Dave Dupas sets a high standard for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
"For a lot of our guys, I don't think they competed as hard as they should compete," said the head coach after the Kings lost a 6-1 decision Saturday to their BCHL Coastal Conference rival Alberni Valley Bulldogs (7-5-1) at The Coliseum. "We kind of got run over here a bit.
"We're not happy with the effort of the boys," he added.
The Kings (7-6-0-1) were without their top two leading scorers Paul De Jersey and Jujhar Khaira - in Langley for the final tryout for Team Canada West for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge from Nov. 7 to 13.
De Jersey has 28 points for the Kings this season, while Khaira has racked up 27.
But, Dupas said even without the duo in the lineup he expected his remaining players to strive harder.
"We have to carry on like they're not part of our team right now, because they're not," said Dupas. "The guys that are wearing our uniforms have to come, compete and they have to win games. There's no excuses for those guys to lay down; I thought they laid down a little bit tonight thinking, maybe they didn't have a chance to win. That's not acceptable to me."
Without their top offensive weapons the Kings fell behind 3-0 after the first period on goals from the Bulldogs' Josh Mitchell, Ryan Lough and Brandon Adams.
Yan Kalashnikov and Adams each had four-point nights for the Bulldogs.
Prince George closed the gap to 3-1 midway through the second period on defenceman Chase Golightly's first goal of the season, but a series of penalties gave the visitors the opportunity to add three power-play goals.
"It got a lot of pressure off my back," said Golightly. "I've been trying to get that one for a while so it was nice to finally get it."
In addition to De Jersey and Khaira, the Kings were missing several players with injuries - Cody Bardock, Jared Crossan, Jeff Earnest, Sean Landrey and Connor Tiechko.
"We have a full lineup so we've got to find a way to work it out and take care of it on our own," said Golightly, 19.
Prince George had several passes intercepted, which gave the Bulldogs free rein on Kings' goaltenders Marcus Beesley and Kirk Thompson. Beesley was pulled after Alberni made it 3-0.
The Kings also lost the services of veteran defenceman Ben Woodley for the third period after he was handed a two-minute checking to the head minor and game misconduct. Woodley spent much of the second period chirping back-and-forth with several Bulldogs' players.
"[The Bulldogs] didn't act with much class or respect," said Dupas. "They knew we had a bunch of junior B kids on the team and they made sure that every time they went by our bench they were calling us a junior B team. It was just a total lack of respect and, I think, Ben had enough."
There were four AP players in the Kings' lineup: Kevin Leschuk, Patrick and Eric Chore and Karan Toor.
Late in the game, the Bulldogs, already up 6-1, continued to give their top power-play unit quality minutes.
"They were still putting their top unit out there and I just thought that was uncalled for," said Dupas. "When we had Trail down 8-0 our top line didn't see the last 10 minutes of the game and they certainly didn't see a power play. We made sure our guys kept their mouths shut as to not rub it in."
The Kings travel south for three games, starting Friday in Chilliwack (6-5-0-1), Saturday in Powell River (9-5-1) and Sunday afternoon in Cowichan Valley (8-5-1).
