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Prince George Earns Big Win at Home

Last year, big wins were not a common occurrence for the Spruce Kings. Thanks to a pair of blowout periods on Friday night though, the team proved they are very different.

With quick speed, and defensive authority the Spruce Kings crippled the Grande Prairie Storm in a 10-2 decision to open at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

Starting the scoring off was Ryan Stack who led the BWC Elite 15’s in scoring last season. Former BWC forward Ben Poisson was able to shovel a pass out from the corner, and Stack was on the doorstep to whack the puck in. Before the fans even sat down from the first goal there was cause for more celebration. A ferocious forecheck by newcomer Jamie Huber led to a shot from the slot for Braiden Epp, and the Spruce King veteran made no mistake going bar down to double the lead.

The bleeding would continue for the Storm as Chong Hyun Lee took a pass from Kyle Johnson, and repeated Epp’s feating of banging metal before the puck wound up in the net. To close the period out, Prince George would extend their lead to 4-0 as a scramble in front of the net started by a Huber backhand shot resulted in Brett Mennear chopping the puck in.

Period two would offer no relief for the Spruce Kings as some late power plays helped their cause. First though the red light lit up at even strength as Travis Schneider and Andrew Hunt both scored. Schneider’s goal was started by a point shot from Adam Burnett, and the puck missed the net, but bounced right to the other side where Schneider managed to flick the puck over the right pad of a sprawled out Kyle St. Denis in net.

The next goal came from the point as well, as Andrew Hunt took a wrister that thanks to a screen from BWC teammate Ryan Stack made it’s way to the twine. That would do it for St. Denis as he was pulled after allowing six goals on 28 shots. In to take his place was Arik Weersink, the ’97 goalie from Lethbridge, Alberta.

Thanks to a pair of powerplay goals, the Spruce Kings would extend their lead to 8-0 heading to the third. First it was Kyle Johnson coming off the left wall with a snipe into the top corner, and then Travis Schneider scoring on 5-on-3 man advantage. Moments later it looked as if he had scored his third of the game, but the refs waved the goal off.

In the final period the Storm garnered some life as Zach McNeill made a great individual effort to barrel down the right boards, and pick the corner to shatter Liam McCloskey’s goose egg, and make the score 8-1.

Prince George would add two more before the final buzzer went with Brett Witala getting it done first by banging home a puck from the side of the net for the Spruce King’s third power play goal.

Capping the night off was a marvelous goal by Ethan de Jong. Alone down the left wing the forward sent a backhand shot from the bottom of the circle into the top corner of the net to give Prince George double digits in goals as they finished the game with a 10-1 final score.

Shots ended at 52-11 with Prince George holding the majority of play in the offensive zone, and keeping Grande Prairie to the walls on the select times they were able to break in.

The Spruce Kings will play their final exhibition game tonight as they play against the Storm for the third time. Tickets are available at the door for just $5. The game will also be streamed live on FASTHockey and Mixlr.