Injuries are part of life in the B.C. Hockey League and all teams go through their share.
They've hit the Prince George Spruce Kings especially the first month of the season, coming in bunches that have ravaged the blueline.
Last weekend on their three-game Mainland Division tour, with Brendan Hill and Cole Leal both at home in Prince George with lower-body injuries, the Kings were left with just four defencemen for Sunday's game in Coquitlam.
Evan Orr hurt his shoulder in the second game of the trip Saturday in Langley, then in Coquitlam Nick Bochen aggravated an ankle injury he's been dealing with since the start of the season. The Kings also lost right winger Nolan Welsh, their 20-year-old captain, to a hip-flexor injury he suffered in the Langley game.
"We've certainly got some injuries on defence to some key guys with Evan Orr, Nick Bochen and Cole Leal out for at least another couple weeks," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
"We played that game in Coquitlam with four defencemen, three of them were rookies (Colton Cameron, Amran Bhabra and Nolan Barrett) and one was an affiliate player (Ryan Sukuvich)."
Barrett has since been traded to the Cowichan Valley Capitals for 18-year-old forward Colton Cousins. The Kings also acquired 19-year-old defenceman Mason Waite in a trade with the Lloydminster Bobcats for forward Mack Stewart.
That movement of the defencemen in and out of the lineup began one game into the season when 20-year-old Sol Seibel left the team and returned to his home in Kamloops.
"That was a mutual thing, it wasn't just him saying he didn't like it here, he wasn't a good fit for for us either," said Hawes. "His style of play, especially in that one game he played, it didn't go very well."
Barrett, a 19-year-old Merrimack University recruit from New Jersey, also had difficulty adjusting to the Kings' style of play, according to Hawes.
"Nolan was struggling a little bit, he's a tremendously talented player but we have certain expectations for our guys and attention to detail is important within the structure we want guys to play and he was battling that," said Hawes. "We were able to turn him into Colton Cousins, a hardworking wears-his-heart- on-his-sleeve type of player and he's really going to endear himself well to the fans and his teammates."
The Spruce Kings became interested in Waite during the summer.
"Alex (head coach Evin) and I talked about him several times as somebody we liked, he has good size, he's mobile for a big guy and he put up some pretty good numbers (five goals, 24 assists) on a team that didn't have a lot of success last year," said Hawes.
The Kings will have 18-year-old defenceman Brendan Hill back for his first game since he suffered a lower-body injury in the game Sept. 7 against Penticton. Winger Corey Cunningham is also back after missing three games with the flu.
"When we do get healthy back there I'm pretty confident the back end is going to be fine," said Hawes. "Teams run into (injuries) and I guess it's our turn. Last year we got pretty fortunate with injuries and didn't have a lot of them. It just gives others guys an opportunity to step up and take the bull by the horns here."
In one other trade completed Wednesday, the Kings shipped the junior A rights to 20-year-old defenceman Jameson Murray to the Trail Smoke Eaters for future considerations. Hawes said Murray, a three-year WHL veteran who had three goals and 19 points in 59 games last season with the Victoria Royals, wanted to play his final junior season closer to his home on Kelowna.
The Spruce Kings host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs under head coach Joe Martin tonight (7 p.m.) at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, then will take on Trail on Saturday. The Smokies will be bringing BCHL player-of-the-week Kent Johnson, a Michigan University recruit who is the 16-year-old brother of former Spruce Kings' captain Kyle Johnson. He has three goals and eight assists in seven games so far.
The Kings went 1-2 on their last trip. They started with a 6-2 loss in Chilliwack, beat Langley 2-1 and lost 5-1 in Coquitlam.
