Spruce Kings Begin New Year

By Kelly Sharp

Coach Ed Dempsey goes over  drill at Spruce Kings practise

The Prince George Spruce Kings skate into the first weekend of the New Year knowing very well that more roster moves await the host team for the RBC Royal Bank Cup – Canadian Junior A Hockey championship. General Manager and Head Coach Ed Dempsey would like to secure an experienced goaltender and at least one forward with offensive upside before the January 10^th trading deadline. The Kings return from a two week plus break and off an impressive Vancouver Island swing. Prince George earned 5 out of a possible 8 points after 4 games in 3 ½ days. Forward Vinny Muchalla says the Kings were finally finding the back of the net. Only 4 other teams in the entire 17 team BC Hockey League have scored fewer goals than the Spruce Kings. Defensively, Prince George enters the second half with a respectable third best goals against total in the 9 team Interior Conference.

Ed Dempsey is encouraged by the overall progress of the 18-14-1-3 fifth place Kings despite a below five hundred record on home ice.

“We play too tight at home and try to play too fancy; all we have to do is keep it simple do the same things as we do on the road play hard play smart and we will get the results.”

Dempsey admits the added pressure of being the host team for the RBC Royal Bank Cup has raised expectations.

“Because of the magnitude at what is at stake at the end of the year, there have been players who haven’t been able to handle the pressure and handle that commitment,” said Dempsey referring to some of the King roster moves prior to the Christmas break.

The Spruce Kings would like nothing better than to win there way into the RBC Royal Bank Cup, something that does not happen very often for the host team of the National Junior A hockey championship.

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