If you want to catch the Prince George Spruce Kings in action, better make plans to visit Kopar Memorial Arena this weekend.
The Spruce Kings host the Cowichan Valley Capitals Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.).
After that they’ll have just one more home game – Saturday, Nov. 23 against the Spruce Grove Saints – over the course of the next month.
The Kings are coming off their biggest win of the season so far, an 8-2 triumph last Saturday over the Victoria Grizzlies.
Seventh-place Cowichan Valley (7-8-0-0, 14 points) is one point ahead of eighth-place Prince George (5-8-2-1) in the Coastal Conference standings.
Former Spruce Kings centre Luca Primerano leads the Caps in scoring with seven goals and 16 points.
The 19-year-old New Hampshire recruit from North Vancouver was sent to the Duncan-based Capitals along with future considerations for 19-year-old centre Brock Cummings and 20-year-old defenceman Edde Romano in a June 28 trade. Primerano played the previous two seasons with the Spruce Kings.
Cummings has one goal and eight assists in 13 games. Romano is not currently listed on the Spruce Kings’ roster.
First-year Spruce King Ethan Montroy continues to lead the Spruce Kings in team scoring. The 19-year-old left winger from Cornwall, Ont., has eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 11 games.
Kazumo Sasaki, a Japanese import winger in his second BCHL season, registered his first BCHL hat trick in Saturday’s game against the Grizzlies and will try to repeat his feat taking on the Capitals.
The Capitals' coaching staff, headed by Cam Keith, also includes former Spruce Kings left winger Mike Stutzel, who joined the team this year.
Stutzel led the Spruce Kings in scoring in 1998-99 with 92 points and 41 goals in his second season since joining the team in a trade from Powell River.
Stutzel, now 45, jumped to college hockey from the Spruce Kings and played four seasons at Northern Michigan University before turning pro in the NHL – a nine-game stint with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2003-04. That was the start of his five-season pro career in the AHL, ECHL and Scotland.
