Kings fall to Cents in OT
The Merritt Centennials saved their best for last and came away with a B.C. Hockey League preseason win for their efforts.
Doubled on the shot count by the host Prince George Spruce Kings, for the Cents all that mattered was they had the last shot and it came 1:03 into overtime. Matt Kopperud took a pass in the face-off circle from Mathieu Gosselin and buried a wrist shot in over the arm of Kings goalie Logan Neaton for a 3-2 victory. That came with Kings forward Craig MacDonald serving a boarding penalty that carried over from the third period.
The game marked the opening of the brief exhibition season for the Spruce Kings, who had to feel a bit cheated as they left the ice Wednesday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. They threw 38 shots at Merritt goalie Vincent Duplessis, outshooting the Cents 38-22, but could only manage two goals on the 19-year-old Quebec City native.
“I thought it was an OK game, to be honest, for our first one – Merritt’s played a handful of games already so it was good to shake the rust off,” said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
“I think Logan Neaton in net played well. He’s going to want that second one back but we saw what he can do with some saves there in overtime. Our d-corps was outstanding tonight, we played seven D and all of them were good. That’s going to be a big part for us this year.”
MacDonald, 18, a Cariboo Cougars graduate and hometown boy, gave the Kings a 2-1 lead, snapping in a cross-ice feed from Patrick Cozzi, 2:53 into the third period. But that didn’t last long. Nic Grancowicz tied it with a hot shot off the wing that fooled Neaton.
Neaton, 19, was facing live ammunition from a BCHL opponent for the first time since joining the Kings in the off-season from the Fairbanks (Alaska) Ice Dogs of the North American League. Two seasons ago Neaton wore the ‘C’ as captain of his high school team in Brighton, Mich., and took them all the way to the Michigan state championship. He put up solid numbers last season with the Ice Dogs, posting a 2.00 goals-against average and .906 save percentage to go with a 19-4-1 record.
At six-foot-three, 190-pounds, Neaton takes up a lot of net but didn’t have much work to do in the first period as the Kings outshot the Cents 19-8. The Kings still have three goalies in camp with Neaton, 19-year-old incumbent Bradley Cooper and 17-yearold Okanagan Hockey Academy product Kaleb McEachern.
The Spruce Kings power play connected late in the first period to open the scoring. Ben Poisson forced a turnover behind the net from Merritt defenceman Mike Van Unen and the puck slid to Layton Ahac deep in the zone and he jammed the puck in.
Christian Sabin evened the count 1-1 seven minutes into the season period, collecting a rebound after a give-and-go play with linemate Kopperud. That goal served as a wakeup call for the Kings, who responded with a more inspired effort in the rest of the period that resulted in some sustained pressure in the Merritt end and a couple of dangerous shots but no goals. The best chance for the Kings came when Layne Sniher tested Duplessis with a wicked blast along the ice that forced the goalie into an uncomfortable stretch.
Sniher, 18, was the second-leading scorer last year on the Calgary Buffaloes midget triple-A team with 17 goals and 50 points in 35 games and he’ll be expected to take up some of the scoring slack with junior snipers Ethan de Jong and Kyle Johnson off to college.
“Layne Sniher is going to be looked upon to produce some offence for us this year and he’s going to play with some key guys and that’s going to give him an opportunity for sure,” said Hawes. “Chong Min Lee and Nolan Welsh, who are returning to our team, are going to have an opportunity to step up this year and guys like Corey Cunningham and Craig MacDonald will get a chance to show what they can do. Craig scored a goal tonight and he plays the game the right way.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The teams will meet again Friday night in Merritt, the final preseason test for both squads. That game was originally supposed to be played in Burns Lake. Plans for an overnight stay for both teams as guests of the Lake Babine First Nation were scrapped three weeks ago by the regional district due to the wildfires in the region and an influx of firefighters and emergency personnel which filled most hotel rooms in the area. …The Spruce Kings open their 23rd BCHL season next Friday at home against the defending RBC Cup-champion Chilliwack Chiefs. The Kings will unfurl their first league banners and raise them to the RMCA rafters. They captured the Mainland regular season and playoff titles and were crowned Coastal Conference champions, reaching the league final for the first time in the team’s history.