Vernon Vipers' Don Nycholat crashes the net and tries to get a stick on a bouncing rebound but Prince George Spruce Kings' Justin Fillion ties him up and netminder Kyle Nielsen jumps on the puck during B.C. hockey league action Saturday night at Wesbild Centre.
Email
Print
ShareKings out of the playoff picture
By Alistair McInnis - Prince George Free Press
Published: February 16, 2010 7:00 AM
Updated: February 16, 2010 10:32 AM
In the end, playoffs weren’t designed for this season’s Prince George Spruce Kings.
Following a weekend in which results didn’t work in their favour – the out-of-town scoreboard didn’t cooperate and on the ice, they didn’t help their own cause – the Spruce Kings were mathematically eliminated from the B.C. Hockey League playoffs.
Friday evening victories by the Trail Smoke Eaters and Merritt Centennials left Prince George with a razor-thin chance of sneaking into the playoffs. Any chance of a postseason berth came to an end on Sunday evening at the South Okanagan Events Centre, as the Penticton Vees put an exclamation point on the Spruce Kings’ disappointing season with a 7-0 triumph.
Not only did the Vees victory eliminate the Spruce Kings from the playoffs, but the lopsided defeat left the Spruce Kings winless in 26 tries this season against teams currently sporting winning records.
With three games remaining and a record of 16 wins, 36 losses, a tie and four overtime defeats (16-36-1-4), the Spruce Kings will wrap up their 60-game season against a pair of last-place teams. They meet the only team below them in the nine-team Interior Conference, the Williams Lake TimberWolves (9-46-1-0), this evening in the lakecity before returning home to host the TimberWolves on Friday, 7 p.m. at the Coliseum.
On Saturday, they welcome their final opposition of the campaign, the eight-team Coastal Conference basement-dwelling Burnaby Express (17-34-0-6) to the Coliseum. That game is also slated to begin at 7 p.m.
For the past month, the Spruce Kings have been in a four-team battle with the Smoke Eaters, Centennials and Quesnel Millionaires for the last three playoff spots in the Interior Conference. A week of unfavourable results for the eighth-place Spruce Kings began on Tuesday, when the Smoke Eaters gained a valuable point in a 6-5 overtime loss at home to the Vees. The next evening, the Quesnel Millionaires celebrated a crucial 7-6 victory in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
The Mills punched their ticket to the playoffs after a 3-2 overtime loss in Nanaimo against the Clippers the next evening. Also on Friday, Trail downed the Westside Warriors 4-2 at home and Merritt edged the Salmon Arm SilverBacks 4-3 in Salmon Arm.
The playoff picture got further out of sight for the Spruce Kings after a 5-2 loss on Saturday in Vernon against the division-leading Vipers. They needed to leave Penticton with a full two points to have any hope of advancing beyond the regular season.
At 19-30-1-6, the Smoke Eaters were sixth in the division with 45 points entering their game Tuesday evening in Kelowna against the Warriors. They were one point behind Quesnel (20-32-0-6) and one up on the Centennials (21-35-0-2).
Beau Bennett led the Vees offensively on Sunday with a goal and three assists. Alex Szcechura scored twice, while Garrett Milan (one goal, one assist) and former Spruce King Andrew Pickering (two assists) also had two-point nights. Matt Paltridge, Ben Sexton and Eric Filiou also scored for Penticton.
Andrew Walsh, replaced by Kyle Nielsen to start the third period, stopped 28 of 33 shots in a losing effort. Sean Bonar picked up a 26-save shutout for the Vees. Penticton outshot the Spruce Kings 47-26 and finished four-for-eight with the power play. The Spruce Kings had five chances with the extra man.
COMMENTS