The Prince George Spruce Kings will begin a brand new season tonight.
They host the Coquitlam Express in Game 1 of a first-round best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League playoff series at the Coliseum.
Prince George finished second in the Mainland Division at 32-20-4-2 and 70 points, while the Express finished third at 26-27-2-3 and 59 points.
During the regular season, the Spruce Kings posted a 7-1-1 record against the Express.
But that doesnt mean a thing come playoff time.
Nothing carries over, said Kings head coach Dave Dupas after practice Monday. Every time we played them, it was a new game. It was a goal here or a goal there [how we won]. Its not as easy as our 7-1-1 record, theyre very dangerous. They have three good lines that can hurt us.
Keeping the puck out [of our net] will be very difficult. Itll be our D against their
offence.
Coquitlams offence includes their leading scorer in the regular season, forward Adam Rockwood, who netted 13 goals and 61 assists, and forward Canon Pieper with 33 goals and 33 assists.
Prince George will counter with their offensive leaders in the likes of Chad Staley (62 points), Jeremiah Luedtke (55 points), and Christian Weidhauer (48 points).
After wrapping up the regular season Friday night against Langley, the Kings have spent the last few days working on their special teams play. Coquitlam scored 19 short-handed goals during the season and 49 with the man-advantage, good for sixth overall in the BCHL.
Dupas said good defence, back-checking and good positioning will be key in preventing Coquitlam from scoring when Prince George is on the power play.
The Spruce Kings lost a key cog of their offence Thursday when 19-year-old forward Brent Lashuk suffered a lower-body injury at home against Langley. Hes expected to remain out of the lineup for the playoffs.
Lashuk finished fifth in team scoring, collecting 22 goals and 21 assists in 49 games.
His loss is huge, said Dupas. Hes a big body and defensively very sound. He kills penalties. He played on that line with Bryant [Christian] and they kept us out of trouble and they also scored.
Dupas hasnt decided who will move up to fill Lashuks spot.
Prince George defencemen Karan Toor and Skylar Pacheco and forward Justin Rai are all expected to be back in the lineup after taking the last two regular season games off to heal some nagging injuries.
Competing with players on the injury shelf while contending for a playoff spot is nothing new for the Spruce Kings.
Weve faced adversity with key injuries, said Christian, who himself suffered a broken jaw earlier in the season. Anybody can fill those roles at any time.
Were a close-knit group and we enjoy coming to the rink for practice or a game or an off-ice team function.
Dupas said having home-ice advantage in the playoffs doesnt really matter.
Well be in big trouble if we go down 2-0, I dont think home ice matters, he said. Sometimes its easier to start on the road. You work all year to have home ice and then suddenly its gone.
Christian said the team is excited.
Its great to open the playoffs at home in front of the community that has supported us, he said. They always get behind us.
Game 1 is tonight at the Coliseum at 7 and Game 2 follows Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The two teams then return to Coquitlam for Games 3 and 4 Friday and Saturday.
The winner of the series will advance to the Mainland Division championship series against the winner of the other semifinal between Langley and Surrey.
