After several months of goaltending inactivity, Alex Wright needed to shake off the rust.
His Prince George Spruce Kings teammates were only too happy to oblige with the WD-40 treatment Wednesday morning, bombarding Wright with shots in his first practice since rejoining the team that gave him his start in junior hockey.
If his team's record so far in the B.C. Hockey League is any indication, Wright would be wise to get used to a shooting gallery in a hurry. Owners of the third-worst goals-against average in the 16-team BCHL, the Spruce Kings have won just two of 15 games and are only two points ahead of the last-place Merritt Centennials.
The 20-year-old Wright has watched the Kings in action this season at the Coliseum, he knows eight of those 13 losses have been by two goals or less, and he says they deserve better than what the standings indicate. And now that they once again have his experience back between the pipes, he's confident the Kings' fortunes will turn around.
"I'm pretty sure we'll come out of it, I was in a worse situation last season with the Cougars," said Wright. "It's still early in the season and I think I can help the team get some more wins. I've watched a couple games and it wasn't all goaltending (that led to the Kings' downfall), the guys weren't helping out much. Maybe with me being back that will shake them up a bit."
Wright's only hockey action since he finished up with the Prince George Cougars last season was one game with the Mohawks Oldtimers and the two weeks he spent in Calgary during the summer at the World Pro goaltending school.
"I've just been sitting in Prince George waiting to get back in junior A somewhere but everybody had their goalies committed and there wasn't anywhere for me to go," he said. "I've been talking to (the Spruce Kings) for about a month and a few days ago they decided to bring me up.
"It feels good and I'm excited to play and be back with some of the guys I played with before. It will give me one more opportunity to show what I've got. I thought I did fairly well (Wednesday ) in practice. I was sucking wind in the skate at the end but that's to be expected. I'm going to be sore all week."
To make room for Wright, the Kings parted company with starting goalie Ryan Benitez, a 20-year-old Harvard University recruit. In 11 games as a BCHL rookie, Benitez compiled a 2-5-0 record with a 4.82 goals-against average and 87.34 save percentage.
This is Wright's third stint with the Spruce Kings. He started with them in 2009-10 but was called up to WHL to the Cougars one month into the season. Just three of his former teammates - RJay Berra, Nic DeSousa and Justin Fillion -- are still with the with the Kings.
Wright's WHL rights were originally owned by the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Cougars picked him up in the 2007-08 season and he played major midget that year for the Cariboo Cougars. Traded to the Spokane Chiefs in August 2008, he was sent back down to the Spruce Kings and after a brief call-up to the Chiefs, finished the season in Prince George.
Last season, after being dropped by the Chiefs, the WHL Cougars put Wright back on their protected list and called him back up after he'd played 12 games with the Spruce Kings. His season ended prematurely when he took a shot in Jan. 8 game that cracked his collar bone. The bone later snapped while he was attempting to do a push-up in training and that pretty much ended his season. He played 18 games with the WHL Cougars in 2009-10, finishing with a 4.48 goals-against average and 87.6 save percentage.
The six-foot-one, 185-pound Wright is expected to be in the lineup along with rookie goalie Kirk Thompson when the Kings face the Quesnel Millionaires Saturday in Quesnel.
