Don't be too shocked if the Prince George Spruce Kings have the luxury of some additional breathing space on the players bench tonight.
Injuries are taking their toll on the Kings and could result in depleted ranks for tonight's game at the Coliseum against the Merritt Centennials.
Connor Tiechko, one of the Kings most consistent point-producers lately, practiced only briefly this week with a sore ankle and is a questionable starter. Defencemen Ben Woodley and forward Dustin Beairsto, both acquired two weeks ago from the Grande Prairie Storm in the RJay Berra deal, are nursing knee injuries which have seriously hampered their ability to contribute to their new team.
"We haven't seen the best of [Woodley and Beairsto] and they're both going to play, but they missed most of the week and only practiced [Friday]," said Spruce Kings head coach Dave Dupas.
"Tiechko has missed all week of practice too and we were practicing with only 13 or 14 skaters. Hopefully we will get them back for the weekend and we can try to win some games here."
The Merritt matchup is the only game action the Kings have this weekend. They'll host Westside next Tuesday, then take off for weekend road games in Vernon, Salmon Arm and Merritt.
After winning just five of their first 22 games this season, the Cents are playing much better hockey and now sport a 17-21-0-6 sixth-place record. They've won six of their last 10 games, going 6-3-0-1 in that stretch.
"Merritt is a big physical team that kind of plays a straight-ahead game," said Dupas. "We expect them to dump it in and hit, and bang bodies all over the ice and hopefully we can weather that storm.
The Kings (10-35-0-2) rank dead-last in the BCHL but are only six points behind Quesnel for the seventh and final Interior Conference playoff spot with 13 games left.
"We didn't score many goals last weekend (they lost 5-1 to Trail, and 4-1 to Vernon) but I think our team game is better," added Dupas. "We kept Trail and Vernon to under 30 shots and we'll continue to try to keep the scoring chances down. The guys who have really been stepping up for us lately are Tiechko, [Jeff] Earnest, and [Kyle] Manlow, that line has been shutting down other teams' top lines since before Christmas and they're doing an excellent job. They're a good shutdown line and now they're creating chances of their own."
Sixteen-year-old Michigan Tech recruit Jujhar Khaira is now centring the Kings' top scoring line with wingers Todd Skirving, the former Vernon Viper, and Faiz Khan. Skirving came to Prince George at the deadline in a four-team trade that sent Justin Fillion to Victoria and so far the 18-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., has lived up to his coach's expectations.
"Skirving has been very good, he's a fairly big guy [six-foot-two, 170 pounds] and he's fast and has good hands and sees the ice well," said Dupas. "He's a guy you can put in any situation and feel comfortable he'll get the job done, whether it be power play or penalty kill."
The Kings have gotten used to the fact they will be without their top four scorers for the rest of the season after their Jan. 10 trade deadline airlift that sent Berra, Fillion, Nic DeSousa, and Zac Ashdown to different teams.
Ashdown, a 19-year-old forward picked up by the Kings in October from the Coquitlam Express, is now playing for the Dawson Creek Rage of the North American Hockey League. The Kings did not announce it but he was part of an unofficial swap that brought defenceman Sam Waterfield to Prince George. A trade was not possible due to the fact junior A teams in Canada are not allowed to trade players to the American-based NAHL. Ashdown was released by the Kings, the Rage put him on the roster, and at the same time, Waterfield was released by the Rage to allow him to join the Spruce Kings.
Dupas wasn't sure Friday afternoon whether Kirk Thompson or Cameron Large would get the start in net tonight.
"We're waiting for one of those guys to step up and grab the reins here, it's so up in the air all the time," said Dupas. "They're both young guys, both good goalies, and if one of them steps up and grabs the job, we'll go with the hot hand if we can."
n Before the game today, six Spruce Kings will write their SAT tests needed for NCAA college entrance. That list includes Khaira, Thompson, Isaac Davies, Chase Golightly, Bennett Hambrook, and Trevor Esau.
