With the mid-season point in their rear-view mirror, Powell River Kings returned from the Christmas break ready to make a run for one of the four playoff spots in BC Hockey League’s Coastal Conference.
Unlike the Interior Conference, where Penticton is running away with things, the race on the coast is likely to continue through to the final week of the schedule.
Kings dropped their first game back 2-1 on Thursday to the Express in Coquitlam but rebounded to dispatch Alberni Valley Bulldogs 5-1 on Saturday.
Coquitlam has been a hot team of late and thus far in the season played some great hockey to become a thorn in the side of the Kings.
In the four games played between the two teams thus far Coquitlam has outscored Powell River 15-11, just enough to take seven of eight points from the Kings.
Kings played a solid game for 56 minutes on Thursday but with the score tied 1-1 they turned the puck over inside their end which gave Brady Shaw a chance to bury the winner on Sean Maguire.
Kings then took a couple of minor penalties that cost them a chance to mount a comeback and another opportunity to beat the pesky Express.
“We had two good periods there,” said Kent Lewis, Kings’ coach and general manager, who watched the game in Powell River, “but ran out of gas toward the end. Coquitlam played the night before and you could tell from the way they played that that helped them.”
Kings returned home to play their second game after the break against the Bulldogs and they too were much sharper and got the win 5-1.
James Neil jumped on a rebound at 2:21 of the opening period for the all important first goal of the game but safe to say the Kings weren’t in their comfort zone until they got goals two and three early in the second.
That’s when Carter Shinkaruk scored on a wrist shot from 30 feet out at 4:45 and just eight seconds later Evan Richardson gave his team a three-goal lead.
Bulldogs did score one later in the period but that was all Maguire was going to give them in the 5-1 win.
Kings’ Cohen Adair and Teagan Waugh rounded out the scoring for two points the Kings desperately needed to maintain their second-place standing in the conference.
“Alberni really worked hard tonight,” said Lewis, “but we capitalized on our chances and Maguire was good.”
A healthy lineup is paramount for the Kings in the second half and one of the players who limped through several games is glad to be over a nagging ankle injury.
“It was in the back of my mind when I was playing injured,” said Brenden Forbes. “Now everything is starting to come back together, which is nice.”
He and his teammates are well aware of the playoff race and he said, “it’s all or nothing and go, go, go.” He added that all eight teams are trying for the top four spots in the conference. “We’re all pretty equal in our division and it could be anyone’s game on any night.”
Following the win, Kings’ players, coaches and fans gathered for a sold-out New Year’s Eve celebration that carried on into the wee hours of 2012.
Kings’ marketing manager Elise Statham, and her army of volunteers, put on a sumptuous buffet, dance and activities for the family-oriented party that is becoming a very popular New Year’s tradition for many families who want to ring in the new year together.
Kings return to the business of hockey this week with a home game against Langley Rivermen at 7 pm on Thursday, January 5. On Friday, January 6, they travel to the Lower Mainland to play Surrey Eagles and on Saturday, January 7, meet Coquitlam Express.
DIVISION: Coastal Conference
TEAM GP W L T OTL PTS
Cowichan Valley 35 21 9 1 4 47
Surrey 33 20 9 1 3 44
Powell River 36 20 12 2 2 44
Coquitlam 34 18 12 2 2 40
Nanaimo 35 16 14 0 5 37
Victoria 36 17 19 0 0 34
Langley 35 13 20 1 1 28
Alberni Valley 32 12 18 2 0 26
