After a sluggish start to the 2016/2017 BC Hockey League (BCHL) season, Powell River Kings have staked a claim to first place in their division, edging ahead of Victoria Grizzlies by one point.
Despite losing four straight games to start the year, the hockey club now boasts a record of 14 wins and seven losses, including a three-game sweep of Island Division rivals on a road trip last weekend. The question is: Are enough people in the Powell River area aware of how well the team is playing?
Lower placed BCHL teams throughout the league consistently draw more fans than the Kings’ average of around 700 per game. Sure, some of those clubs are located in more densely populated areas, but not all of them; and those that are face more competition for entertainment dollars.
Guaranteed 50/50 draws, tailgate parties and other off-ice attractions and promotions dreamed up by club executives and sponsors increase attendance at Kings games to more than 1,000 on occasion, but the on-ice product is what should draw more fans, casual or otherwise, to home games.
What is the most important aspect of that product? Winning, plain and simple. To that end, the team has done its part by posting a 7-1 record at home. That one loss, which came at the tail end of the season-starting losing streak, was courtesy of perennial league powerhouse Penticton Vees, the only club currently sitting ahead of the Kings in overall league standings.
In addition to winning, playing an entertaining brand of hockey entices hockey purists and brings fans out of their seats. Forwards Jonny Evans, Tristan Mullin and rookie Cam Donaldson all occupy top-five positions in league scoring and the entire roster has combined to score 84 times, second only to Wenatchee Wild. How is that for excitement?
In addition to the offensive punch, clearly on display during a 9-0 Kings romp over Cowichan Valley Capitals in Duncan last weekend, goaltenders Brian Wilson and Mitch Adamyk are both in top five positions as well, in goals against average.
Head coach Kent Lewis is modest in assessing his team and points to inconsistency as an area it needs to work on, but the 9-3 record posted in October certainly indicates the Kings are heading in the right direction.
Wake up hockey fans. That buzz you hear emanating from Hap Parker Arena is the result of a collective voice of diehard fans talking about their hockey team. Don’t sleep through it.
Shane Carlson, editorial assistant
