With four games to go before the Christmas break, St. Nick’s deliveries are in sight, but the best Christmas gift of all, would be 8 points from the next 4 games, and that begins tonight. Here’s the rundown:
The Vitals
Game: Powell River Kings vs Surrey Eagles
Arena: South Surrey Arena
Puck Drop: 7:00pm
Broadcast: Starting at 6:45pm live on 95.7 SunFM
The Numbers
Kings This Season vs Eagles: 1-0-0-1
Last Meeting: Eagles def Kings 3-2 (OT)
Kings at Home: 11-2-1-1
Kings on the Road:6-7-1-1
What’s What for the Kings
The last time the Kings were at the South Surrey Arena, it was a night removed from beating the Eagles 7-1. The team then spotted Surrey a 3-goal lead, before reeling them in and sending it to overtime. Simply put, you can’t spot teams 3-goal leads and expect to win the game. It sounds dumb and cliche, but for the Kings to win, they have to play 60 minutes. I honestly believe that playing 60 minutes of hockey the way we know the Kings can play, makes them one of the top 2-3 teams in this league.
The Kings are boosted by the return of Jordan Paddock to the lineup. He should skate tonight, so that then poses the question of how to fit 7 guys into 6 plugs? Earlier in the year, Jordan Benton sat some games to accomodate the 6-man defence, however Benton has been near flawless and has elevated his game since Paddock’s injury. Steve Schmidt has been cleared to play, but he may not play tonight, just to play it safe (I haven’t beent old either way), and Brenden Forbes’ foot is apparently still troubling and he’ll be a late decision too. With the Kings only missing Evan Richardson, the coaching staff will have a couple of tough decisions ahead and it will be interesting to see. In goal, Sean Maguire should see action this weekend, perhaps even tonight.
What’s What for the Eagles
With 4 points seperating the Kings and Eagles, and Surrey having 2 games in hand, a win for them tonight would basically give them license to leapfrog the Kings for 2nd in the conference. We know how dangerous Tyler Morley and their blue line can be, and while the Kings did an excellent job of shutting Morley down the last time we saw the Eagles, secondary efforts from his brother Brandon, as well as Tanev and Orzetti made life tough for the Kings.
In net, Conor Barrie got his 1st win of the season against the Kings on that 3-2 OT result, and has posted just 1 win since. He’s only played in a 1/2 game since November 26th (vs Langley), and the Eagles haven’t played since Saturday. I’d think we’ll see Andrew Hunt for the Eagles tonight.
What’s on the Broadcast tonight?
In our 1st intermission, we’ll continue the RBC Contenders series with the MJHL’s Portage Terriers, and their head coach/GM Blake Spiller. During the 2nd intermission, Kent Lewis will join us to dissect the first 30 games with his State of the Kingdom address. Of course, Geoff Grimwood in the post-game show, and another trivia question of the night!
