Considering all the lineup changes the Prince George Spruce Kings have made the past few weeks, programs will be an essential item for fans this weekend at the Coliseum.
After opening the season with four straight losses, Kings general manager Mike Hawes obviously wasn't satisfied. This week he traded for forwards Bryan Basilico and Jarod Hovde, sent off-season acquisition Luc Soares to Saskatchewan and got some unexpected help when second-year defenceman Matthew Stief decided to return to Prince George after trying to catch on in the USHL.
"I'm not sure if (Stief) will be in this weekend or not but when he gets here he'll be a good addition for us on the back end," said head coach Chad van Diemen, whose Kings host the Cowichan Valley Capitals tonight (7 p.m.).
"We've made a couple changes up front we needed to address and Basilico is a veteran guy we can lean on for minutes. He's a big body with good hands around the net and Hovde is a good addition. There's been a bit of change but now's the time to do it early, as opposed to waiting all year. Looking at our lineup now, we're definitely a better team than we were a week or two ago."
Last week, the Kings finally had the chance to welcome 20-year-old defenceman Rylan Bechtel, who decided to forego his work/education plans to resume his BCHL career. With Bechtel on the blueline, the Kings earned their first points of the season last weekend at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack, where they doubled Trail 6-3 and lost 2-1 in double overtime to Victoria.
Bechtel played three seasons for the Capitals and last year ranked fourth in team scoring with 42 points, including five goals. Tonight he's up against the player the Kings sent to Cowichan to acquire his rights. Defenceman Mitch Meek, 19, is expected to be back in the Caps' lineup after serving a three-game suspension as a result of a match penalty, Sept. 11. Meek, a Clarkson University recruit, had seven goals and 18 points in a 2014-15 season split with Vernon and Victoria.
After starting the season with three straight victories, the Caps (3-1-0-1) lost 2-1 to West Kelowna and 4-3 in overtime to Vernon last weekend at the Showcase.
"They've got a lot of veterans back this year and they're doing a good job carrying the mail for them early here," said van Diemen. "They have a lot of speed, they play very aggressive and they're very opportunistic, they capitalize on turnovers - just a hardworking blue-collar team. They play with pace."
Adam Osczevski, the BCHL player of the week in Week 1, leads Cowichan with four goals and two assists in four games, coming off a one-game suspension. Forward Ryan Burton, a Union recruit in his second season with Cowichan, will draw plenty of attention, as will Northern Michigan-bound forward Darien Craighead, who picked up 44 points with the Caps last season.
They've been getting outstanding work in the crease from goalie Storm Phaneuf, who moved to Duncan this year after four seasons of major junior in the QMJHL. Through three games, the 19-year-old has a sparkling 1.68 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.
On Saturday, the Penticton Vees come to town for their only Coliseum visit, offering a rare opportunity to see two potential first-round NHL draft picks in action. Forward Tyson Jost and defenceman Dante Fabbro were listed as 'A' prospects in NHL Central Scouting's preliminary list of players to watch, released Tuesday. Jost, a 17-year-old from Kelowna, currently leads the Vees in scoring (4g-7a-11pts) in six games and Fabbro isn't far behind (1-6-7).
Jost is one of four Vees signed by the University of North Dakota. Forward Dixon Bowen, 19; defenceman Colton Poolman, 19; and defenceman Gabe Best, 18, are also destined for the Fighting Sioux. The Vees have four other NCAA college recruits, including forward Scott Conway (Penn State), forward Chris Gerrie (Michigan Tech), defenceman Seamus Donohue (Air Force) and forward Benjamin Brar (Denver).
Penticton also has a pair of seasoned goaltenders. Anthony Brodeur, the eldest son of NHL great Martin, brings four seasons of QMJHL experience, and 18-year-old Zachary Driscoll, who joined the Vees on Monday, played last year in the USHL with Omaha. In five games so far, Brodeur has a 4-0 record with a 1.16 goals-against average and .958 save rate.
"Penticton always has a skilled team - they work hard and play a good system and you have to play a very smart, tight-checking game and be bang-on against them," said van Diemen. "As good as they are offensively, they don't give up much defensively. They back-check hard and don't give up much time and space. We have to not give them chances off the rush and try and snuff them out in the D-zone as quick as we can. We obviously have to stay out of the penalty box, they usually have a pretty good power play."
Special teams play has been a killer for the Spruce Kings. Through six games the Kings are 1-for-31 on the power play (last in the 17-team BCHL) and their penalty killing ranks 16th overall. Opponents have scored 11 goals in 35 power-play chances against the Kings.
"It seems we have at least one penalty kill where we have a bit of a lapse and we're giving up a goal and we just need to bear down and get the job done," said van Diemen. "On the power play we've been getting great chances and either we just missed the net or the goalie makes a nice save. Hopefully when it does come the floodgates will open a bit. Our power play has to get the job done if we want to start winning some games here."
The Spruce Kings have scored just nine goals in six games while allowing 27 - the worst goal differential in the BCHL. Van Diemen says his goaltending is not to blame. Sam Tanguay, who joined the Kings two weeks ago, has done everything expected of a 20-year-old goalie, and was in net for the win against Trail, while 17-year-old Liam McCloskey has fit in well as a junior A rookie. He made 35 saves in the double-overtime loss to Victoria.
