2017 playoffs set stage for Spruce Kings
The new year has just begun and the Prince George Spruce Kings are off to one of the best starts in their 22-year B.C. Hockey League history.
With 30 games left in their 58-game schedule the Kings (20-12-4-2) are eight games above .500 and are just two points back of the Langley Rivermen for first place in the Mainland Division.
The Spruce Kings have thrived under rookie head coach Adam Maglio, who took over from Chad van Diemen last summer, inheriting one of the youngest teams in the BCHL, with only a handful of players who were around last season.
The fact the Kings have hung around with the league frontrunners for as long as they have proves their quick start was no fluke. Despite the fact they had just seven returning players, the Kings are on pace to eclipse their pace from 2013-14 when they put up a 32-20-4-2 record and finished a strong second in their division.
2017 will best be remembered for the Spruce Kings’ near-upset of the Wenatchee Wild in the first round of the playoffs in March. The Wild won 45 of their 58 games in the regular season to finish first overall, 38 points ahead of Prince George, but blew a 3-0 series lead. The Kings were leading 3-2 in Game 6 with a minute left, on their way to sending the series to a deciding Game 7, but allowed two goals in the final minute. Matt Baker scored the series-winner with 6.5 seconds left, ending the Kings’ season.
“We were down, our backs against the wall against one of the best teams in junior A hockey and to be able to battle back the way we did and lose Game 6 in the last minute was a heartbreaker,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes. “It certainly was a great learning experience and they’ve rolled that experience into this year and have brought their play to the next level.”
The Kings tapped into a gold mine of hockey talent in the Burnaby Winter Club academy program which paid off in three of their top five scorers so far this season – Ethan de Jong, Ben Poisson, and Kyle Johnson – as well as forwards Nolan Welsh and Ryan Stack and defenceman Liam Watson-Brawn.
Three other products of B.C. academies – forwards Ben Brar (Yale Academy, via trade from Penticton), Jarod Hovde (Pursuit of Excellence) and 16-yearold defenceman Layton Ahac (West Van Academy), have been key contributors in the rise of the Spruce Kings, as have American-born forwards Patrick Cozzi and Dustin Manz, Korean import winger Chong Min Lee and former Coquitlam Express forward Blake Hayward.
Goaltending has been a position of strength with 20-yearold Evan DeBrouwer having a career year. Blueline recruits Chays Ruddy, Jay Keranen and Tyson Slater are not flashy but they’re fast at moving the puck and the Kings don’t spend a lot of time in their own end.
Maglio and his assistant Alex Evin have brought a modern fresh approach to coaching that relies heavily on teaching through video and the players have responded better than could be expected.
“I had an opportunity to watch Adam for two years under Chad and it wasn’t even a thought in my mind on who I wanted to replace Chad when the time came and he had to move on and I knew Adam, despite being a young guy, that he was ready for the challenge,” said Hawes.
“He’s young and progressive and totally on trend with what’s happening in the game. The systems we run in games are tremendous and the players respond to him. To be able to complement him with a guy like Alex, they’re very similar type of coaches and they get along extremely well and they’re both well-respected from our players.”
The Kings continue their schedule this weekend with games in Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm.