Powell River Kings knew they had to play hard-nosed disciplined hockey in the absence of a few key players but they weren’t prepared for the man with the whistle.
Two invitees, Kurt Keats and Carmine Buono, made the cut in Calgary for Team Canada West, while goalie Stefan Wornig and top scorer Jarid Lukosevicius returned to join the Kings against Vernon Vipers and Victoria Grizzlies.
In addition, Stephen Hiff and Brent Lashuk were out for the 4-3 loss to Vernon while Lashuk saw limited duty in the 5-2 loss in Victoria.
After a big win in Trail last week small mistakes, undisciplined play and some sketchy calls did the Kings in against Vernon.
On Friday, December 12, it was BC Hockey League’s “Five Hole for Food Drive” at Hap Parker Arena, where Save-On-Foods and the Kings took their turn at joining the league’s effort to stock up the local food bank.
A good crowd of 750 supported a great cause and they were also treated to an energetic start by the Kings who opened the scoring.
Red-hot Jacob Pritchard wired a shot from an impossible angle on the power play at 6:53 to put his team ahead after one period and then the Kings thought they had added to the lead when Hunter Findlater scored in the second.
Nick Nonis had let a shot go from the point that careened off the back board and out to Findlater who fired it in for the goal.
The referee, who was positioned out by Nonis at the blue line, waived the goal off because he charged Kings’ forward Gavin Rauser with incidental goaltender interference.
This call, unheard of by almost every hockey fan, allowed for the goal to be waived but there was no penalty to the Kings.
The controversy came at a critical point in the game and instead of a 2-0 lead the momentum swing was notable when Vernon scored to tie 1-1 after two periods.
Kings didn’t help their cause when Pritchard was cross-checked but took a retaliatory penalty in the offensive end of the rink.
As usual those types of unnecessary penalties come back to haunt and Vernon scored on the ensuing power play.
To add to their frustration, Kings’ defenceman Jordan Burns had his pocket picked in his own end and Vernon’s Trevor Fidler went right to the net to make it 3-1.
Kings could have folded but they bounced back when they pulled the goalie for an extra attacker and Adam Tracey gave them some life with a goal scored at 18:24.
Unfortunately, after winning the centre ice draw, Burns turned the puck over at his own blue line and Vernon’s wrist shot went off Brett Magnus’s catching glove and tumbled into the net at 18:31.
Kings’ last gasp came with Austin Kamer’s goal at 19:22 but after the 4-3 loss disgruntled fans left the arena to growl at the mistakes by their team and the officials.
“I liked our effort and certainly our push-back was good,” said head coach and general manager Kent Lewis. “The refereeing wasn’t good and that probably cost us two goals.”
During the game, Lewis received a bench minor for voicing his opinion. “It’s frustrating,” he said later. “They’ve got to learn and get better and I guess we do too and just deal with it.”
The waived goal was one of a couple of calls that went against Powell River but oddly enough the same circumstance in Victoria the next night was ignored.
Wornig was bumped in his crease just before a shot but despite his appeal the goal was counted.
Kings, however, didn’t have the jump they had against Vernon and surprisingly made the same mistakes by the same players which contributed to a disappointing 5-2 loss against the Grizzlies.
“It was an absolute embarrassment,” Lewis said of the game, “one of our worst outings of the year. I felt for the Powell River Peewees who stuck around to watch us and I think we have to owe them for their tickets.”
Kings play in Alberni against the Bulldogs on Thursday, December 18, then Langley Rivermen on Friday, December 19, and finally Vernon on Saturday, December 20.
DIVISION: Island Division
TEAM GP W L T OTL PTS
Nanaimo 34 23 10 0 1 47
Powell River 31 14 10 0 7 35
Victoria 29 14 10 0 5 33
Alberni Valley 30 15 12 1 2 33
Cowichan Valley 33 10 22 0 1 21
