A Night to Honour

By Kelly Sharp

The Prince George Spruce Kings have been saluting their volunteers and recognizing individual hockey achievements for over 30 years with their annual volunteer appreciation night and awards banquet but this night had a different feel. No season ending farewells this time, the non-profit junior hockey club was only days away from hosting the best Junior A hockey teams in the country. The list of Spruce Kings award recipients included Nicolas Rioux for best defenseman and regular season most valuable player. The most improved player was forward turned defenseman Zach Davies. Rookie of the year was defenseman Jeff Forsythe. Most inspirational –Kings captain Brayden Penner. Scholastic achievement – Jordan Inglis. To a player, the Spruce Kings would have traded the individual hardware for a longer playoff run. But that’s history; the RBC Royal Bank Cup will open Saturday night at CN Centre with the Kings trying to prove they belong with the big boys.

“I think we are really really anxious to get out there,” said Kings defenseman Brayden Penner. “Being an underdog team keeps the pressure off us a bit, instead of being nervous about it I think we are all looking forward to it.”

Penner says he can’t wait for the challenge.  The Spruce Kings open the 5-team tournament 7PM Saturday night against the Pembroke Lumber Kings.

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