The Prince George Spruce Kings have added a couple Cougar mainstays to their roster.
They’ve signed defenceman Aiden Reeves and centre Connor Bowie to join the team for the start of the B.C. Hockey League season until their WHL camp with the crosstown Cougars begins.
Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes worked out the arrangement with Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb, knowing the Kings still had two roster spots unfilled. Reeves and Bowie will be available for the remaining five exhibition games on the Kings’ schedule as well as their first seven regular season games until Dec. 20. After that, they will rejoin the Cougar teammates for the start of training camp at CN Centre.
Reeves, 18, is a six-foot-one, 170-pound native of Prince George who played seven games last season for the Spruce Kings, after starting the season in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League with the Cariboo Cougars. In 20 games with Cariboo he scored three goals and had 12 assists. Reeves finished the season with Cougars and in 12 games collected one assist.
The 19-year-old Bowie, a six-foot-three, 207-pound native of Fort St. John, is heading into his third full WHL season with the Cougars, after being selected in the seventh round of the 2016 bantam draft by the Portland Winterhawks. In 62 games with the Cats last season he produced 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.
Because of the provincial cohort restrictions which require quarantine periods for affiliated players, last-minute callups for teams would be difficult or impossible, so BCHL rosters have been increased this season to 25 players. The Spruce Kings have just 23 of those spots filled, and the addition of Reeves and Bowie won’t result in any of the current players being asked to leave.
“Carrying 25 players is going to be vital and I wanted to get the roster to 25,” said Hawes. “Both these guys are northern B.C. guys and that’s a big part of it for me and I didn’t have to release anyone off the roster to make room for these two guys and that was big part of it for me too.
“It works out well for us and it’s an advantage for the two guys. Not everybody in the Western League is going to get an opportunity to play some meaningful games, but they are and that works good for them and we’re happy to provide it.”
The Spruce Kings’ season is expected to start Dec. 4 at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, with the first game of a doubleheader against the Merritt Centennials.
The Cougars won’t start training camp until Dec. 27, preparing for a season that’s expected to begin on Jan. 8. Lamb said the chance to skate with the Spruce Kings should benefit both his players.
“It’s a good opportunity for them to get back into a normal environment of playing hockey and practicing and getting some games in,” said Lamb. “It’ll be good to get them up to speed for when we get going.”
The WHL schedule has still not been released but it has been confirmed the Cougars will play the entire season within their own B.C. Division, facing Kamloops, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria.
”Everything is different and we just want to get playing, so we’ll make anything work,” said Lamb.
Lamb confirmed there could be a few more Cougars who find temporary junior A assignments over the next few days. Goalie Taylor Gauthier has already played a couple AJHL exhibition games for the Okotoks Oilers as an injury replacement and 16-year-old rookie forward Koehn Ziemmer has suited up in two games for the Whitecourt Wolverines of the AJHL.
