The two-time defending B.C. Hockey League-champion Penticton Vees are in Prince George this weekend to face the Spruce Kings at Kopar Memorial Arena and this might be a good time for the Kings to start chipping away at the Vees’ first-place Interior Conference standing.
The Vees (21-5-2-2) lost four of their last six games to close out 2023 and are just two points ahead of the West Kelowna Warriors heading into their two-game set with the Spruce Kings Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.).
The Kings (10-16-0-0, eighth in Interior) are coming off a comeback 4-3 overtime win over West Kelowna Saturday at Kopar.
Japanese import Kazumo Sasaki provided the winning goal 5:55 into overtime to give the Kings a split in their two-game series with the Warriors.
Prince George is 0-3 so far this season against the Vees with all games in the season matchup so far played in Penticton, most recently a 4-0 loss Dec. 1.
"They’re a good team, they can score, and I think they defend better than people give them credit sometimes,” said Spruce Kings head coach Alex Evin. “It’s going to be a good test for us to see where we’re at.
“We’ve had a lot of guys sick over December and it’s continued into post-Christmas break so we’ll have guys in and out of the lineup based on illness again,” said Evin. “Hopefully the two games will be competitive for us.”
Defencemen Ben LeFranc (hand injury) and Markus Yim (ankle) remain on the long-term injured list. Kings forward JR Perdion will also miss the weekend games with an undisclosed injury.
The Kings are still carrying three goalies, including Charlie Zorin, Markus Lam and Ryan Sanborn.
Zorin joined the team in a December trade from the Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL) and has played the four most recent games, going 2-2 over that stretch.
“We’ve had two wins and that’s been positive for our group,” said Evin. ”He’s a really hard worker, competitive, and I think he’s bringing up the energy overall, which is what we feel we were missing.”
