Kyle Johnson and Ethan de Jong love playing for the Prince George Spruce Kings but wouldn't mind lending their considerable hockey talents to a different team in the month of December.
The two forwards have been asked to try out for Canada West to play in the 2016 World Junior A Challenge, Dec. 11-17 in Bonnyville, Alta.
Now in his second season playing centre for the Kings, Johnson was ecstatic with the news Thursday he's officially landed on Hockey Canada's radar.
"I'm thrilled, it's a real exciting opportunity and the fact that Ethan gets to go along, too, will make it easier and lots of fun to go with a teammate and a linemate," said Johnson, a Yale University recruit for 2018-19.
Coming off a 12-goal, 41-point rookie season in 2015-16, Johnson got off to a bit of a slow start offensively this season but has been lighting up the scoreboard lately. Centring a line with de Jong and Jarod Hovde, he now has seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 24 games.
"It's real encouraging that the two of us got this invite and Hovde's been playing awesome hockey as well," Johnson said. "We've taken a lot of steps in the right direction as a line and that's real exciting for the rest of the year.
"Ethan, much like all three players on our line, is really smart with the puck and really fast and I think that's why we work so well together. It makes for lots of quick plays and it's hard for defenders to keep up when we're thinking and moving the game so fast and I think that's what made us so effective this last little bit."
De Jong, a five-foot-10, 165-pound native of North Vancouver, played nine games for the Spruce Kings last season as an affiliate player while he was with the Burnaby Winter Club's academy team. He led the midget team with 84 points in 56 games, playing with winger Ben Poisson and defenceman Liam Watson-Brawn, who are now also with the Spruce Kings.
"I really wasn't expecting it, but it's a real honour, and I hope I do well," de Jong told Spruce Kings broadcaster/communications director Ryan Lepper. "You never want to go to one of those camps alone. It's going to be good to have him (Johnson) and hopefully we'll be put on the same camp team."
In 24 games this season, de Jong has two goals and 16 assists for 18 points, more than any other 1999-born player in the BCHL.
"He's had a great start to the season, and it's great for him to get rewarded for that," said Spruce Kings head coach Chad van Diemen. "He's done a good job of capitalizing on his icetime opportunities here - he's a responsible forward who plays a good 200-foot game and he's earned our trust early."
In total, 60 players from five junior A leagues in Western Canada, including 25 from the B.C. Hockey League, have been invited to the four-day camp in Leduc, Alta., Dec. 5-8, where they will practice and play a series of intrasquad games. Then it's up to head coach Barry Wolff (Coquitlam Express) and his assistants Mike Reagan (Flin Flon, SJHL) and Marc Berry (Dauphin, MJHL) to determine the 22-player roster for Canada West. A similar camp will take place in Etobicoke, Ont., for 40 players invited to try out for Canada East.
Canada West is the defending champion and is a four-time winner of the tournament. Canada West will be part of Group A with Russia and Switzerland. Canada East will be in Group B with the United States and the Czech Republic.
Kings out to stop Express
Winners of their last three games, the Spruce Kings will be back in action tonight at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena to face the Coquitlam Express (7 p.m. start). After losing eight of their first 11 games, the Kings (12-10-1-2, third in Mainland Division) have been one of the hottest teams in the league. They've been cooking at a 9-3-1-1 clip and have climbed into a tie with Trail and Vernon for seventh place overall.
"At the start of the year there were some guys like Johnson, Hovde, and (Parker) Colley who would admit they weren't producing as much as they'd like and then really found their stride and have been putting up points, which has led to wins," said Kings coach Chad van Diemen. "Since we've balanced out our attack, those guys have found their offensive touch and that's showing on the scoreboard."
The Express (6-19-0-2) have had a bad run of injuries and have slipped to sixth place in the Mainland Division. The Kings have a few players out of the lineup, including 19-year-old goalie Stefan Wornig, who remains sidelined with a chronic condition which results in muscle cramping and profuse sweating. He's awaiting an appointment with a specialist and won't likely return from his home in Surrey until after the Christmas break.
Tavin Grant will get the start in the Kings' nets tonight, and Aris Anagnostopoulos, called up from Kamloops of the KIJHL to replace Wornig, has been given the nod to start in goal Saturday against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Poisson (shoulder), winger Tanner Campbell (concussion), and defenceman Trent Huitma (shoulder), acquired a couple weeks ago in a trade from Surrey, won't play this weekend.
Forward Devin Sutton has been called up from the Cariboo Cougars major midget team and newly-acquired winger Keegan Ward, picked up in a Nov. 8 trade for futures from the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, will make his BCHL debut this weekend. Ward, a six-foot-two, 200-pound, 19-year-old native of Galesburg, Mich., will be playing his first game in more than a month after serving an eight-game suspension for squirting a water bottle at fans at a USHL game Oct. 15 in Fargo, N.D.
"He's just a great teammate and a great person and he brings energy to the room," said van Diemen. "He's soaking everything in and he's excited to go and we're excited to finally get him in some game action this weekend."
