A Prince George hockey player stole the show Friday night (Sept. 13) in his home rink.
Corey Cunningham lit the Spruce Kings’ third and sixth lamp in front of a crowd of nearly 800 fans, helping lift his hometown team to its first win of the 2019-20 campaign with a 6-1 beating of the Victoria Grizzlies.
Including the 18-year-old, the rematch of last year’s B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) Coastal Conference Championship saw five different ‘Kings have a multi-point night.
Alternate captain Chong Min Lee was ultimately the game’s first star, scoring a goal in the second period and adding a helper on Ryan McAllister’s first marker of his Junior ‘A’ hockey career.
McAllister recorded an assist on Andrew Seaman’s goal, the second of the game for the home team, at 11:03 of the first period.
Two days after signing with Prince George, defenceman Evan Orr only needed four minutes to make his presence known in the northern capital.
He scored the game’s opening goal at 3:56 of the first period, while providing the second assist on Lee’s goal at 10:36 of the middle frame.
There was a lot of action around the league tonight! Salmon Arm and Nanaimo both picked up victories this evening thanks to late third period markers, and the defending champs have their first win of the season.
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) September 14, 2019
Check it out in #BCHLin60 presented by @ChevroletCanada! pic.twitter.com/crjzKMd0LT
The final player to get two points was league-veteran Preston Brodziak, who had two helpers in the first stanza.
Goaltender Jett Alexander made 27 saves on 28 shots from Victoria to get his inaugural BCHL win under his belt.
The Spruce Kings are at 500 with a record of 1-1-1 to start their Fred Page Cup-defending season and will face, what may be, a bit of a tougher foe this evening (Sept. 14).
The Penticton Vees have 18 goals in their first three games, including seven in each of the last two, and stand undefeated at 3-0-0 thus far.
Puck-drop goes for 7 p.m at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
