It's a long road from Prince George to Trail and tonight's game against the Smoke Eaters is only the start of it for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
They also visit Wenatchee on Saturday and Salmon Arm Sunday afternoon in their Interior Division tour. Totaling 2,463 kilometres, it rates as the longest B.C. Hockey League roadtrip of the season for the Spruce Kings.
"We have three good teams we're playing this weekend and we just have to make sure we're bringing a good road mentality in all three games," said Spruce Kings head coach Adam Maglio.
All three opponents this weekend sport winning records. The Wenatchee Wild (8-6-2-0) are third in the Interior, tied in points with the second-place Penticton Vees (8-5-0-2) and the fourth-place Smoke Eaters (7-6-3-1). The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (8-6-1-0, fifth place) are only one point behind those other three Interior teams.
Last weekend, in another three-game, three-day trip, the Kings won two of the three games, beating Coquitlam and Langley before losing the rematch Sunday afternoon against the Express in Coquitlam.
"It was a little bit of a letdown after being up 2-0 on Sunday," said Maglio. "Our goal is to win every game we play in and two out of three is good, but certainly our expectation is to get all three."
Kings right winger Ben Brar was the player of the week with four goals and two assists, including two gamewinners, in the three games. The soon-to-be 20-year-old has several NCAA full-ride scholarship offers on the table and Maglio says it's just a matter of Brar deciding which one provides the best fit.
Now playing on a line with Ben Poisson and Patrick Cozzi, Brar leads the Kings in scoring with 11 goals and five assists. Poisson, the Kings' captain, is battling an illness and might not be ready to play in Trail.
In the Mainland Division, the third-place Spruce Kings (10-5-0-1) fell four points behind second-place Coquitlam (12-5-1-0). The Express increased the gap following a 3-2 shootout victory Wednesday in Penticton. The defending RBC Cup champion Chilliwack Chiefs (13-5-0-0) lead the division with the best record in the BCHL, five points ahead of the Spruce Kings. Prince George has played two fewer games than Chilliwack and Coquitlam.
The Smoke Eaters are coming off a 5-4 loss Wednesday in Wenatchee.
"Trail has some good young talented team and they retained some of their high-end veterans," said Maglio. "They play hard and they're getting (offensive) contributions throughout the lineup."
Maglio says a key to success tonight is to try to limit the number of power-play chances his team gives the Smoke Eaters. They're second only to the West Kelowna Warriors in power-play success, striking at a 24.7 per cent rate. What the Kings have going for them is they are the least-penalized team in the league with just 138 penalty minutes through 16 games, an average 8.6 minutes per game.
The Spruce Kings' power play (22.1 per cent) ranks third in the 17-team BCHL, while their penalty killing (78.9 per cent) is 11th best. Maglio isn't concerned about their PK efficiency, knowing they don't often play shorthanded.
"Our special teams have been pretty good over the last four or five games," said Maglio.
Tonight's game will be the first for 17-year-old Spruce Kings winger Sean Donaldson against his former teammates on the Smoke Eaters.
The Kings acquired the University of Connecticut recruit in a trade last week that sent 18-year-old winger Layne Sniher and future considerations to Trail. In two games with the Kings since then, Donaldson has been held without a point, playing on a line with Dustin Manz and Nolan Welsh.
"Sean brings an offensive element, something that we probably need from more guys and I think he will be one of those guys who can step up and chip in and play in all roles," said Maglio. "He's only 17 and he's still learning, we're not putting a ton of pressure on him."
