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Here’s who you’ll see on the ice in the Prince George Spruce Kings’ season opener

Only a handful of returning players will watch their banners rise at the RMCA
Kyle Balzer
Kyle Balzer

This upcoming season will likely look a bit different for the 2019 B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) champions, especially for the fans.

The Prince George Spruce Kings are opening their 2019-20 campaign tonight (Sept. 6) in the comfort of their own home, but only a handful of brothers have stayed with their northern family and will see several new siblings in a championship-defending year.

Fans who enter the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA) will be looking to see what the new crop of ‘Kings will bring to their hearts and hockey souls, but after the Fred Page and Doyle Cup banners have been raised to the rafters and the lights come back on, they may not recognize a lot of the faces on the bench.

This season, there are only six returning players on the Spruce Kings roster, including locally-produced Corey Cunningham, who is expected to build on the breakout season he had that saw him earn 10 points in 17 playoff games, and recently-elected captain Nolan Welsh that contributed in more ways than one during the run to the National Junior ‘A’ Championship final.

Other familiar faces will consist of alternate captains Chong Min Lee (always a fan favourite) and Nick Poisson (young brother of 2018-19 captain Ben Poisson), defenceman Nick Bochen (expected to take leadership on the top blue-line pairing), and playoff standout Finlay Williams (the 16-year-old hero from Game Two of the Fred Page Cup finals).

That’s it!

Those are the only players, plus new Head Coach Adam Evin, that will watch the banners rise to the rafters with the memories of how they accomplished those feats.

Every other red, white, and blue shirt from the historic run that took Prince George into the middle of May this year was either drafted into the NHL, graduated, traded to other teams, or decided to pursue other opportunities.

That means there’s 17 new players taking the ice in the tight confines of the RMCA, but not all of them are completely inexperienced.

The Spruce Kings acquired two veterans of the BCHL in Preston Brodziak (Cowichan Valley) and Sol Seibel (Salmon Arm).

General Manager Mike Hawes also convinced the reigning Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Goaltender of the Year Jett Alexander to move from Ontario to Prince George in place of Logan Neaton, who was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets this past summer.

Neaton set a franchise-record 32 regular-season wins by a crease monkey along with a league-best goals-against-average (1.92) and shutouts (five).

Surprisingly, he was snubbed for any goaltending honour in the BCHL and CJHL.

But the Spruce Kings believe that Alexander can fill the shoes Neaton has left at the RMCA; his national honour was based on his Ontario League season victories with 30, goals-against average at 1.67, and save percentage at .945.

He also posted 10 shutouts for the North York Rangers, breaking a league record that dates back to the early 1970s.

Plus, the sweater he wore last year was the same colours as Prince George, so he should feel comfortable between the pipes in that regard, which could lead to a similar performance.

Altogether, the Spruce Kings have 14 rookies this year (excluding Finlay Williams), so the pressure of a repeat-title is on and you can count on the fans being as hopeful as ever.

Prince George also has not lost a home game in 2019 thus far, riding a current 21-game winning streak dating back to Jan. 11, 2019 and that includes playoff games.

The banners will be enshrined before opening face-off at 7 p.m. against the Surrey Eagles. 

There are under 750 tickets left for tonight’s contest.