Powell River Kings are going to the Fred Page Cup for an amazing fourth year in a row. Their next test against Canada’s number-one ranked Penticton Vees will be a daunting one.
Three consecutive losses to the interior’s Vernon Vipers has served to make the Kings a hungry and vengeful team on a mission.
So far in the playoffs, they have eliminated Coquitlam Express in six games and, most recently, Surrey Eagles in five.
They opened the Coastal Conference final against the Eagles with a split, a 3-0 shutout in game one and 2-1 loss in game two, at Hap Parker Arena but got down to business in Surrey by taking two straight games.
In the first Kings exploded for four goals in the opening period, two from Daniel Schuler and one each from Chris Williams and Matt Scarth, and then hung on to win game three 4-3.
Sean Maguire made 39 saves to stave off a late charge by the Eagles, but as it turned out he saved his best for the next game.
He was game four’s first star with a 49-save performance to ring up his sixth playoff win and more importantly a 3-1 series lead for the Kings.
Kings’ JP Villeneuve opened the scoring at 2:09 of the first period and his goal held up all the way to 16:57 of the third.
Kings had played a near perfect defensive game up to that point but a slight hiccup allowed Surrey’s Sean McGovern a chance to slip one by Maguire with three minutes to go.
Kings killed a penalty to Steven Schmidt in the last minute of regulation and the first minute of overtime but when Schmidt returned to the ice it took him a mere 12 seconds to find Cohen Adair with a pass that he turned into the 2-1 winner.
Given the chance to eliminate the Eagles at Hap Parker Arena, Kings took it and played their best game of the series winning 3-0.
Evan Richardson, Schuler and Adair did the damage on the scoresheet while Maguire earned a first star for his 27-save shutout.
Kings played well throughout the series but the fourth win was a signature game for them.
“Even though we won we weren’t happy with the last two games,” said captain Williams. “Our second periods weren’t that good so we just wanted to play a complete game from opening puck drop to final buzzer and we finally did that. It felt good to play a full 60 minutes.”
In a sense the playoffs were similar to the 60 -game schedule where the Kings battled throughout but finished up strong.
“From the first day of training camp we set a goal that we wanted to be here and we’ve met that goal,” said Williams. “What makes this one special is that this was hands down the hardest year to come out of the Coastal Conference. You saw multiple lead changes throughout the season and we were down to sixth place at one point, up to one and down to four.”
Looking ahead to the Fred Page Cup series against the Vees, Williams said the Kings are ready. “We believe in one another and we believe in our team system. We believe that we can beat anybody, not only in this league but in Canada.”
The Fred Page Cup begins in Penticton on Friday, April 6 and Saturday, April 7. At 7 pm on Tuesday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 11 the series comes to Hap Parker Arena.
