Kurt Keats, who was also named captain, was the lone member of Powell River Kings to join the roster of Team Canada West, which meant five others returned to Powell River for a pair of games against Nanaimo Clippers on the weekend.
Coach and general manager Kent Lewis speaks from experience in selecting an elite team from a group of all-stars and says it is a very difficult process.
“I took a lot of criticism when I went with a lot of BCHL’ers,” he recalled. “Amongst the other provinces a lot of darts were thrown my way. What we had to do was win, and we did.”
With this year’s event, “You have to go into a camp like that and leave no doubt,” he said, of the five players who returned to the Kings, “but it’s a double-edged sword. Jonah [Imoo] had one bad game there, but he’s a very good goaltender. He was fantastic for us today and came in last night to give us a chance to get back into the game. But in a camp like the one in Calgary you can’t leave doubt.”
Clippers edged the Kings 4-3 on Friday night, but Powell River bounced back Saturday with a convincing 4-1 win, their 14th in 18 games.
In the first game, the Clippers jumped into the lead early and held on despite a late surge by the Kings.
Clippers got the first goal at 3:53 of the first period and built up a 4-1 lead at 6:39 of the second.
Kings closed the gap to 4-2 by the end of the period and inched to within a goal at 12:42 of the third but couldn’t get the equalizer despite a flurry of chances near the end.
Goal scorers for Powell River included Jarid Lukosevicius, Drew Dorantes and Jarryd Leung while Jeff Smith, who was pulled after the fourth goal in the second period, suffered the loss.
Highlight of the night was an end-to-end rush by Powell River native Hunter Findlater who was a slash away from scoring his first in a Kings’ uniform.
Fans wanted a penalty shot and if he had received it, he said with a nervous smile, “I probably would have just shot.”
It was his BCHL debut at Hap Parker Arena. “I was pretty excited,” he said “and at the same time scared.” The call from the Kings came sooner than he expected. “I thought maybe later in the season.”
Nerves were calmed somewhat by Lewis who advised, “Just go out and have fun, play with heart and try to get a win.”
Saturday’s rematch was a better reflection of what the Kings can be and they struck early and often to skate to a 4-1 victory.
Imoo was extremely sharp in the net saving 26 of 27 shots while Curtis McCarrick and Trevor MacLean got their first goals as Kings and Leung and Ryan Scarfo got the others.
For McCarrick, whose father from Port Hardy was in the crowd, his first goal and first fight in the league added to his sense of belonging in Powell River.
“The guys are like brothers to me,” he said. “They treat me well and the coaching staff is unreal. You learn so much from them. Everything has been going smooth so far so I’m really happy to be here.”
The improvement in the second game was evident early and Lewis said, “It was a great start, but then we’re in the box, in the box, in the box.”
“Really that was their whole weekend,” he said of the Clippers’ powerplay, “and any momentum they had was on the special teams.”
Kings’ best chances, on the other hand, may have come shorthanded rather than on the powerplay.
“Our powerplay was really stagnant,” he said, “but credit [Nanaimo], they knew what we wanted to do and we tried to change it but we were just really not too good.”
That’s what practice is for and they’ll work on the powerplay in advance of hosting Penticton Vees at 7:30 pm on Friday, November 8 and Cowichan Valley Capitals at 1:30 pm on Sunday, November 10.
Kings Scroll
Goaltender Jeff Smith (95) and defenceman Luke Ripley (94) will join Team West in Canadian Junior Hockey League prospects’ game this weekend showcasing top-40 National Hockey League draft-eligible Junior A players.
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