A season of broken records is now out the window.
The Prince George Spruce Kings will start from scratch as the B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) Playoffs get underway this evening (March 1) from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA) against the Coquitlam Express.
Any player in any hockey league would say the exact same thing in that, at this time of year, whatever happened in the season doesn’t matter anymore, so it’ll be a fresh new beginning for this year’s squad as they look to defend their castle and go as far as they did in the 2017-18 playoffs and beyond.
.@SpruceKings begin quest for Fred Page Cup redemption tonight, beginning their opening series against @BCHLExpress on home ice! Three players were named to All-Star & Rookie rosters ahead of the First Round 🏒👑 | https://t.co/fxXXirbJIz #CityOfPG @GoBCHL @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/xcVuPJ5rGr
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 1, 2019
The Spruce Kings made it to the Fred Page Cup Final for the first time in team history, but would lose to the Wenatchee Wild in five games.
En route to the championship series, they won their first Coastal Conference title, defeating the Powell River Kings in five games (4-1).
They also got their first Mainland Division banner by beating the Surrey Eagles in seven games (4-3)
Based on this year’s season stats, the ‘Kings are on pace for, what could be, another lengthy playoff race as long as they can keep up the momentum, especially when they play games on home ice.
They swept the 2018-19 regular season-champion Chilliwack Chiefs last weekend (Feb. 22-23), setting a new franchise record of 23 homes wins in a single season.
This lifted Prince George to its best overall year since joining the BCHL in 1996, compiling a record of 39-13-1-5.
The 13 regulation losses are also the fewest of any other team in the league this season.
Goaltender Logan Neaton is likely to start in as many games as he can.
Boys make my life easy back there #defensemanappreciation https://t.co/L8VLB3kmoD
— Logan Neaton (@neaton_logan) February 27, 2019
The 19-year-old backstopped his way to 32 wins, the most of any other netminder to don the Spruce Kings’ red, white, and blue sweater, while also topping the league in goals-against-average (1.92) and shutouts (five).
And yet, he didn’t win the Top Goaltender of the Year award, which could give him all the more motivation to put on a show for the fans and the entire BCHL.
Prince George’s first-round opponent, the Coquitlam Express, came in third in the Mainland Division, but finished 22 points behind.
The Spruce Kings won the eight-game series 6-2, including all four home games, so fans can anticipate even tougher post-season battles in their castle.
Veteran forward Ben Brar accumulated 14 points against Coquitlam this year, including eight goals, so look for him to be sharp when it comes to charging the Express’ net.
There are 11 returning players from Prince George’s playoff team last season; they are listed below along with the number of points they recorded during that run:
- Layton Ahac = Five points (one goal, four assists)
- Dylan Anhorn = 11 points (one goal, 10 assists)
- Ben Brar = 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists)
- Patrick Cozzi = 18 points (five goals, 13 assists)
- Corey Cunningham
- Jay Keranen = 10 points (four goals, six assists)
- Chong Min Lee = Four points (four assists)
- Dustin Manz = 14 points (five goals, nine assists)
- Ben Poisson
- Liam Watson-Brawn = Nine points (three goals, six assists)
- Nolan Welsh = seven points (three goals, four assists)
It’s a best-of-seven series starting with two games at the RMCA, followed by two in the Lower Mainland; if nothing is decided and is necessary, Games Five and Seven will be back in Prince George, while Game Six would be played in Coquitlam.
Puck-drop for tonight’s (March 1) series-opener is 7 p.m. with less than 600 tickets remaining.
