PHOTO: Chuck Chin
Tonight, in the Nicola Valley, the Prince George Spruce Kings take the ice for the first of 54 scheduled BCHL regular season games. There will be a crowd, and there will be two points at stake. The quest for a Fred Page Cup officially begins now for Alex Evin’s squad, and the Spruce Kings will be taking on a familiar foe in the Merritt Centennials. Tonight’s contest with the Cents marks the first of 5 meetings between these Interior Conference clubs.
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS
OVERVIEW
2021 Pod Season Record: 14-5-0-1
Head Coach: Alex Evin
2021 Record vs. MER: 9-1-0-0
2021 Preseason Record: 2-1-1-0
Preseason Leading Scorers: Kolton Cousins (4 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS) Simon Labelle (3 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS) Nick Rhéaume (3 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS)
CAPTAIN COUSINS
2001-forward born forward and captain Kolton Cousins comes into the 2021-22 season as the longest tenured BCHLer on the team’s roster. The Sechelt, BC product has played 135 BCHL regular season games, 69 with the Spruce Kings. In those 69 games for Prince George, the captain has 12 goals and 11 assists, 8 of which came in the 2021 Chilliwack Pod, which was third among all Spruce Kings. Cousins makes his captain’s debut tonight in Merritt.
THE SPRUCE DEBUTS
Tonight’s season opener against the Centennials will mark the Spruce Kings debut for 8 players: Jimmy Doyle, Ty Gagno, Austin Fraser, Jagjeevan Phangura, Evan Fedele, Dylan Schives, Ian Kern, and Brody Gagno. For Gagno (Ty), Phangura, and Fedele, this marks their first ever regular season junior hockey game.
SPRUCE KINGS FACTS
- Kolton Cousins, Nick Rhéaume, and Simon Labelle led the Spruce Kings with four points in the preseason.
- Kilian McGregor-Bennett led the Spruce Kings in goals in the preseason with three in four games.
- John Herrington, Linden Makow, and Jordan Fairlie are all products of Northern British Columbia
MERRITT CENTENNIALS
OVERVIEW
2021 Pod Season Record: 3-17-0-0
Head Coach: Dave Chyzowski
2021 Record vs. PG: 1-9-0-0
2021 Preseason Record: 1-4-0-0
Preseason Leading Scorers: Henry Smith (2 GP – 1 G – 2 A – 3 PTS) Alex Ochitwa (4 GP – 2 G – 0 A – 2 PTS) Jerzy Orchard (3 GP -1 G – 1 A – 2 PTS)
ORCHARD’S FINAL SEASON
’01 born forward Jerzy Orchard comes into the 2021-22 season as one of the five 20-year-olds on the Centennials roster. Orchard has appeared in 46 games all for the Centennials, and has 23 points in those 46 games, including 7 in 12 games in the 2021 Chilliwack Pod season.
HOMETOWN KID
Merritt product and third year Centennial Talon Zakall is the most experienced Centennial on the team roster. Zakall has appeared in 120 BCHL games in Centennial colours and also has tallied 49 points in those games. The Centennial defender has appeared in 4 playoff games in the 2018-19 season. The hometown kid gets set for his 4th BCHL season with the Centennials.
CENTENNIALS FACTS
- 9 different Centennials found the goal column in the 2021 preseason
- Defencemen Henry Smith, Chase Cooke, and Talon Zakall all led the Cents in assists in the preseason (2)
