The Kings suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday night against the Clippers, so it’s fitting that the Kings will get a chance to return the favour tonight in Nanaimo. On a personal note, I’m returning to the site of my first live hockey game, as I saw the Clippers play at Frank Crane back in early 2003. Here’s the rundown:
The Vitals
Game: Powell River Kings vs Nanaimo Clippers
Arena: Frank Crane Arena
Puck Drop: 7:00pm
Broadcast: Starting at 6:45pm live on 95.7 SunFM
The Numbers
Kings This Season vs Clippers: 3-1-0-0
Last Meeting: Clippers def Kings 4-2 (Saturday November 12th at Hap Parker Arena)
Kings at Home: 9-1-1
Kings on the Road: 2-5-1
What’s What for the Kings
There is good news and bad news for the Kings. The good news is that Sean Maguire and Evan Richardson slot back into the lineup and Kent Lewis is back behind the Kings bench for the first time in 3 weeks. That can’t NOT be a boost to a Kings lineup which has not been good on the road. That’s the bad news, the Kings are headed back out on the road where they have just two wins this season. That might be offset though by the fact that the Clippers are not much better at home, than the Kings are on the road.
In terms of the lineups, Jarryd Leung is resting for a week due to an illness, so Mitch Ball will draw into the lineup. Jordan Paddock is still out with his shoulder injury, but the good news is that Craig Dalrymple is back in the lineup after a two game absence due to a lower body injury.
What’s What for the Clippers
As I alluded to, the Clippers are at home, what the Kings are away. With a record of 3-4-0-1 against your own fans, Mike Vandekamp and his side will be itching to follow up on a great effort on Saturday night, with their 4th win of the season at Frank Crane Arena. The only change to the lineup should be the addition of David Iacono who was missing last weekend, as he was at the prospects game at the World Junior A Challenge (he was also suspended and wouldn’t have played the games in Powell River anyway). The big guns must fire, as that was a big difference between Friday and Saturday night. On Friday, Kyle Kramer, Trevor Fitzgerald and Andrew Gladiuk were all ineffective and couldn’t generate good scoring chances. On Saturday night, all got points.
What’s on the Broadcast tonight?
Winding down our player profile series, we’ll Light the Lamp with Jarryd Leung and talk with Evan Richardson about getting back to routine in the 1st intermission. During the 2nd break, we’ll get our 2nd ‘State of the Kingdom’ update, with Chad van Diemen. All that and a whole lot more, including our trivia contest of the night and Geoff Grimwood in our post-game show!
