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Written by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
He’s still one of the lightest players in the B.C. Hockey League, but there’s no denying Sam Muchalla has become a heavy-duty piledriver for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The five-foot-eight, 150-pound Muchalla has staked himself a spot in the top-10 in league scoring as the Kings points leader, having renewed his membership in the Gibbey Chasse/Mike Webber school of bodybuilding,
Not bad for a guy who was down to 126 pounds in the playoffs last year.
“Obviously, last year I was the lightweight in the league and one of my goals was to get to a weight where I could try to be more effective, ,” said Muchalla. “I think (the 20 pounds he’s added) has helped me a lot because I’m that much stronger
“I matured through the summer and worked hard on conditioning with Mike and Gibby (Kings conditioning coaches Webber and Chasse) and they helped me a lot, and I’m here where I want to be. I feel good on the ice and my game has improved and obviously my coaches are a big part of that too.”
In 26 games, Muchalla has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points, tied with Derek Grant of Langley for ninth place in the BCHL scoring. With 33 games left in a 60-game season, Muchalla is just six points shy of his rookie-year contribution of 41 points.
“I’m in the top-10 right now and obviously I’d like to get higher, maybe around the top-five, that would be a great accomplishment for me,” said Muchalla. “I’ll just keep playing my game and hopefully lock up a scholarship.”
Muchalla plays right wing on a line centred by the speedy Sean Ambrosie, with Alabama-Huntsville NCAA-recruit Alex Allan patrolling the left side. Ambrosie (13-13-26) and Allan (10-14-24) are second and third respectively in team scoring. With point production, that unit gets plenty of power-play time trying to improve a team offence that ranks 12th out of 16.
“Allan has soft hands and is great at distributing the puck, and Ambrosie is probably one of the fastest guys in the league and he’s strong down low as a good supporting centreman,” said Muchalla.
Muchalla, an 18-year-old Prince George minor hockey product, will try to pad his stats this weekend at the Coliseum, where the Kings host the Langley Chiefs tonight (7 p.m. start) and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday.
While they’ve struggled at times to score, there’s no disputing the Kings’ defence, which has allowed 2.7 goals per game, tied with Salmon Arm for second in the BCHL. Goalie Kevin Genoe is on his way to locking up a college scholarship, ranked third in the league with a 2.52 goals-against average. While Genoe was away for a week playing for Canada West in the World Junior A Challenge tournament, backup Alex Wright proved he can get the job as well, a fact that wasn’t lost on Muchalla.
“We probably have one of the best one-two tandems in the league right now,” said Muchalla. “Alex has some WHL experience and he’s a quick acrobatic goalie and Kevin has the best focus in the league out of anybody. Having those two guys on the back end just gives our forwards and defence so much confidence. We rely on those two guys to do good every night.”
The Kings (13-10-1-2) won two of three road games last weekend. They started off beating Salmon Arm 4-1, then trounced Merritt 8-2, ending up with a 6-2 loss in Penticton.
“We had a big effort in Salmon Arm to beat a first-place team -- everybody worked hard and put in a 60 minute game and the results were there for us and it was the same in Merritt. Genoe played a great game in Penticton but we didn’t have everybody on board for that game.”
Prince George is currently four points out of third place, with Trail, Penticton and Westside forming a three-way logjam in the Interior Conference, each with 33 points. Salmon Arm (18-7-1-1) leads the division with 38 points.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 November 2008 )
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