Bus driver and team statistician Norm Philip did a fabulous job getting the Powell River Kings home safely in snowy conditions after a three-game BC Hockey League road trip that saw the team lose every game.
There were other positives to take away from the trip, according to head coach Kent Lewis. None of his players were hurt and the team can come back refreshed after the holiday break.
Lewis said that out of the road trip’s nine periods “we played one period in Surrey, and that’s it.”
Thursday, December 15, against Surrey Eagles of the Mainland Division, Kings lost 4-3. The next night, against West Kelowna, they lost 6-1, and in Wenatchee, Washington, they were shut out by the Wild 5-0.
“The Kelowna game, I’m going to sum it up with this: we surrendered 23 shots and lost 6-1,” said Lewis. “We made terrible errors because we had the puck most of the time, but ran into a hot goalie and made some very silly mistakes.”
In the Kings 5-0 loss to Wenatchee, one of the top clubs in the league, Lewis said the team knew it was going up against a very good hockey club and the Kings had not been playing their best recently.
“This is probably the worst I’ve seen a club of mine play, ever,” said Lewis. “It is not the norm.”
The coach pointed out the Kings were missing some key players with Carter Turnbull and Kyle Betts having had strong performances for Canada West in the recent World Junior A Challenge, and the team was suffering some fatigue.
Kings were tied with Victoria for top spot in Island Division during parts of the first half of the season. They have now fallen behind 10 points, with the Grizzlies at 53 points and the Kings at 43.
Lewis said he now looks toward the second half of the season.
“The second half is a lot more fun,” he said. “Games become a lot tougher and a lot more meaningful, and you start paying attention more to standings. It’s fun. It’s a quick two months.”
With the BC Hockey League roster deadline looming in January, Lewis said the last month has not shown him what he needs out of some of his players, so he’ll be putting on his general manager hat to look at ways to improve his lineup.
“We’ll need to better ourselves,” he said. “No question.”
Kings are back on the ice Friday, December 30, against division rival team Nanaimo.
“I look forward to the second half,” said Lewis. “I may sound like Scrooge at times, but this is a good group of players, we will be consistent and it’s going to be a lot of fun in the second half.”
Kings coaches, players and team staff would like to wish all of their fans a Merry Christmas, said Lewis.
Kings next action is on Friday, December 30, when they host Nanaimo Clippers at Hap Parker Arena.
