It was the last game of Stephen Penner’s junior hockey career and the captain of the Prince George Spruce Kings wanted to make it a memorable one.
Not known for his point-producing capabilities, the 20-year-old stay-at-home defenceman surprised everyone in the building Sunday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena when he assisted on three goals in a 7-2 triumph over the Surrey Eagles.
In a season rife with disappointment, the Kings won just 14 of 58 games and missed the B.C. Hockey League playoffs for the first time in four seasons. But, Penner’s final weekend wearing the crown will be unforgettable for the Prince George native.
Not only did his team post a pair of convincing wins over the Eagles but in those two games, Penner matched half his point production for the entire season.
Coming into the weekend Penner had just eight points in 56 games. He also picked up an assist in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Surrey for a four-point weekend. At that rate over the course of the season he would have totaled 116 points, tied with the Penticton’s Scott Conway for the league scoring title.
“Things were going my way this weekend, I had that little bit extra jump and wanted to go out with a bang,” said Penner. “I just left nothing more in the tank and I couldn’t ask for anything more, it was unreal. It was good to get five out of six points our last three games, nobody gave up. I don’t want it to end.”
As the only graduating junior on the Kings squad, Penner was given the honour of saluting the fans by himself at centre ice with his stick raised high while his teammates and fans cheered him on.
“That sent shivers down my spine, it was awesome to hear everyone cheering and all the boys banging their sticks for me,” said Penner. “It’s good to see that, even with the season we had, people came out to cheer us on. To get, like, 1,400 both nights was unreal.”
The two-game weekend series packed the building formerly known as the Prince George Coliseum. Saturday’s crowd count was 1,482 and on a wet snowy afternoon, 1,243 made it to the rink Sunday.
It was a stroke of good fortune for the Kings they hosted the weakest team in the league with the most porous defence and the Eagles showed why they won just seven games and totaled only 17 points in 2015-16.
Penner’s last-hurrah efforts were a rallying point for the team, and head coach Chad van Diemen said he’s done everything that was asked of him when he took over the ‘C’ from Jake LeBrun at the trade deadline when LeBrun was sent to West Kelowna.
“He was pretty emotional and he handled himself with a lot of class here down the stretch,” said van Diemen. “He’s a great person and I’m glad it worked out the way it did. To start off the game with an assist, 30 seconds in, was pretty neat and he followed up with a great game. Credit to him for competing right to the end of his junior career.”
Actually, it took 31 seconds for the Kings to open the scoring Sunday. Penner chipped the puck ahead to Jarod Hovde and the Kings left winger buried it past the outstretched glove of goalie Justin Laforest, the first of Hovde’s three goals in the game. The Kings were all over the Eagles to start the period and the 20-year-old Laforest, in his last junior game, had to be sharp to keep it a one-goal game.
At the other end of the ice, Kings goalie Liam McCloskey wasn’t getting much action until the midway point of the period, when Eagles forward Jaxon Joseph took off on a breakaway. But before Joseph could wind up for a shot, Penner’s defence partner Ryan Fritz made a lunging dive and swatted the puck away.
The Eagles did get the equalizer on a tipped point shot from Robert Johnson at 12:12, but Parker Colley restored the Prince George lead with a minute left in the first period, going low to the stick side of Laforest to finish off a play started in the Kings’ zone by Penner.
In the middle frame, Nik Ponak made it a 3-1 count with his sixth of the season.
Hovde padded the lead late in the second period on a Kings’ power play, spinning as he let go a shot that went just inside the post off Laforest’s glove. His hat-trick goal came 7:23 into the third period, a perfect setup from linemate Kyle Johnson, who took a pass from Penner.
“We came out this weekend and we said we were going to do it for our captain, Stephen, and we did that,” said Hovde. “He comes out and works hard every day and he deserves it. It was awesome to have all those people out here, they just get behind the team and we just get behind their energy in the building. We’ll be better next year and hopefully they keep supporting us because we like having them.”
Cavin Tilsley and Mathew Stief, with another power-play goal, capped the scoring for the Kings. Paul McAvoy collected the other Eagles goal.
The Kings (14-38-4-2) outshot Surrey 37-23.
“Standings-wise there wasn’t much on the line but it’s a pride thing and I credit these guys for showing up,” said van Diemen. “We need to find out what we’ve got moving forward and into next year and some guys had really good games here down the stretch.
“I’m just proud of the way the kids battled this weekend.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The first-round playoffs, all best-of-seven series, begin with games Friday in West Kelowna, Chilliwack and Powell River. In the Mainland Division, first-place Chilliwack hosts Coquitlam, while the expansion Wenatchee Wild will start their first-ever BCHL playoff series at home against Langley. In the Interior Division, the first-overall Penticton Vees (50-7-0-1) host the Vernon Vipers, who finished tied in points with fifth-place Merritt but squeaked into the playoffs based on the fact they had one more win than the Centennials. West Kelowna hosts Salmon Arm in the other Interior match-up. In the Island Division, first-place Nanaimo opens at home against Alberni Valley, while Powell River is at home to Cowichan Valley.
