The Powell River Kings held pat on the January 10th Trade Deadline Day, electing instead to get out ahead of the deadline with a pair of moves last week.
Powell River added a pair of players at the deadline, made possible by a pair of long term injuries to Liam Lytton and Matt Fawcett and Kyle Kawamura electing not to return following the Christmas break. The first addition was 6’6, 220lb defenceman Kyle Pow who made his re-debut with the Kings on Friday against Wenatchee after affiliating with the team during the 2016/17 season.
Pow joins the Kings from the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.
“He’s a big strong guy, we like his passion, his work ethic and he really wanted to be a King,” said Kings Head Coach Tyler Kuntz. “We bought him in to take a look at him, he’s a big guy who can do good things at both ends of the rink and he’s a good add to our team.”
The second move Powell River made was adding 2001-born forward Nolan Krogfoss from the Valley West Giants. Krogfoss has played 7 games with the Kings as an affiliate, registering his first BCHL point on Sunday afternoon against Cowichan Valley.
Krogfoss scored 8 goals and 10 assists in 12 games with the Giants this year, following up on a stellar rookie campaign where he had 32-38-70 in 34. Krogfoss had also affiliated with Trail, Surrey and Langley before joining Powell River.
“Nolan’s had a crazy year”, added Kuntz. “He played in Langley for Bobby Henderson, then goes back to Valley West and has Kyle Spencer as a coach, then they make a coaching change and now he has me as a coach…so that’s four coaches in a short space of time and I think he’s looking forward to some stability for the forseeable future.”
Kuntz also said that he’s excited to see Krogfoss’ development this season ahead of his 18-year-old season next year.
“We like his skating, he works hard, he can play wing or centre and has a history of scoring goals,” said Kuntz. “I wouldn’t expect him on the scoresheet every night right now, coming into the league next year he should be looking to make a difference. But right now it’s about his speed, strength and smarts.
With the 3:00pm deadline now come and gone, Kuntz can turn 100% of his attention to coaching this group of players…something he hasn’t had the luxury of until now.
“People might know or may have forgotten, we’ve made a lot of moves beginning in the summer,” said Kuntz. “We added Jayden Lee in the summer, that was a big one. Then we add Lytton in camp, Brushett right before the first game, then Pouliot, Glasman, Missler, Martini, Byrne and now Krogfoss and Pow. I’m tired, we’ve done a lot and I think we as a team have done a great job welcoming new players and wishing players on their way out well.”
Kuntz did say that while the roster deadline has past, the Kings do have one more addition to make before playoffs.
“Ben Berard will be our deadline acquisition, getting him back, getting Wozney back and Jack Long back, plus Liam Lytton in on an AP card. We get through now with plenty coming in the next few weeks. We just keep going.
