A year after the Prince George Cougars won their first regular-season division banner, the Prince George Spruce Kings have done the same in the B.C. Hockey League.
Heading into the playoffs this weekend, nobody in the BCHL, not even the mighty Penticton Vees, wants to play the Mainland Division champs from Prince George. That's because this year's edition of the Spruce Kings plays stingy hockey, which is perfectly suited to the playoffs. While the Kings didn't score a ton of goals - they finished 12th in the league and Ethan de Jong, their top points man, only found the back of the net 17 times - they were third in the league in goals against. That's the stat that speaks to a disciplined, well-coached team that plays a 200-foot game.
As a low-scoring squad, the Kings are also used to winning close games, another huge asset heading into Friday and Saturday, when the Kings kick off their 2018 playoff campaign at home in the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
The final weekend of the regular season showed what the Kings do to their BCHL competition. They beat Chilliwack 2-1 on Friday, 2-0 on Saturday and then Langley 1-0 on Sunday, with Brad Cooper notching the shutouts in the last two games.
If the best defenceman has to be the goalie, the Kings are in fantastic shape.
Cooper, the Kings' backup, won seven times, four of them shuthouts and finished the year with a solid .918 save percentage. He saw 30 pucks in Chilliwack and just 23 in Langley this past weekend, stopping them all.
Starter Evan DeBrouwer posted some of the best goalie numbers in the league this year, with three shutouts of his own, a .920 save percentage and 26 of the team's wins, earning him team MVP hnours.
In front of their solid netminders, the Kings are a playoff opponent nightmare. Led by the big Bens - Ben Brar and Ben Poisson - the Kings score by committee. Brar and Poisson were the only two Kings who scored more than 20 goals, while six other players scored 10 or more. In other words, the Kings have eight forwards, any one of whom knows how to finish. Combine that with four defencemen who scored five or more goals this season and it's clear the Kings play a solid team game with the ability to adjust seamlessly when injuries strike.
Momentum? The Kings have that, too. Winners of 10 of their last 12 and only one goal against in their last three games.
This team is also extraordinary in the history books. Beside the first division banner since the Kings joined the league in 1996, their 33-17-4-4 regular-season record was third best in team history, right behind the 1998-99 team that won 37 times and the 2004-05 team that won 36 games. Yet, a deeper dive into the records shows this year's Kings lost the fewest games in regulation - only 17 - compared to 18 for that 04-05 team and 20 for the 98-99 squad.
Congratulations to first-year head coach Adam Maglio, general manager Mike Hawes and the rest of the Kings organization on this impressive and historic regular season. Also congratulations to the longtime Kings fans that have stuck with this team and have finally been rewarded with a banner.
Hopefully, there is lots of hockey still ahead this year for these Kings.
With both the Kings and the Cariboo Cougars well-positioned for extended playoff runs in their respective leagues, local hockey fans disappointed in the Vancouver Canucks and Prince George Cougars this year have no reason to stay home.
Exciting playoff hockey in Prince George starts this weekend.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
