Powell River Kings have struggled lately with several injuries and a lengthy road schedule that has shortened their practice sessions and bench.
Despite those problems they continue to ice a competitive team that could really benefit from home cooking and a chance to recoup.
Moms and dads were in the stands this weekend and they watched their sons lose Friday’s game against Merritt Centennials 2-1 but bounce back to thrash Victoria Grizzlies 6-2 on Saturday.
They started well against the Cents and took a first period lead on Luke Nogard’s third of the season.
A couple of defensive breakdowns, however, in the second period turned into goals for the opportunistic Centennials at 6:18 and 13:03 and that did it for the scoring in a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
Kings managed to outshoot a pretty good team 25-19 but really hurt themselves with some sloppy play in their own end.
“I’ve always said there’s no night off,” said coach and general manager Kent Lewis. “Teams bring an A-game and we’ve got to make sure our A-game is there as well. Having said that, we’re still building the system through adversity.”
He joined parents, billets and players after the game in the Cedar Room, Powell River Recreation Complex, where praise was high for the Kings’ program.
Parents from across Canada and the United States were there. Four-year veterans of such events are Dave and Tammy Waugh of Nanaimo, parents of captain Teagan.
“I think that it’s great that the kids get together and the parents get a chance to meet each other,” said Tammy, “and we’ve loved every minute of it. It brings us all together and they love it in Powell River—it’s such a great community.”
New to parent weekends was John Coleshaw who accompanied his son JJ to main camp. Despite his son’s injury to his jaw, Coleshaw still made the trip out from Clavet, Saskatchewan. “I saw him go down,” said John, who watched the game on the Internet with family. “But that’s part of the game.”
He was very pleased with the Kings’ handling of the injury, which happened in Chilliwack at the start of a lengthy road trip.
“They went way out of the way to look after him,” he said, “and flew him back on the weekend. Saturday the dentist and surgeon looked at him, which was fantastic. It’s a fantastic place.”
The reunion must have been good for the players as they put a solid game together on Saturday against the Grizzlies.
A tough start after a crazy bounce off the end boards gave the Grizzlies the lead on the powerplay at 2:13.
Kings stepped up the pace right away and got a break when an errant shot went high off the back glass and dropped in front of the goal for Stephen Hiff who tied it 1-1 at 5:56.
Hiff stayed on the ice to finish a shift that ended with his second goal in 32 seconds and secured a 2-1 lead after one period.
Drew Dorantes gave the Kings a three-goal cushion with goals at 6:04 and 6:42 and then Luke Ripley mopped up a spirited shorthanded rush by Waugh and Matt Joyaux at 8:12 of the second period.
Kings received one more powerplay goal from Jarryd Leung at 2:21 of the third and the Grizzlies made it 6-2 with an inconsequential goal before the end of the game.
Play was much tidier than the game the night before. “This was huge for us.” said Waugh. “It’s a big island rivalry and you’ve got to get points against teams in our division, We came up with a good game tonight.”
Kings tour the province this week with a game on Friday, October 12 in Prince George before heading south on Saturday to Merritt.
