Christmas break starts after this weekend in the B.C. Hockey League and like every coach in the league, Alex Evin has a difficult job on his hands keeping his Prince George Spruce Kings focused on the task at hand before they head home for the holidays.
“Every day’s a challenge,” quipped Evin, whose team plays Friday in Salmon Arm (7 p.m.) and Saturday in Vernon (6 p.m.), their last games before they get an 11-day break in the schedule
The Kings are coming off a three-game set at home against the Cranbrook Bucks in which they took five of a possible six points.
“It’s tough to play three games in three days and when you play the same opponent by the third game the (other) team starts to figure out what you’re doing, but it was a good experience to go through,” said Evin. “I felt like we always had a good response in those three games, whether they scored or we scored, and to come out with five points is super-positive.
“Everyone could probably look at their record and say they could have had a few more wins, here and there, but for us, we’re just going to work at finding consistency with our group and we’re slowly getting there.”
The Spruce Kings have moved into third place in the Interior Conference standings. Owners of a 13-7-1-0-0 record, their .643 winning percentage is slightly better than that of the fourth-place West Kelowna Warriors (.625). The Warriors (15-9-0-0-0) have 30 points, compared to the Spruce Kings’ 27 points, but have played three more games than Prince George.
The Penticton Vees (.886, 19-2-0-1-0) have the best record in the BCHL but Salmon Arm (.804, 18-4-1-0-0) isn’t far behind. The Spruce Kings beat the Silverbacks 5-0, Dec. 4 in Salmon Arm, which started them on their current five-game point streak.
The Kings were down to 18 or 19 skaters a couple weeks ago and after a series of trades and free agent signings they’ve filled those holes with four older players – forwards Luc Laylin and Logan Lorenz and defensemen Nick Marciano and James Bohn. Laylin scored in his first game with the Kings in Salmon Arm and had assists in two of the three Cranbrook games, while Marciano has also made it onto the scoresheet with two assists in the Bucks series.
“I hope it’s the case, but with older guys who have played junior already, they know what it’s like and they should be here to want to win, not for themselves,” said Evin. “I think that’s sometimes part of the struggle with some of the young players is they’re not always there for the team; they’re there for themselves and it doesn’t work that way in my opinion.”
Nineteen-year-old Fort St. John native Jordan Fairlie has shot to the head of the class among BCHL goalies after posting back-to-back shutouts in Salmon Arm and in Prince George (a 3-0 win over the Bucks last Thursday). Fairlie improved his record to 6-2-1, with a 1.86 goals-against average and .910 save percentage and is forcing Evin’s hand on who gets to play in net, with 20-year-old Aaron Trotter (7-5-0, 2.68 average, .899 save percentage) also putting up good numbers.
“We all know we have two good goalies capable of playing minutes and if one’s not going the other one hopefully is,” said Evin. “They’re hard workers and they complement each other well and they seem to support each other no matter who’s in the net. That was good for Jordy to get a couple shutouts in a row and when it’s Aaron’s turn I’m sure he’ll be ready.”
Thanks to the voting initiative of Prince George hockey fans, three additional Spruce Kings were selected for the BCHL’s 60th anniversary all-star festivities Jan. 14-15 in Penticton. Forward Nick Reaume was already picked by the league to play for the Interior Conference team when fans voted in Prince George forwards John Herrington and Simon Labelle and goalie Aaron Trotter.
They’ll take part in a skills competition on the outdoor rink in downtown Penticton that starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15, followed by a BCHL alumni game at 2:30 p.m. and the all-star 3-on-3 tournament which gets underway at 4 p.m. The all-star weekend also features a top prospects game at South Okanagan Events Centre on Jan. 14.
“With team success comes individual accolades and if our record was flipped I don’t think we’d have that many go to the all-star game,” said Evin. “Those four have been a big part of our team so far and they’re playing well and we’re really proud of them. I’m sure they’ll represent the Spruce Kings very well.”
The Spruce Kings are back on the ice Dec. 30-31 to play the Wild in a two-game set in Wenatchee and will be on the road for much of the month of January, with eight of their nine games in opposition rinks. Their only home date is Jan. 12 against West Kelowna. Games at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena are also scarce in February, with only two of their 10 games (Feb. 11 and 12 against Wenatchee) at home. Prince George will be the home team for the BCHL Road Show two-game set in Burns Lake, Feb. 26-27.
“We’ve played better on the road than we have at home, we’re 6-3 on the road,” said Evin. “Going forward, we’re going to have a lot of road games and the games are going to be be tougher and it will really get you ready for the grind.
“We’ll have a tougher schedule than everyone else, but it’s all good.”
Special teams have been bright spot for the Spruce Kings. Their power play has led the BCHL since the start of the season and continues to do so, striking at a 32.9 per cent success rate. They’ve scored 28 power-play goals in 87 chances. Their penalty-killing is much improved and they’re now tied with Wenatchee for fifth in the league with 80 per cent efficiency, allowing 16 power-play goals in 80 shorthanded situations.
“We have good players that play on the power play and they’re definitely invested in the process for teaching them, they’re doing a great job,” said Evin. “The PK is slowly improving, we had a rough start and started the year at 60-something per cent. We might not finish at the top but we are improving, which is very encouraging.
“We’re a very good team and if someone is going to play against us they’re probably going to be ready. We’re going to get everyone’s best effort every night and that’s a great compliment and we have to make sure we’re the team that’s ready to play.”
