It's the last roadtrip of the season for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Knowing they've already clinched home-ice advantage for the first round of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs and there's only a slim mathematical chance of catching the first-place Langley Rivermen, the Kings are quite content to wait until the postseason to slip into do-or-die mode.
Trailing the Rivermen by 10 points with only five games left, the Spruce Kings left Thursday morning for Coquitlam, where they'll play the Express tonight. Then they hit Chilliwack and Langley before they board the bus back to P.G. Sunday night.
"We're locked pretty much into second place and the most important thing we can do down the stretch here is make sure we're healthy," said Spruce Kings head coach Dave Dupas.
"If we have some nagging injuries or have some guys who are sick or need some rest, we're just not going to play them this weekend. We just have nowhere to go in the standings. Obviously we want to go into the playoffs on a high but at what expense. So everyone's going to play, we're not going to wear out our top guys.'
The only injured Kings are F Riley Hawes, who suffered a concussion Sunday in the game against Nanaimo and D Copper Rush, acquired in a trade early January from Chilliwack, who is still at home in Ontario awaiting clearance to return after knee surgery. If Rush doesn't get the green light this weekend, the 20-year-old won't get a chance to play with his new team unless the Kings go deep in the playoffs.
The Kings have been working in practice on special teams. Dupas knows his team is third-the best in the BCHL defensively, averaging 2.67 goals against per game, and he will expect that trend to continue this weekend.
Alex Murray will get the start tonight in goal for Prince George and Jesse Jenks will get the nod for the Chilliwack game.
The Kings end the season at the Coliseum, hosting the Langley Rivermen next Thursday and Friday.
