Spruce Kings 1-1 at RBC Royal Bank Cup

By Kelly Sharp

The Prince George Spruce Kings lost on the scoreboard but proved they would be no pushover for one of the favourites of the RBC Royal Bank Cup, Canadian junior A hockey championship. 

The Kings fell 4-2 to the Pacific Region powers, the Camrose Kodiaks before 2325 at CN Centre.

An Alain Joanette power play goal gave the Kings a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Chris Shudo put Prince George in front 2-0 early in the second period before the Kodiaks power play made it 2-1 on a Jesse Todd tally.

Camrose David Andreassen lifted the Kodiaks into a 2-2 heading into the third period. But it was a Spruce Kings penalty at the end of the second period regulation that positioned the Alberta Junior Hockey League champs to complete the comeback.

The Kodiaks headed into the third period on a two-man advantage and Karl Stollery scored what proved to be the winner only 29 seconds into the third. Camrose added an empty-netter on a night the Spruce Kings Jordan White faced 29 shots. Alan York saw 26 shots in the Kodiaks net including several quality Kings scoring chances in the third.

Kodiaks forward David Andreassen called it a huge win for the Pacfic Region champions in their opener of the Royal Bank Cup. Spruce Kings assistant coach Stew Malgunas  pulled  plenty of positives from their first loss following an opening night victory over Pembroke.

“Camrose is a hecka of a hockey team, we skated with them, we went nose-to-nose with them and I tell you what I think they have a lot more respect for us now,” said Malgunas

Next up for the 1-1 host club is the Aurora Tigers Tuesday night at  7.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us