Poisson, Brar stating case for NCAA recruitment
The Prince George Spruce Kings already have close to a third of their B.C. Hockey League roster committed to NCAA U.S. college teams and 16-year-old defenceman Layton Ahac became the latest to earn that distinction when he signed last week with Ohio State University.
The Buckeyes weren’t the only high-profile school that wanted Ahac’s autograph on a scholarship agreement. They gave Ahac a full ride for a four-year commitment and on Saturday the kid from North Vancouver showed why that might turn out to be a wise investment.
The Spruce Kings already had a 2-0 lead on the visiting Coquitlam Express three minutes into the second period when Ahac went to work on the power play. He intercepted a clearing attempt at the line and instead of blasting the puck on goal he fired a low shot right at the stick blade of Kings’ left winger Ben Brar standing in the slot, and he tipped the puck perfectly into the net.
It was part of a five-goal second period that led to a 7-1 hammering of the Express, witnessed by 834 spectators at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena
Ben Poisson led the way offensively with two goals and an assist, while his linemates Brar and Ethan de Jong each collected a goal and an assist as the Kings completed a two-game sweep of Coquitlam.
Poisson and Brar also scored in Friday’s 4-2 win while sharing the ice with de Jong, a Quinnipiac University recruit. In both games they did the kinds of things that attract the attention of college and pro recruiters.
“We’re not too focused on (getting scholarships), we’re focused on playing the right way and that stuff will come if we do the right things,” said the 18-year-old Poisson. “I think it helps having a 16-year-old on the team (Ahac) who’s playing really well for us. He looks for sticks, he’s a smart player. It attracts a lot of attention and we’re just playing really well as a whole so I think the scouts like that.”
With that win, the Kings (14-10-2-3) moved back into second place in the Mainland Division, five points behind Langley for the division lead. Coquitlam (3-21-1-0) remained in the Mainland basement.
The Kings had six penalties to kill in the third period, including a two-man disadvantage when goalie Evan DeBrouwer took a double-minor for spearing in the opening minute of the third, with Dylan Anhorn already in the penalty box. They got out of it unscathed, but being forced to kill penalties for more than half the period kept the Kings from rolling four lines as they probably would have liked holding such a big lead. That probably limited the icetime for Cariboo Cougar major midget callup Craig MacDonald, who did not look out of place playing on a line with BCHL rookies Corey Cunningham and Ryan Stack.
“Our game-plan was to come in – we don’t take them lightly, any team can beat anybody in this league – and jump on them when they make mistakes,” said Poisson. “Obviously it wasn’t the plan to take that many penalties in the third but at the end of the day we got that done, so it was all good.”
Poisson’s first goal Saturday came when he redirected a perfect saucer pass from Brar with 13:16 gone in the second period. His second was a wicked blast from the slot five minutes later in the period.
Coquitlam went 0-for-7 with the man advantage, the Kings were 1-for-5. Injuries are taking their toll on the Express, who were without three of their 20-year-olds. Defenceman Oliver Lester was out with an ankle injury, forward Nic Holowko has a hip injury and they lost topline winger William Lawrence when he took a puck in the head in the first period Saturday.
— see DEBROUWER, page 11