The Prince George Spruce Kings are exactly half-way into their BCHL regular season schedule. After 30 games, they are 13-12-2-3, tied with the Vernon Vipers for 4^th place in the Interior Conference.
Although this record appears mediocre, it’s a huge improvement over the last couple of non-playoff seasons.

 Here are a few mid-season observations about the team and the league:

V for victory

The BCHL has just one powerhouse team, Penticton, and one really weak team in Trail. The 28-3-0-2 Vees, riding a 16 game win streak, have scored the most goals, and given up the second fewest. In contrast, it’s nearly the opposite for the 5-21-1-3 Smoke Eaters. Don’t look now but 7 of the top 12 scorers play for Penticton.

As strange as this may appear, the league has better parity now than in the past. Usually more than one Okanagan team challenges for the top spot and the Coastal Conference often has a couple of teams that standout.

Break up the Centennials

Isn’t Merritt suppose to be a perennial laughing stock of the league? The Centennials are a shocking 17-9-2-4, second in the Interior. They are 8 games over .500 this season compared to 81 games below .500 over the previous five combined seasons. Last year Merritt was 22-31-1-6 and prior to that went 22-36-0-2 in 09/10, 13-44-0-3 in 08/09, 13-38-1-8 in 07/08 and 25-27-1-7 in 06/07.

Vipers sputtering 

What’s happened to the mighty three-time defending champion Vipers? Vernon has already lost more games in regulation this year than all of last season. The Vipers (36-11-4-9 in 2010/11) are just 1-6-1 2 in their last 10 games and 14-12-1-2 overall. 

All eggs in one basket 

If one believes the Spruce Kings are a one line hockey club, the stats certainly support that theory. The “big three”, consisting of Paul De Jersey, Jujhar Khaira and Michael Colantone, (all in the top 25 of league scoring) have connected for 56 of the team’s 101 goals for a whopping 55 per cent. De Jersey is second in goals with 26 and 4^th in points with 53. He is averaging 1.8 points per game. Colantone has 40 points (1.3 a game) and Khaira has 36 (1.5).

Sad sack PP

Here’s a stat that makes no sense to me. The Spruce Kings have one of the top lines in the league, yet their power-play ranks dead last among 16 teams operating at 15.56 per cent. (As a side note: I don’t know if it has something to do with the air quality or lack of it, but the P.G. Cougars also have the worst PP in the WHL at 12.7 per cent). 

The Spruce Kings are 4th in penalty killing. By the way, Powell River has scored a league-leading 13 shorthanded goals. Prince George is sitting with one while Merritt has none. 

Struggling at the gate 

In 17 home dates, the Prince George Spruce Kings are averaging 729 fans. The good news is that’s a slight improvement over last year’s average of 696. The bad news is they remain second last in overall attendance only ahead of Merritt (604). The 33 more fans per game do not make up for the increased $20,000 in travel. 

Attendance for most BCHL teams is down. Comparing last year’s final numbers to this year’s mid-season numbers, all 8 Coastal teams (Alberni Valley, Nanaimo, Langley, Victoria, Cowichan Valley, Surrey, Powell River and Coquitlam) have fewer spectators. The Coast average has dropped more than 200 per game from 1125 to 914. 

The Interior average has increased from 1050 to 1111, however, this is mainly due to Quesnel’s (638) move to Chilliwack (1950); a gain of over 1,300 per game. 

Vernon, Salmon Arm and Trail are down; Penticton is up just over 100 fans a game while Westside, P.G. and Merritt have all made small gains. Overall, last year’s league average of 1087 has been reduced this year to 1009.

Race to the finish 

The second half will separate the contenders from pretenders with more urgency this year than ever before. Only four teams in each conference advance to the playoffs compared to seven last year. I still believe this gets changed again in the summer. 

The Spruce Kings are actually in the mix and deserve some credit for showing significant improvement. However, for Prince George to actually reach its goal and qualify for the post-season it’s imperative they get better secondary scoring, much stronger contribution from its power-play and more consistent goaltending. 

If only it was as simple as it sounds. 

From the Quote Rack:  

 Tim Tebow and his miracles are drawing comparisons to George Blanda and his, but I give Tebow a slight edge in the throwing department—-remember, Blanda has been dead for over a year.

LeBron James says he didn’t sleep for weeks after the Heat lost to Dallas. Well, except for when the moon was in its fourth quarter. 

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert claimed that with big market dominance, 25 of 30 NBA teams are the Washington Generals. Not true. 16 teams make the playoffs. So only 14 teams are really the Washington Generals.

MLB has officially reinstated Manny Ramirez from the voluntary retirement list. Although any team taking a chance on signing him is probably doing the baseball equivalent of marrying a Kardashian – it’s exciting at first, it’s a lot of media attention, and it will probably blow up in your face.

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com) 

A study says that enjoying the misfortune of others makes people feel better about themselves. Which is why basketball fans are always so happy when the Clippers are playing their team.) 

Comedy writer Jim Barach (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/  

The NBA is instituting a new protocol for concussions with each member of the league to be tested at the start of the year to provide a baseline. First up to be given a head scan is Commissioner David Stern who will be tested again if the league is able to sell the New Orleans Hornets.

Sighting a hard-shelled sea turtle off British Columbia’s coast is extremely rare, so experts are both puzzled and concerned that three such turtles have washed ashore in the last two weeks on Vancouver Island. Officials say they usually see slow, hard shelled animals turn up when Hockey Night in Canada tapes their Hot Stove Lounge in Vancouver. 

Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/

 Lindsey Vonn revealed she was getting a divorce, then swept all three ski events at Lake Louise. No word on her first split time. 

The trunks Mohammad Ali wore in the Fight of the Century against Joe Frasier sold for $173,000 at an LA auction. You gotta think the bidding went 15 rounds. 

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com       

And in case you missed it: 

Chicago running back Marion Barber was wearing the goat horns after the Bears 13-10 loss in Denver. Barber made a major gaffe in the final two minutes when he stopped the clock by running out of bounds with his team leading by three. In addition, he fumbled in overtime which led to the Broncos game winning kick.
Although it may be harsh, some Bears fans are calling for the Barber to be cut.

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com.