Strange as it might seem, considering they won the B.C. Hockey League title two years ago, the Prince George Spruce Kings are still the defending champs.
They’ll take that with them on the ice Saturday in Chilliwack when they get started on the abbreviated 20-game 2021 season against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
This time two years ago, Corey Cunningham and the Kings were three-quarters through the BCHL playoffs, steamrolling their opponents in an unprecedented 16-1 postseason run. That led into their Doyle Cup regional series victory over the Brooks Bandits and an eventual one-goal loss to the Bandits in the game for all the marbles at the national junior A championship.
Cunningham was 17 at the time, not far removed from his Prince George minor hockey days, and he was a big part of that championship team. He played in all 17 league playoff games and contributed five goals and five assists to the Fred Page Cup cause. Now one of the designated leaders as an assistant captain, Cunningham is the only remaining Spruce King player from that 2018-19 team.
“It doesn’t come up a ton, but everybody in the room knows I’ve done what it takes to win, I went through everything, so I feel like most of the guys in the locker room and on the ice really look up to me,” said Cunningham. “They know that I’ll give them the rundown if they’re not going (with the same effort) the guys we had on that championship team had that year, I’ll let them know.
“I’ll give them confidence and help them out as much as I can. I want to be a winner. I want to have that feeling again and I can bring that experience and give it to the team we have now.”
Cunningham finished second in team scoring last season with 44 points in 53 games and led the Kings with 26 goals. His speed and tenacious checking abilities and his scoring touch around the net caught the eyes of U.S. college scouts and he committed over the summer to Merrimack College in Andover, Mass. That’s supposed to start next season but there’s a good chance his scholarship and his business studies at Merrimack will be deferred to 2022 now that the NCAA has granted an extra year of eligibility to its winter sport athletes who play in 2020-21. That would be good news for Kings fans who won’t get to see Cunningham in the prime of his junior career except for what they see on their computer screens on webcasts from the hub in Chilliwack over the next six weeks.
The Kings haven’t played since the league was shut down November, after they played seven exhibition games. Four of those games were against the Merritt Centennials, who are grouped in the Chilliwack pod with the Spruce Kings and Chiefs. The three teams will face each other 10 teams in a season which ends May 9, with a tournament likely to follow which would involve the teams with the best record in each of the five pods. Cunningham says the Spruce Kings will be significantly improved over the 2019-20 edition which won just 18 of 58 games.
“I think we’re an experienced team with a lot of talent, a lot of young talent too,” he said. “Our rookies work their butts off in practice and we’re going to be a hard group to play against this year. I think we can be one of the top teams, if not the best team in the league.”
In the extended off-season, Cunningham has had more practice time than he’s ever had in his hockey career and he’s taken advantage of that time to perfect all elements of his game, but especially his skating and his shot. His goal is score 20 goals in 20 games and he’ll start the season on the top line with centre Carter Cochrane and right winger Andrew Seaman.
“I think I’ve developed a pretty good shot, just changing the angles and pushing pucks and shooting in stride, there’s so much more I didn’t really know until this year, where I really tied to learn it in-depth,” said Cunningham. “Alex (head coach Evin) gave me a chart and all but two of my goals (last season) were outside the dots from the goal line, so hopefully I can pot three or four from the shooting area outside the house.”
The Kings will be leaving for Chilliwack as soon as their COVID test results come back, most likely on Tuesday. It’s been an emotional ride in the six months the team has waited for the season to begin, continually put off by postponements as new restrictions were announced by the public health office. In February, the Kings’ camp was shut down for two weeks when several players tested positive for the virus.
The province approved the BCHL’s return-to-play plan on March 12 and the Kings have been in quarantine since they last practiced on March 21. Cunningham says he’s been allowed to go outside and go for runs but has to avoid public places to minimize the risk of exposure. Whatever it takes to play, he’ll do it.
“Finally we’re actually going to play, I think everyone on the team feels fortunate that we’re playing this year,” said Cunningham. “We’ve worked hard, and we haven’t taken any days off, we’ve practiced every day basically and now we get to show what we’ve done and we’re looking good.”
