Spruce Kings blame referee for 11th loss in last dozen BCHL outings
Joshua Desmarais has already started his B.C. Hockey League playoff beard.
Although he's only played 13 games, Desmarais has become a central figure in the Quesnel Millionaires' revival and he's letting that facial hair grow as the Mills try to end a six-year absence as playoff contestants.
They did all kinds of damage to the Prince George Spruce Kings' postseason plans Saturday at the Coliseum, pounding the Kings 9-2 and Desmarais did his part, contributing two goals and three assists to continue his impressive climb up the scoring charts. The 20-year-old native of St. Laurent, Que., has been the hottest Quesnel shooter in the second half, with 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points in 13 games.
"We had some firepower going tonight," said Desmarais, who started the season with Sainte-Agathe Montagnards of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League.
"(Friday) they came into our barn and took one away, so we wanted to come and show them a lesson here. We worked hard all game and (goalie Luke) Seimens kept us in the game with some big saves."
The six-foot, 250-pound Desmarais came west to Quesnel in December at the request of his friend, Mills centre Darick Ste-Marie. Desmarais, the nephew of Hall of Fame defenceman Ray Bourque, has no plans to return home soon.
"We're definitely going to make the playoffs, we're going to force our way in there and who knows, maybe come out with an upset," said Desmarais.
The lopsided score Saturday was a decisive factor that gave the Mills the CNC Cup for winning the 10-game season series. Each team won five head-to-head games, but Quesnel earned the trophy for the third time in 10 years for having outscored the Kings 41-39 this season.
"That meant a lot to our players and it's deserving for our guys," said Kings head coach Glen Watson. "Our games all year have been pretty close. (On Friday) we outshot them (41-21) but couldn't score and (Saturday) things went our way.
"We can control our own destiny and there will be some battling with Merritt, Prince George and Trail, and everybody has the chance to do something, so we have to win those games."
It's safe to say referee Justin Neufeld is off the Spruce Kings' Christmas list. The Mills scored five power-play goals in 10 chances Saturday and the Kings weren't holding back in their criticism. The Kings went into the second intermission hoping to carry the momentum after Lyndon Martell scored to make it 3-2 with five seconds left in the period. Instead, the Kings were assessed five minor penalties in a 1:47 span of the third period and Quesnel took full advantage of their 5-on-3s with three straight power-play goals and an even-strength marker that gave the Mills a 7-2 lead.
"I think Neufeld was out to get us, I've never seen anything like that in my life," said Kings centre Zac Rasmussen, who opened the scoring. "He was making stuff up as he went along."
Each already team had three players sitting out with suspensions -- Brad Bourke, Kyle Manlow and Stewart Lambert for the Kings, and Mitch Galbraith, Tyson Price and Anderson White for the Mills -- as a result of a linebrawl at the end of Friday's game. It didn't help the Kings when veteran defenceman Justin Fillion got kicked out at in the second period for arguing with Neufeld.
"It was obviously a big game for both teams and we played well for 40 minutes," said Kings head coach Ed Dempsey. "But the bottom line is the guy in the stripes, he just couldn't handle the action, he fell apart on us.
"The opposition's gameplan was definitely to target our D-men, and our D-men did a great job. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be the neutral party kind of got in the way."
Tyler French scored a hat trick and Mills captain Trevor Hertz fired a pair of goals.
Backed by a 37-save outing from Andrew Walsh and a one-goal, three-assist night from Nick DeSousa, the Kings beat the Mills 6-4 in Quesnel Friday to snap a 10-game losing streak.
Quesnel outshot the Spruce Kings 51-23, and Prince George was a woeful 0-6 with the man advantage.
The Kings have lost 11 of their last 12 games and have dropped into eighth place in the Interior Conference, four points behind Merritt for the seventh and final playoff spot. Fifth-place Quesnel (16-25-0-4) is six points ahead of Prince George (13-29-1-0) with 15 games left to play. The Kings have 14 games left, six of which are at home. If the Kings don't make it into the postseason it would be the first time that's happened since 2003.
