Venue: Town Toyota Center
Game Time: Friday January 20th @ 7pm
All-time against the Wenatchee Wild, the Prince George Spruce Kings have one win. Dante Raposo scored the late winner up in the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, and down in the Town Toyota Center the closest PG has come is a 3-2 OT loss last season.
Wenatchee this season has some very strong stats at home. They haven’t lost in regulation, they’ve outscored teams 129-39, and in the last three games they’ve allowed a combined 39 shots. At 21-0-2, they have the best record at home with 44 points, Penticton sits second with 35 points. The Wild have averaged the third best attendance in the BCHL, with 2,398 per game. Prince George is coming off a home game that saw the largest attendance in recent memory nearly topping 2,000 people, so they should be used to playing in front of a big audience.
On the road, Prince George is on a one game winning streak with the latest time out resulting in a 4-1 win against the Nanaimo Clippers. Before that they had fallen in three straight, all against Island teams. Away from the RMCA this season, PG has a record of 5-8-1-0 narrowly being outscored 56-48.
Prince George is coming off a week at home that saw them pick up one point of a possible six. Things started out with a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Vernon Vipers. With the Chilliwack Chiefs in town, the Spruce Kings were able to tie the game at five with 10 seconds to go after leading 3-1 and 4-2 earlier on. They would eventually fall in overtime 6-5, and the next night wasn’t as close with a 5-2 final.
BROADCAST LINKS
WATCH on HockeyTV
LISTEN on Mixlr
STANDINGS:
A pair of wins last weekend would have made catching the Chilliwack Chiefs much easier for the Prince George Spruce Kings. Instead they picked up one of a possible four points, and are now 18 points behind second. The goal now with 16 games remaining will be trying to top the Langley Rivermen. Since December, Langley has been one of the hotter teams in the league, and currently sits two points up with a game in hand. The Spruce Kings do hold a comfortable
While the Wild sit atop of the Mainland Division, they do have some nagging pressure in the form of the Chilliwack Chiefs. The Chiefs are nine points back with a game in hand, but beat the Wild in their last three meetings. These two power houses clashed in the division final last year, and Wenatchee would surely like that home ice advantage if the two meet again.
WHO TO WATCH:
PRINCE GEORGE:
Chong Lee – FWD: One of the hottest Spruce Kings of late, Lee is on a four game point streak, and has 10 points in his last seven games. Lee has two multi-goal games this season, with one coming against the Wild. In three games at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Lee has three points, but in two games down south has yet to hit to score board. Look for him to break that tonight.
Travis Schneider – FWD: His first point in the BCHL came against the Wenatchee Wild, and Travis Schneider will look to build on that this weekend. Back in his home country, look for the speedy centreman to have a strong weekend. He is currently on a season high eight game
WENATCHEE:
Troy Conzo – FWD: He’s only scored in two games against Prince George this season, but in both those games he made the hats fly. He has 12 points this year against PG in five games, and has been hot lately picking up nine points in the last six games.
Slava Demin – DEF: The only defensemen on the Wild team who is at a point per game against the Spruce Kings this year, Demin came up biggest in the second game in PG. He had two goals and one assist in that game. The Denver commit has just one point in his last four games though, and hasn’t scored since November 5th.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Spruce Kings @ Wenatchee Wild – Saturday January 21st, 7pm – Town Toyota Center
Spruce Kings @ Merritt Centennials – Friday January 27th, 7pm – Nicola Valley Memorial Arena
Spruce Kings @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks – Saturday January 28th, 7pm – Shaw Centre
