In the end the Prince George Spruce Kings took care of business themselves by doing what no other British Columbia Hockey League team could do in 42 tries - beat the Penticton Vees.
The Kings (33-21-2-4) ended the Vees (54-4-0-2) streak with a 5-2 win Saturday in front of a third straight sellout crowd of 2,112 at the Coliseum and secured third place in the Interior Conference. When the playoffs begin Friday the Kings will travel to Merritt for a best-of-seven semifinal against the second-place Centennials (34-18-2-6), while the Vees will host the fourth-place Chilliwack Chiefs.
"We're happy that it came to an end tonight because we had to have those points," said Spruce Kings' head coach Dave Dupas about ending the Vees' streak one game shy of the Vees setting a new Canadian Junior Hockey League record.
The 42 consecutive wins ties the Vees with the 1980-1981 Flin Flon Bombers of the short-lived Norman Junior Hockey League (circa 1978 to 1985), who had a perfect regular season with a 42-0-0 record in the four-team loop. Flin Flon didn't make the Centennial Cup (renamed the RBC Cup) though, getting swept in a best-of-five series by the Fort Garry Blues, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions, and were outscored 30-7 in the three games.
Had the Kings lost it would've opened the door for the Chiefs to surpass them in the standings if the former Quesnel Millionaires beat the last-place Trail Smoke Eaters in Sunday's regular-season finale in Chilliwack, but the Kings' win rendered the game meaningless.
Swabb stellar
After the Kings blew a 5-4 lead to the Vees on Friday, losing 8-5, Dupas' advice to his troops after they left the ice tied at 2-2 for the second intermission in the rematch was simple.
"I just told them to have some fun, keep playing hard and get pucks to the net and that's exactly what they did," said Dupas. "They fed off all the emotions from the crowd."
Kings' goaltender Ty Swabb made 25 saves in the win, including a couple of huge stops early in the third period when the Vees were pressing.
"He's been the most consistent guy down the stretch here and tonight he really paid off for us," said Dupas, adding he had no qualms about going back to Swabb after Friday's loss. "I think at this point he is [No. 1]. I think we'll have to ride him out and see how it goes."
The Kings' rewarded Swabb when they scored two playoff-style goals - shoot the puck on net and create havoc looking for the rebound - 2:25 apart by Myles Fitzgerald (20th) and a power-play marker by Michael Colantone for the 4-2 lead.
Paul De Jersey had his third assist of the night on Colantone's 32nd goal of the season, giving the 19 year old 98 points and the BCHL scoring title. De Jersey's 41 goals fell short of the most goals, an honour shared by Vees' teammates Mario Lucia and Bryce Gervais at 42.
Colantone added an empty-net goal for his 33rd finishing the season with 75 points. Jarryd Ten Vaanholt and defenceman Ben Woodley had first and second period goals for the Kings respectively.
Curtis Loik and Gervais scored for the Vees, while Chad Katunar made 31 saves in the Penticton net. Prince George native Michael Garteig missed his sixth consecutive game for the Vees, recuperating from a "lower-body" injury, but said he'll be ready to tend to the Penticton net when the playoffs begin.
Kings' rookie Tyson Witala said playing in front of the Castle's enthusiastic fans was great.
"It's unreal," said the 18-year-old native of Prince George. "It's kind of a dream come true when you have fans like that every game. It's really exciting and it's good to see, hopefully we can get sellouts like this in playoffs."
The home playoff dates against the Centennials will take place at the Castle on Monday and Tuesday, March 19 and 20. Playoff tickets are available for sale at the Treasure Cove Casino and are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors/students, $9 for children between six and 12, while children under-five are free. Game 1 and 2 are in Merritt on Friday and Saturday at the Nicola Valley Arena starting at 7:30 p.m. The Kings home games begin at 7 p.m.
