As Powell River Kings struggle to wrap up a brutal schedule in December they find themselves without some old faces and adding a couple of new ones.
They welcomed back Kurt Keats and Carmine Buono from the World Junior A Championships but lost Stephen Hiff and Austin Kamer to injury and they aren’t expected back in the lineup for some time.
Until then the holes will be filled by able affiliate players and newly acquired Nick Halagian, a 19-year-old forward who played two years with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and last year with Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Halagian is six-foot, one-inch tall, weighs 204 pounds and brings a physical presence with a scoring touch to the Kings.
“He’s a good player recommended by people I trust,” said head coach and general manager Kent Lewis. “He brings some maturity and is going to be an important part of our lineup down the stretch.”
He arrived in time to join the Kings for the first two losses of the second half of the season, 5-3 against Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday night, December 27, and 6-2 against Cowichan Capitals on Sunday afternoon.
In Alberni the Bulldogs led 2-1 after the first period with Jarid Lukosevicius scoring for the Kings and then Keats tied the game 2-2 just after the Kings had killed a five-on-three man advantage for the Bulldogs.
Both teams were extremely agitated with each other and the officiating in the game but the benefactor appears to have been the Bulldogs as they scored three unanswered goals in the third before newcomer Halagian scored a late one at 18:17.
Jeremy Leclerc and Nick Nonis were given game misconducts by the time the dust had settled and misconducts were also handed out to Lukosevicius and Buono. The Bulldogs received their share of penalties and misconducts as well and there’s no reason to think their next game on December 31 at Hap Parker Arena will be any different.
Sunday afternoon the Kings moved over to Cowichan where the Capitals, who struggled early in the season, are mounting a comeback in the standings.
They currently own the best 10-game record in the division and jumped all over the Kings early to post four straight goals for a big lead in the first half of the game.
Lukosevicius finally got the Kings on the board at 8:30 of the second period but Cowichan rang up the next two to lead 6-1 heading into the final frame.
Kings’ Curtis McCarrick made it 6-2 at 10:09 of the third but they couldn’t dig themselves out of the big hole despite outshooting the Caps 41-34.
“I liked today’s game better than last night’s,” said Lewis. “It was just a weird game today. How do you say you were the better team in a 6-2 loss? It was an odd game.”
Despite the challenges faced by the Kings, Lewis said, “No excuses, it is what it is. This is a very good club but we’re going through a tough time right now...We have to realize how hard you have to work and prepare, and maybe that’s been our downfall. The kids have not realized how important it is to be ready and the onus is on the coach to get that across.”
The weary team still had a game to play in Victoria Grizzlies on Monday, December 29, and yet another on Wednesday, December 31, in Powell River against the Bulldogs. Weekend games include hosting Victoria at 5 pm on Saturday, January 3, and Surrey Eagles at 1:30 pm on Sunday, January 4.
