Relief is on the way for the Prince George Spruce Kings beleaguered blueline brigade.
After playing with only three of their starting defenceman in their most recent game Saturday, a 3-0 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, the ranks of the injured are starting to thin.
"Any time your back end is down to three healthy bodies it's tough and it takes its toll, but at the same time it's good experience for those young D to play a lot of minutes," said Kings head coach Alex Evin. "I don't think there's going to be many 16- or 17-year-old defencemen playing 25 to 28 minutes a night the last few games and they'll be better for it in the long run.
"We have some good D on our roster right now who have been hurt and when they get back we'll hopefully get rolling a little more consistently. We could possibly have three D back by (the weekend) and maybe all four back."
Newcomer Mason Waite, acquired last week in a trade from the Lloydminster Bobcats, was the only Kings defenceman in the lineup Saturday with any extensive junior A experience. They also dressed 16-year-old rookie Amran Bhabra and 18-year-old Brendan Hill, who just returned from a lower-body injury. The Kings added Cariboo Cougar major midgets Aiden Reeves and Mathew Magrath for the weekend to fill on defence as affiliated players.
Veterans Nick Bochen (ankle sprain), Evan Orr (shoulder) and Cole Leal (ankle) were not available for either game. Colton Cameron smashed up his mouth when he fell into the boards during the Kings 8-2 win over the Alberni Vallley Bulldogs Friday night and missed Saturday's game after he required surgery that afternoon to stitch up his gums.
The Kings (3-4-2-0 fourth in Mainland Division) are in Penticton this weekend for the BCHL Showcase and will play the West Kelowna Warriors Friday morning in a 10 a.m. game. The Warriors (1-7-2-0) are off to a slow start and currently rank last in the Interior Division. Brandon Dent of Prince George, a five-foot-seven, 140-pound left winger, has four goals and eight points as the Warriors' third-leading pointgetter.
The Kings are led offensively by Nick Poisson (3g-8a-11pts) Chong Min Lee (4-5-9) and Fin Williams (4-4-8). Winger Corey Cunningham (3-5-8) is back to health after a flu bug forced him to miss the three-game Mainland Division tour two weekends ago.
On Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Penticton, the Kings will face the Smoke Eaters for the second time in eight days.
"We seem to play a good game and then a very average game so we have to start to level things out," said Evin.
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