Playing second on the goaltending depth chart behind 20-year-old Evan DeBrouwer, 18-year-old Bradley Cooper hasn’t been getting a lot of game action as a rookie with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
If he keeps playing like he did Saturday in a 3-0 shutout win over the Coquitlam Express, Cooper is going to give head coach Adam Maglio a few sleepless nights wondering which goalie to start.
In his first game since Jan. 7, Cooper made 29 saves to earn his second BCHL shutout. More importantly, the win moved the Spruce Kings back into sole possession of first place in the Mainland Division.
Ben Brar opened the scoring 16 seconds into the second period, Ben Poisson added another tally 17:55 into the third period and Ethan de Jog sealed it with an empty-netter in front of 571 witnesses in Coquitlam.
The Spruce Kings will finish off their three-game roadtrip this afternoon in Chilliwack. Prince George (24-15-4-4) is seven points ahead of the Chiefs (22-18-2-3), who did the Spruce Kings a favour when they beat the Langley Rivermen 3-2 Saturday in Chilliwack.
The Spruce Kings have 56 points, one ahead of the Surrey Eagles and two up on Langley. The Eagles, coached by Prince George native Brandon West, lost 4-3 in overtime Saturday in Salmon Arm.
The Spruce Kings started their trip with a 4-1 loss in Langley.
