Spruce Kings land jumbo Jett

In May, the Prince George Spruce Kings used a bus to get to the national junior A hockey championship.

Next time around they could be using a Jett.

The Kings announced earlier this week they’ve acquired the rights to 19-year-old goalie Jett Alexander in a trade from the North York Rangers for future considerations.

The six-foot-five, 214-pound Alexander, a native of Bloomfield, Ont., capped a spectacular season with the Rangers in 2018-19. He won the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s top goaltender award, was voted the most valuable player in the Ontario Junior Hockey League and was a CJHL MVP finalist.

Alexander’s 1.67 goals-against average and .945 save percentage led the OJHL and he set a new league record with 10 shutouts while winning 30 of the 43 games he started, finishing with a 3011-1 record in his second junior A season. He also played in 16 playoff games before the Rangers were eliminated by Wellington in a seven-game OJHL semifinal playoff series.

Alexander won the Telus Cup midget national championship playing for North York in 2016.

“To be honest, Jett had played out his time in the Ontario Junior Hockey League and he and his coaches with the North York Rangers realized it was time to move on to our league,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes.

“He gave them a list of a few teams in our league he was willing to go to if they could make a trade happen and fortunately we were one of those teams. Jett’s an intelligent young man who had done his homework and knew that we’ve had a lot of success not only moving a lot of our players along (to college hockey) but especially our goaltenders.”

Alexander has the inside track to be the Kings’ starter in net, replacing Logan Neaton. Neaton, drafted in the fifth round, 144th overall in June by the Winnipeg Jets, is heading to the NCAA next season at the University of MassachusettsLowell. Neaton came to the Kings last season from Anchorage of the NAHL, replacing Evan DeBrouwer, who moved on to Arizona State.

In Prince George, Alexander will be playing for head coach Alex Evin, a former NCAA goalie at Colgate University. Evin was promoted to head coach after two years as an assistant to Adam Maglio, hired two weeks ago as an assistant with the WHL Spokane Chiefs.

“The last two years we’ve had arguably the two best goaltenders in the league in their year (with the team),” said Hawes.

“The list (of NCAA goalies the Kings have produced) is long, from Jesse Jenks to Kirk Thompson to Alex Murray.

“Part of the homework Jett would have done would be checking up on Alex and the fact he’s the head coach probably didn’t hurt. He knows Alex is going to be a great resource for him.”

B.C. LACROSSE ASSOCIATION HANDOUT PHOTO The guys and girls who make up the Prince George Posse sport their medals after finishing third in the B.C. provincial midget B provincial championship Sunday in Langley. The Posse defeated Port Moody 6-3 in the bronze medal game. Prince George lost in the semifinal round 7-2 to the Burnaby Lakers, who went on to beat Port Coquitlam 5-3 for the championship. The Posse, coached by Doug Schonewille and Bill Barwise, opened with consecutive losses to Oceanside, 7-5, and Port Moody, 3-1, then beat Langley 11-9 and Saanich 12-3 to advance to the playoff round. Posse goalie Spencer Rogers won a provincial MVP award and Brett Barwise was chosen for a fair play award.

PICTOU GAZETTE PHOTO North York Rangers Jett Alexander, left, gets consoled by Wellington Dukes goalie Andrew Rinaldi after the Dukes beat the Rangers in Game 7 of the OJHL semifinal round. The Prince George Spruce Kings have acquired the 19-year-old Alexander’s rights in a trade from North York for future considerations.