Tanner Campbell is making Prince George Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes look like a genius.
Campbell, an 18-year-old forward Hawes acquired three days before Sunday's B.C. Hockey League roster deadline in a trade from the West Kelowna Warriors, scored two goals in each of his first three games on the road in Surrey, Coquitlam and Chilliwack.
The Kings gave up a pair of 20-year-old veteran forwards - Bryan Basilico and the injured Jake LeBrun - in a deal for Campbell and future considerations, knowing they likely won't make the BCHL playoffs. But it appears that trade is already paying large dividends to Prince George.
Campbell scored both Spruce Kings goals in their 2-2 tie with the Surrey Eagles on Friday, then scored two more (including the gamewinner on a power play, 15:18 into the third period) in a 4-3 victory Saturday over the Coquitlam Express.
Sunday night in Chilliwack, Campbell's second goal of the game, 8:34 into the second period, gave the visiting Spruce Kings a 3-2 lead but that's as close as they would get to beating the powerful Chiefs, who scored five unanswered goals to win 7-3.
"I told Tanner after we acquired him we would put him in a position to show off that offensive flair and so far in three games he has really done that," said Hawes. "That is really nice to see on a team that has struggled to score goals this year."
The Campbell deal was just the start of a flurry of trade activity for the Spruce Kings, who later in the weekend sent 20-year-old defenceman Adam Brubacher to Powell River and 19-year-old centre Corey Hoffman to Cowichan Valley.
On Sunday, Aaron O'Neill, with the only goal of the first period, and Jake Smith gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead early in the second period, but the Kings responded with goals from Kyle Johnson and two from Campbell. The Kings dressed five affiliated players and the Chiefs took advantage. Taylor Allen and Darien Craighead restored the Chilliwack lead before the second intermission and Vimal Sukumaran, Mark Esposito and Zach Giuttari netted third-period goals on Kings goalie Joseph McLeod. McLeod made 36 saves in his second consecutive start after a 23-save performance Saturday for his first BCHL win.
The win improved the Chiefs' first-place Mainland Division record to 27-8-4-1. The fifth-place Spruce Kings (10-29-2-1) are 19 points behind Coquitlam (18-18-4-1) which holds down the fourth and final playoff spot.
The Kings built a 3-0 lead after two periods in Coquitlam, allowing just nine shots through 40 minutes. Brubacher collected his 13th of the season and Hoffman, who also had two assists, notched his 11th goal in what was their final game as Spruce Kings.
Owen Stout, Blake Hayward and Taylor Green made it interesting with third-period goals for the Express.
On Friday, the Spruce Kings fired 65 shots at Surrey goalie Justin Laforest and had to settle for the tie. But overall, head coach Chad van Diemen was happy with the efforts of his new-look team in the three games.
"On the ice it was a good trip," said van Diemen. "We didn't capitalize on enough of our opportunities in Surrey and we had a ton, but were a bit unlucky when we hit about four posts or crossbars. In Coquitlam we didn't have a great third period but had enough to get a win. Joesph played great. We only gave up nine shots through two periods but a lot of them were high quality and he made some good saves.
"(On Sunday) we had a lot of inexperience in the lineup. That's a good team over there and they finally started to capitalize on their chances."
In exchange for Brubacher, a six-foot-three, 205-pound defenceman from Elmira, Ont., who led the Spruce Kings with 13 goals and 32 points in 42 games, the Spruce Kings get 18-year-old defenceman Colton Sandberg and future considerations from the Powell River Kings. Sandberg is still a few weeks away from recovering from an upper-body injury and won't be in the lineup Thursday at the Coliseum when the Spruce Kings play their first home game of 2016 against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
Sandberg, a six-foot-three, 195-pound native of Delta, has been limited by injuries to 17 games with Powell River.
He has three assists in his second BCHL season.
Hoffman, a native of Syosset, N.Y., was second in Spruce Kings scoring with 11 goals and 31 points in 41 games.
"Corey is a good kid and a very good player," said Hawes. "He played for well for us in his time here and I know that he enjoyed his time in Prince George.
"This opportunity will allow Corey to continue his development, with a good organization that is hoping to make some noise in the BCHL playoffs this season, as he prepares to play NCAA hockey in Cornell next season."
In one other roster move, the Spruce Kings added forward Dante Raposo from junior B Kamloops of the KIJHL.
The Spruce Kings have 16 games left in the season.
"Going forward here we're going to get a good look at a lot of guys who are going to be put in situations they probably haven't played much this year and it's a matter of who is going to step up and make the most of their opportunities," said van Diemen.
"All the guys we've added are excited to be here and when you add some affiliates in, we'll have some good games down the stretch like we had this weekend. It's tough to make those changes but I think we'll be better for it."
