Tonight, at the Trail Memorial Centre, the Prince George Spruce Kings resume their six game road trip in the West Kootenays to take on the Trail Smoke Eaters. The Spruce Kings are coming off a 6-5 setback this past Saturday night against the Chilliwack Chiefs. Defenceman Nick Bochen finished with four points, while Nick Poisson finished with two goals and an assist in the defeat. The Smoke Eaters are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss down south against the Wenatchee Wild.
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS
Overview:
Head Coach: Alex Evin
Record: 16-26-5
Road Record: 9-13-1
Last Game: A 6-5 defeat against the Chilliwack Chiefs at the Chilliwack Coliseum
Record vs TRA: 0-2
Goals For / Goals Against: 128 GF/165 GA (-37)
Power-Play: 18.3 (10th)
Penalty Kill: 74.3% (15th)
Leading Scorers: Nick Poisson ( 19 G, 24 A, 43 PTS) Corey Cunningham ( 18 G, 17 A, 35 PTS) Nolan Welsh (13 G 21 A 34 PTS)
BO KNOWS:
Defenceman Nick Bochen is coming off an impressive week. The Quinnipiac commit finished with six points in his past three games and also was credited with an honourable mention for this past week’s BCHL Player of the Month. Bochen finished with four points in the Spruce Kings last game on Saturday in a 6-5 defeat to the Chiefs. Bochen now leads all Spruce Kings defenceman in points with 25.
GIMME SOME FIN:
16 year old Fin Williams has been starting to find his grove for the Spruce Kings as we get into the final stretch. Williams has goals in three of his last five games and is just under a point per game this season for the Spruce Kings. The Michigan Commit also netted the first Spruce Kings power-play goal on the road trip this past Saturday in Chilliwack.
PRINCE GEORGE NOTES:
- The Spruce Kings are 2-2 in Trail in the past 5 seasons
- Nick Poisson is now in the top 20 in BCHL scoring after his three-point performance
- Prince George has won 6 of their last 11 heading into tonight’s game
TRAIL SMOKE EATERS
OVERVIEW
Head Coach: Jeff Tambellini
Record: 30-14-4
Home Record: 16-5-1
Record vs PG: 2-0
Goals For/Goals Against:180 GF/ 142 GA (+38)
Power-Play: 24% (3rd )
Penalty-Kill: 86% (3rd)
Leading Scorers: Kent Johnson (35 G 50 A 85 PTS), Owen Ozar (21 G 37 A 58 PTS), Michael Colella (20 G 35 A 55 PTS)
The Big 3:
The top three scorers for the Smoke Eaters also happen to be the top three scorers in the entire BCHL. Kent Johnson leads the league with an astounding 85 points in 45 games. 19-year-old returning forward Owen Ozar sits with 58 points including 21 goals and 20 year old Michael Colella has 55 points. Collela has 4 power-play goals this year and two of those power-play tallies have come against the Spruce Kings.
DR PHIL:
Although captain Phillippe Lapointe missed a good portion of the season with an injury, it is safe to say the 19-year-old has made some ground. In 28 games this year, Lapointe sits with 17 goals and 28 assists and is averaging 1.61 points per game. The Michigan commit also sits 3rd in power-play goals scored for Trail.
Trail Notes:
- The Smoke Eaters have won 8 of their last 10 coming into tonight’s game.
- 17 year old Goaltender Logan Terness sports a 22-8-0 record with a 2.41 GAA
- Phillippe Lapointe and Owen Ozar are both riding 11 game point streaks into tonight’s game
