The Prince George Spruce Kings will have a new face in the lineup tonight when they take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the first game of a weekend doubleheader at Kopar Memorial Arena.
The Spruce Kings have signed forward 19-year-old Nick Metelkin for the rest of the BC Hockey League season.
The six-foot-one, 185-pound native of Wind Gap., Penn., was the leading scorer of the Odessa Jackalopes of the North American Hockey League and had 11 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 30 games this season. He had 14 points in 24 games with the Jackalopes last season.
The Kings have had to shore up their lineup to try to make up for the loss of three of their top-scoring forwards – Skogen Schrott, Ethan Montroy and Lucas Veilleux – who in the past month have all jumped to major junior hockey with teams in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
Those three combined accounted for 29 goals and 78 points on a team that’s scored 102 goals so far this season.
“We are very excited to add Nick to our program,” said Kings general manager Mike Hawes. “He is an exceptional young man and a dynamic hockey player. We’ve been put in a position with some recent roster changes to replace some offensive ability on our team and we feel we have taken a huge step towards doing that with the addition of Nick.”
The Kings will be facing a Bulldogs team that currently ranks fourth in the Coastal Conference, sporting a 19-11-1-0 record. The Spruce Kings (10-17-3-1) are ninth in the division.
Tonight’s game marks the return of the McIsaac brothers, Brady and Kenyon, who were born and raised in Prince George. Brady, a 20-year-old centre selected for next weekend’s all-star game in Salmon Arm, is second in Bulldogs scoring with 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 31 games. Kenyon, an 18-year-old rookie defenceman, has three goals and nine points in 29 games.
They are the sons of former Spruce Kings/Chilliwack Chiefs defenceman Brent McIsaac, who played for the Kings in 2000-01 and half the 2001-02 season before he was traded to Chilliwack.
Tonight’s game starts at 7 p.m. The rematch Saturday (Indigenous Night) gets going at 6 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Kopar box office or online on the team website. http://www.sprucekings.bc.ca.
