Playoff Hockey Returns to Coliseum

By Kelly Sharp

The series of contrasts gets underway at 7 tonight in Prince George .The run-and-gun attack of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks skates onto Coliseum ice against the team defense of the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Silverbacks, who held a 3-2 regular season edge over the Kings, scored 80 more goals than Prince George. When it came to preventing goals during the 60 game BCHL regular season, the Spruce Kings allowed 52 fewer goals than the ‘Backs.  The best power play in the 17 team league belonged to Salmon Arm. Prince George can boast the second best penalty kill unit in the BCHL.

Secondary scoring will be an obvious key to the series with both teams focusing on controlling the big lines.  The Salmon Arm offense is led by the trio of Riley Nash, Tony Mosey and Brian Volpei. The Prince George line of Tyler Helfrich, Alain Joanette and Jesse Fratkin has been a force down the stretch.

The Kings are expected to begin the best-of-seven Interior Conference quarter-final series without injured defenseman Jeff Forsythe, who had 5 points in 5 games against the Silverbacks. The 2-3-1-1 playoff format adds an extra twist to what is an endurance test. Game 2 is Wednesday night at the Coliseum before the series moves to Salmon Arm Thursday night.

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