As the Prince George Spruce Kings prepare to skate against the Cowichan Valley Capitals tonight at the Coliseum, they will be a much more relaxed and confident bunch.
It's amazing what some positive results will do for the psyche.
Last weekend at the B.C. Hockey League Showcase in Chilliwack, the Spruce Kings earned their first three points of the season when they beat the Trail Smoke Eaters 6-3 and then lost 2-1 to the Victoria Grizzlies in double overtime. The taste of success came after the Kings had been handily beaten in the first four games of the season. In those contests (5-1 and 8-0 losses to the Wenatchee Wild, 5-0 loss to the Langley Rivermen, 4-1 loss to the Surrey Eagles) they were outscored 22-2 and showed very few signs of a team that could compete at the junior A level.
Giving up, of course, is never an option. So the Kings got back to work before the Trail and Victoria games and were buoyed by the news that 20-year-old defenceman Rylan Bechtel would be joining them. Bechtel was acquired in an August trade that saw 19-year-old blueliner Mitch Meek go to the Capitals. But, rather than report to Prince George, Bechtel told the Spruce Kings he was quitting hockey and entering the working world. His change of heart meant he was in the lineup against the Smokies and Grizzlies and he appeared to be a stabilizing influence in those appearances.
It should be mentioned that the points the Kings picked up came against a pair of teams that won't likely be the cream of the BCHL crop this season (Trail was 2-4-0-0 coming out of the Showcase and Victoria was 1-4-0-0) but you've got to start somewhere.
So now, the Spruce Kings have a record of 1-4-0-1 and have hopefully proven to themselves that a focus on team defence can win them some hockey games this season. They're not going to blow many of their opponents out (consider that several of last season's offensive catalysts - guys like Jeremiah Luedtke, Chad Staley, Justin Rai and Brogan O'Brien - have moved on) but there's no reason why they can't subsist on 3-2 wins.
No doubt the Kings will still have some tough nights as the season progresses. Their margin for error will be slim and they could get into trouble if injuries start chipping away at their roster. But one thing they have in their favour is upward potential. Whereas some teams in the league won't get much better than they are now, the Spruce Kings still have plenty of room to improve and will do exactly that under new head coach Chad van Diemen.
Then there's general manager Mike Hawes, who has done an excellent job of building competitive clubs in recent seasons and will make any moves necessary to strengthen this particular group. Last week, he brought in 20-year-old forward Bryan Basilico, a big-bodied guy with a nice skill-set who had been with the Smoke Eaters. Then, this week, the GM added talented forward Jarod Hovde, an 18-year-old who had been playing for the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Prior to that, Hovde was a standout performer at the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna. In more good news this week (and Hawes probably had a hand in this as well) the Kings got back veteran blueliner Matt Stief, who had been expected to skate for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League this season.
All general managers hate to lose but Hawes may just take that hatred to another level. And with him at the helm, the Kings have had four winning seasons in a row and have posted an overall record of 117-87-8-20 during that time.
The Spruce Kings' journey continues tonight against the Capitals, and on Saturday night when they host the always-potent Penticton Vees, who have gone 5-1 so far.
If the Kings want a measuring stick to see how much progress they've made since their season-opening losses to Wenatchee (now 5-0 as a first-year BCHL club), they'll get it against the Vees.
