Spruce Kings sellout a reminder of yesteryear

Sometimes, things just fall into place at the right time.

Case in point: the Prince George Spruce Kings’ sellout crowd on Saturday night at the Coliseum.

First off, I’ll give credit where it’s due. The marketing staff of the community-run organization deserve some recognition for the capacity crowd of 2,112 (announced attendance) against the Nanaimo Clippers.

The Spruce Kings worked in advance with local media and advertisers while offering a ton of promotional packages. It was Save On Foods night and packages were awarded to customers of the grocery store chain attending the game. The shootout at the intermission offered an opportunity for each contestant to win a Dodge pick-up truck (they both missed the hole).

If that wasn’t enough, the B.C. Hockey League’s Fred Page Cup championship trophy was in the concourse of the building.

The promotions obviously went over well, but other factors worked in the Spruce Kings’ favour. They carried a six-game winning streak into the contest, coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs the previous evening. Enjoying their most successful season since 2006-07 (the same year they hosted the Royal Bank Cup junior A hockey national championship), the Spruce Kings are well over .500 and can finish as high as second in the eight-team Interior Conference.

An absence of other sports events that night played a role. Make no mistake. First off, the Vancouver Canucks’ Hockey Night in Canada game against the Toronto Maple Leafs was a 4 p.m. start (that’s what they get for playing host to the Centre of the Universe).

While they may typically draw different fans, it didn’t hurt the Spruce Kings that the Western Hockey League’s Cougars and UNBC basketball teams were on the road. And the Cariboo Cougars, who develop players to advance to the WHL and BCHL, were on a bye weekend from the BC Hockey Major Midget League.

It’d be easy to get carried away with Saturday night. Seeing so much support was awesome, but let’s not sugar coat this too much. A sizeable portion of those tickets weren’t paid for.

This gives the team something else to work off of as they look ahead to their final home weekend on the 2011-12 schedule, March 9 and 10 against the Penticton Vees.

The March 10 contest is also the Spruce Kings’ final game of the regular season.

How the Spruce Kings fare in their next six games, all on the road, will go a long way in determining how they end up. But with the team trying to secure a playoff spot and the Vees the top junior A team in Canada, attracting BCHL supporters for those games shouldn’t be hard. It’s getting outside of the core group of 1,000 or so that must be their focus. How many of those fans from Saturday night will go back?