the playoffs last year.

This game will be a good test for the Spruce Kings, to see how they compete against the rest of their division, as it seems pretty solidified that Wenatchee will be a tough one to beat. Prince George acquired netminder Sam Tanguay as well this past week from the Aurora Tigers. Tanguay spent last year in the OHL where he played with the Sudbury Wolves, and as a 20 year old will be expected to come in, and produce some solid numbers for the team in net.

The Langley Rivermen don’t have a lot of work coming into this game, as their lone game of the season was last weekend against the Surrey Eagles. The Rivermen broke out in the first with four goals, and never looked back scoring twice in the third to take a 6-3 decision. Special teams were fairly average for Langley, as their power play finished at 17% and the PK had a 75% success rate.

In net for his third season with the team, Bo Didur stopped 33 shots for the win. Didur led the BC Major Midget League in GAA in 2012/2013, and has since been in the BCHL. The fact that he came to the league as a 16 year old is extremely impressive, especially since the fewest games he’s ever played is 24 games so he’s never had to sit and watch the majority of season’s from the bench. That experience will come in handy this year, and will help in his BCHL future as well!   

The game will be played in the Langley Event Centre, and should be bumping as it will be Langley’s season opener. Their average attendance last year was 842, but the first home game had 3,168 fans in the venue. This year should be no different, as the team has 2014 BC Country Music Awards Club Act of the Year The Chris Buck band in attendance. There are also reports that there will be a fireworks display at the game to kick things off, so things will be starting out with a bang!

Players to watch:

Spruce Kings:

After a quiet week in the two games last week, Cole Todd was visibly frustrated, so look for him to channel that energy this week against the Rivermen. Last year Todd had one assist in nine regular season games against Langley, but in the playoffs he put up four points in six games including the game winning assist in game one, and the game winning goal in game three. As a key member of the penalty kill Todd is going to be placed in lots of difficult situations, but as a veteran of two full BCHL season’s there is reason for the coaches to put their hopes in the North Van forward.

Rivermen:

Entering his fourth year in the BCHL, Ben Butcher has high hopes set on him last year. Last year he had 29 points in 48 games, and then added another four in his six playoff appearances. He has also gotten off to a hot start this year with two goals in the first game against Surrey, including one on the power play. Butcher is a huge component to his team, and for the Spruce Kings to find success they will need to find a way to shut him down.

Broadcast Info:

This weekend, both game will be broadcast on BCHL FASTHockey and Mixlr. Game time on Saturday is 6pm but that could be pushed back a bit with opening game festivities/player announcements, and Sunday is an afternoon game with puck drop at 4.