The Prince George Spruce Kings are in Chilliwack to face the Chiefs tonight in Game 7.
The winner moves on to the second round of the BC Hockey League playoffs. The loser goes home.
The Spruce Kings are coming off an impressive 2-0 win over the Coastal Conference regular season champions Sunday night at Kopar Memorial Arena ad they left for Chilliwack Monday morning with every intention of not returning to Prince George until Easter Sunday.
If they win tonight, the Spruce Kings will head directly to Vancouver Island to play the top remaining seed in the Coastal Conference, the third-ranked Cowichan Valley Capitals of Duncan, who eliminated the Nanaimo Clippers in a five-game series.
If the Chiefs win, they would host Alberni Valley in Games 1 and 2 Friday and Saturday, while third-seeded Cowichan would play the fourth-ranked Victoria Grizzlies.
The Interior Conference matchups are already set.
The top-seeded Penticton Vees host the No. 6 Cranbrook Bucks, while the No. 2 Brooks Bandits open at home against the No. 6 Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Home cooking has been a factor in all six games of the Chiefs-Spruce Kings series.
The Chiefs won the first two games in Chilliwack and the Spruce Kings followed suit, winning Games 3 and 4 in Prince George. Game 5 in Chilliwack resulted in a 2-1 Chiefs win and the Kings did the deed in Game 6 with their shutout goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel stealing the show with another standout performance.
Should the Spruce Kings be unable to advance to Round 2, they can take a bow for how they’ve captivated the hearts of Spruce Kings fans.
They made the playoffs with a 5-2-1-1 run in March to catch the Langley Rivermen for eighth place in a nail-biting final weekend and now they’re pushing the team with the most potent offence in the BCHL this season to a seventh game.
“The boys have battled extremely hard, not just in this series but the last couple months of the year and full credit to the coaches and the players, they’ve done a tremendous job and I fully expect for us to have more games in this building this year,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes, after watching Game 6 from his usual perch in the media box at Kopar.
“There’s no pressure on us, all the pressure’s on (the Chiefs) for sure. We’ve turned into a travel series, exactly what we wanted. We’re used to the travel, they’re not, so that’s going to bode well in our favour, too, and I expect it to be one heckuva a hockey game Tuesday night.”
Through six playoff games Gravel sports a 2.04 goals-against average (fifth in the BCHL) and a .940 save percentage (third-best). Unquestionably, the 20-year-old from Quebec has been the Spruce Kings’ MVP even since he joined the team from the QMJHL in early February.
“The guy’s a professional, he’s a difference-maker, he’s a great teammate and a great human and he’s come in and he’s a tremendous goaltender who has come in and given us the boost we needed down the stretch, and obviously he’s been tremendous in the playoffs,” said Hawes.
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on 99.3 FM Rewind Radio with Kyle Anderson behind the mic calling the play-by-play and it’s also available on FloHockey. Game time is 7 p.m.
