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PREVIEW: Prince George Spruce Kings @ West Kelowna Warriors (Game #2)

PHOTO: Chuck Chin

Tonight, at Royal LePage Place, the Prince George Spruce Kings take the ice against the West Kelowna Warriors to wrap up a brief two game season opening road trip. The Spruce Kings are coming off their first victory a night ago, with a 8-1 victory over the Merritt Centennials over at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Tonight’s game will also be on the air waves on 99.3 Rewind Radio!

LISTEN | WATCH

PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS

OVERVIEW

 2021 Regular Season Record: 1-0-0-0

Head Coach: Alex Evin

Leading Scorers: Kilian McGregor-Bennett (1 GP – 1 G – 2 A – 3 PTS) John Herrington  (1 GP – 2 G – 0 A – 2 PTS) Nick Rheaum (1 GP – 1 G – 1 A – 2 PTS)

A PAIR OF FIRSTS

Spruce Kings forwards Jimmy Doyle and Ty Gagno both netted home their first goal as a Prince George Spruce King last night. For Gagno, it marks his first ever junior hockey goal. Both forwards were acquired this past offseason by Prince George.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT

Last night’s contest vs Merritt saw Prince George have seven different goal scorers (Herrington (2), McGregor-Bennett, Miller, Doyle, Cousins, Labelle, T. Gagno). 4 of the 8 goals in the victory came in the final four minutes of the second period to essentially put the game out of reach. Aaron Trotter got his first win in between the pipes, making 16 saves for PG, while the Spruce Kings fired 40 shots of their own.

SPRUCE KINGS FACTS

  • The line of Kolton Cousins, Kilian McGregor-Bennettt, and John Herrington combined for four goals last night.
  • Tonight marks the first regular season game against West Kelowna since January of 2020
  • Back in late September in the preseason against the Warriors, goaltender Jordan Fairlie made 46 saves.

 WEST KELOWNA WARRIORS

OVERVIEW

 2021 Pod Season Record: 8-10-1-1

Head Coach: Simon Ferguson

CRISTALL BALL

Not only did Tyler Cristall have a great pod season back in the spring of 2021, but the third year forward for West Kelowna had an impressive preseason also, highlighted by an overtime winner back on September 28th at Royal LePage Place. Cristall has appeared in 75 BCHL games, 53 of them with the Warriors, where he sits with 21 goals and 26 assists as a Warrior. The Vancouevr product and St. Lawrence commit was acquired from the Chilliwack Chiefs in the 2019-20 season.

SET THE ‘BAR’

Warrior forward and recently named captain Elan Bar Lev Wise is the longest tenured BCHL player on the team’s roster. Bar Lev Wise has played in 124 games in the BC Hockey League, combined with West Kelowna, Vernon, and Salmon Arm. The Ohio State commit from Vancouver also has some playoff experience, suiting up in 21 playoff games.

WARRIORS FACTS

  • The Warriors bring back 16 returning faces for the 2021-22 season.
  • The last time West Kelowna opened their season against Prince George, was September 11th, 2009 where West Kelowna was victorious with an 8-3 victory