When the Prince George Spruce Kings beat the Powell River Kings 2-1 in overtime on Thursday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, they took yet another step into uncharted territory.
With the five-game elimination of Powell River from the third round of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs, the Spruce Kings advanced to the league championship series for the first time in their 22-year BCHL history. In the battle for the BCHL title - and the Fred Page Cup that goes with it - the Spruce Kings will face either the Wenatchee Wild or Trail Smoke Eaters. In that playoff semifinal, Wenatchee leads 3-1 in games and will have a chance to clinch the series tonight on home ice. If the Smoke Eaters stay alive, they will host the Wild in Game 6 on Saturday night. And, if the series goes a full seven games - which would suit the Spruce Kings just fine - the deciding contest will be played on Monday night back in Wenatchee.
Meanwhile, for the Spruce Kings, the season has produced an impressive list of firsts. During the regular schedule, the Kings skated to a 33-17-4-4 record and won their first-ever regular-season division title. The Mainland Division champs then stepped into the post-season and added the Mainland playoff banner to their collection of awards. To accomplish that feat - another milestone moment for the organization - they pulled off Game 7 victories against the Chilliwack Chiefs (Round 1) and Surrey Eagles (Round 2).
The Spruce Kings, of course, were playing in a BCHL conference final for the first time and now they are a conference champion as well.
If the Spruce Kings beat either the Wild or Smoke Eaters in the best-of-seven Fred Page Cup final, they'll move on to the Doyle Cup for another best-of-seven affair against the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoff winner. In the AJHL, the Spruce Grove Saints are through to the final after a semifinal sweep of the Whitecourt Wolverines and are awaiting a championship-series opponent - either the Brooks Bandits or Okotoks Oilers, who have split the first four games of their semifinal and will play Game 5 tonight in Okotoks. The Oilers are coming off a 5-4 triple-overtime victory in Game 4.
The eventual winner of the Doyle Cup will qualify for the RBC Cup national junior A championship, May 12-20 in Chilliwack. Champions from the Pacific, West, Central and East will join the host Chiefs at the event. The Spruce Kings hosted the RBC Cup in 2007 and lost 3-1 to the Aurora Tigers in the final.
