Stephen Penner is a proud captain and he knows he's in a position of privilege.
How many B.C. Hockey League captains get to wear that letter playing for the hometown team they grew up loving?
Penner, 20, was born and raised in P.G. and has always been a fan of the Spruce Kings. The Kings' staff promoted the veteran defenceman from his assistant captain role following the Jan. 10 trade deadline, after they dealt then-captain Jake LeBrun to the West Kelowna Warriors.
"It's like a dream come true to wear the 'C' for your hometown team," said Penner. "The season is coming to an end quick and I kind of want time to slow down for this last month. The season has gone by so quick."
Now with just nine games left in the season in his final year of junior hockey, Penner is savouring the time he has left in the B.C. Hockey League.
"I've worked hard in my junior career -- every practice, every workout, I push myself just to be better every day," said Penner. "It's nice living at home with my parents (Chris and Kathy), playing junior hockey, I couldn't ask for anything better."
The Spruce Kings (11-34-3-1) were officially eliminated from playoff contention with their 6-3 loss Wednesday at home to the Vernon Vipers. But as Penner vows, none of the players are letting that get in the way of them playing to the best of their abilities to try to win games and improve themselves on the ice.
They will be out to prove that again tonight at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena where they host the Surrey Eagles in the first of a two-game weekend set. Penner and the Kings played in front of close to 1,400 fans a week ago on Citizen Night at the rink formerly known as the Prince George Coliseum for their game against Merritt and he'd love to see the building that full again before he calls it a career.
"Seeing that we still have the fans in a down season compared the last couple seasons, it's good to see the fan base still supports us," said Penner. "It's good for the (out-of-town) players on the team to see what Prince George can do, especially with the two big hockey teams in P.G. (the Spruce Kings and WHL Cougars), that there are still enough fans for both teams."
Knowing they weren't going to make the playoffs, the Kings unloaded their older veterans at the trade deadline, with the exception of Penner. The team's experience level took a hit, but as the Kings have showed in their games since then, they are determined to bring winning hockey back to Prince George.
"No one has given up," Penner said. "We have hard practices every week, everyone competes every day and we just want to win for each other. We just want to get as many wins as we can this season and just battle right to the end.
"A lot of the younger guys who weren't getting a lot of icetime are getting more icetime now and they've stepped up really big and the team has come together a lot more now. We have to work that much harder now with all the guys we've traded gone now. all the hard work and compete in practice might not show it on the scoreboard but it might on the shot clock and some of the guys are getting noticed by schools."
The six-foot-five, 215-pound Penner has been the stay-at-home type throughout his four-year career in the BCHL. In 157 regular season games, all but 32 of which were with the Spruce Kings, Penner has eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points to go with 112 penalty minutes. In 49 games this season he's picked up three goals, three assists and 28 penalty minutes.
"I played out of town last year when I was traded to Trail and I missed it, it's fun to play in your hometown," he said.
Penner played 1 1/2 years of major midget hockey with the Cariboo Cougars from 2011-2013. In his second season he was the team's leading scorer among defencemen with six goals and 26 points in 38 games.
"Cariboo Cougars head coach Trevor) runs a good program there," said Penner. "He moves a lot of players on to junior A and major junior and a couple players on to the NHL, like Brett Connolly and Brandon Manning."
Game time tonight is 7 p.m. The Eagles, who also play in Prince George on Saturday, rank last overall in the BCHL with a 6-39-0-2 record. Former Cariboo Cougars forward Darren Hards is in his rookie season in the BCHL, with four goals and eight points in 27 games for the Eagles but hasn't played since Jan. 1.
