Kings nearly completed Wild comeback last year
Remember what happened to the Prince George Spruce Kings in last year’s playoffs?
In what became one of the most memorable first-round series in their BCHL history, the fourth-place Spruce Kings (25-27-4-2) took on the regular-season champion Wenatchee Wild (45-9-4-0) and came within a minute of forcing a Game 7 showdown.
It truly was David-versus-Goliath scenario. The Wild had outscored the Kings 4613 and won all seven games in the season series they jumped out to a 3-0 series lead. Wenatchee won the opening two games on home ice decisively, 4-1 and 6-1, then scored a 2-1 win as the scene switched to Prince George for the next three games, where it all began to unravel on the Wild.
Injuries began to take a toll on the visitors and the Kings won the next two games, 7-4 and 3-1. In Game 6 in Wenatchee, where the Wild had yet to lose a game in regulation time all season, the Spruce Kings led 3-2 with about a minute left when they got caught with too many men on the ice. The Wild pulled their goalie to create a 6-on-4 situation and Chris Jones scored the tying goal with exactly one minute left on the clock. Then with 6.5 seconds left, Matthew Baker collected a rebound after AJ Vanderbeck got the puck on net coming down the right wing and Baker’s shot snuck through the pads of goalie Tavin Grant to end the series.
“In my mind we were the best team by a long ways last year and when we got through the series with P.G. we only had eight forwards,” said Wild head coach and general manager Bliss Littler.
“The first three games were pretty one-sided and at the end of Game 3 we were down to nine forwards and in the last three minutes (Lucas) Sowder got a concussion and we were down to eight forwards.
“We were so deep, but we weren’t allowed any affiliate players last year. We didn’t have the bodies. Game 4 and Game 5 we got outplayed and I thought we were in a lot of trouble. You can’t play in playoff series with seven games in 10 days with only eight forwards. It gave P.G. some life and It absolutely killed us. By the time we got to Chilliwack there was nothing left.”
The Wild lost in four straight in the second round to Chilliwack.
Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes says there was a positive carryover from that six-game series which helped the team get off to strong start this season, resulting in their first BCHL banner as Mainland Division champions and a playoff blossoming that continues as they make their way through the league final.
“Our players that are still on our team this year certainly learned a lot from that playoff series,” said Hawes. “The way that series ended didn’t leave a good taste in anybody’s mouth and if nothing else they will be able to get some motivation from it for sure.
“We had all the momentum on our side and we were great for 59 minutes of that game and we had it in the bag, but we had a lapse in play for about a minute and it cost us. I think if we had got Game 6 there was a real good chance we were going to get Game 7. That was a tough pill to swallow, especially for the kids that back on this year’s team and don’t think that they won’t be thinking about that as we start the series.”
Hockey USA considers the BCHL a Tier 3 league, below the USHL and NAHL, and does not allow the Wild to have affiliated players, which is what left Wenatchee understaffed in last year’s playoffs. The Wild can circumvent that rule now by having as many as six affiliates playing for the under-18 Wenatchee Wolves development team.
Twelve players from the Wild’s 23-player playoff roster in 2017 left for college teams. Only a handful - defencemen Jacob Modry, Slava Demin and Chad Sasaki and forwards Vanderbeck, Sam Morton and Jasper Weatherby – are back with this year’s team.
“We moved 16 kids on last year and I kind of thought it might be a year that we might battle to be .500 and I think we’ve been pretty happy, the kids who returned really matured and they had big years, said Littler.
“Weatherby, Sowder and Morton have had huge years up front and we’ve been fortunate with injuries.”
The Spruce Kings also have six returning players – fowards Ethan de Jong, Ben Poisson, Ben Brar, Kyle Johnson, Jarod Hovde and defenceman Liam Watson-Brawn – and they will no doubt be looking for retribution.
The Wild left the Mainland Division in the off-season and is now part of the Interior Division. Even though they are no longer a divisional opponent, having played them 13 times last season, Kings head coach Adam Maglio said he has some familiarity with the Wild’s systems and tendencies and he figures that will help in the upcoming series.
“They’re a very good team and fortunate for us we played them a number of times last year and watching them (on video) they do play a similar style, although they have different players, and I think we have a good grasp on how to go about attacking a gameplan on them.
“We built a bit of a rivalry with them last year. Being down 3-0 wasn’t how any team would draw it up but we have a different team this year which I think aligns well with Wenatchee. We had two really good games against them in the season and it certainly sets up for a good matchup.
“They have very good special teams and they play a good team game and get contributions from all their plays because of the structure they play. Their defence are very active and we have to be aware of all four lines.”
Game time tonight in 7:05 p.m. All games in the series will be webcast on Hockey TV.