It took just under a minute for the Kings to score the winning goal against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
The top of the Interior conference succumbed to the Department of Defense and after Chad Niddery's goal at 0:52 seconds of the opening period, this game was over 1-0.
Trail came into Powell River riding a two game winning streak against their coastal cousins with wins over Surrey and Langley.
The streak came to abrupt halt when the hard working forwards and invincible wall of defensemen of the Kings ground them down.
Trail tried speed, hitting, intimidation and finally cheap shots to find a crack in the Kings but they just plain got tired and ineffective midway through the third period.
In the last ten minutes of the game it was the Kings who were flying around Smiley and it was the Kings who were looking like the fresher of the two teams.
During the game Trail's top line of St Denis, Mellor and Jacklin were simply no match for the Kings' big defensemen who held them at bay all night. Their frustration was reflected in the minutes chalked up on the scoresheet for slashing and roughing infractions.
Aside from the squeals of delight from the Trail bench every time a body check was attempted, some of those shots were dangerous and cheap.
Chris Williams was bent over in a vulnerable position and Uriah Machuga blatantly threw his elbow into the side of William's head. The check was deliberate and dangerous and is exactly the kind of check all hockey leagues are trying to eliminate.
Other fourth liners were frustrated by the Kings' speed as well and Joey Baker got Brendan Forbes pinned along the boards by Trail's bench and prceeded to throw a flurry of punches. He was awarded with a fighting, slashing and instigator for his temporary act of insanity.
The overall giste was that the Kings just had too much for the Smoke Eaters on Saturday and the fact that Smiley was named the first star says it all. This was a 5-0 game that was kept close by the Smokie's goalie.
Kings netminder Michael Garteig went 120 minutes on the weekend without letting a puck by him but still managed to grab just one of the six stars.
He was more than willing to deflect the credit to his teammates but still had an opinion on his opponent's performances.
“I don't think Merritt's goalie deserved a star,” he smiled, “but this guy did.”
“He was good – he was very good and he really held their team in it.”
Assistant coach Geoff Grimwood spoke to the physicallity of the Smoke Eaters.
“Jim's (Ingram) is a good coach and he always has physical teams and they kept it simple and worked hard and they had moments where they took it to us but, especially on the back end we've got good size, good strength and if teams want to play that way we can handle it.”
And then he congratulated his own players by saying, “I think that's one thing we're pretty proud of right now is that we're a tight defensive team right now and that's something we want to ensure we continue to do.”
“We'd like to find a little more offense,” he added, “but we take care of our own zone and if we don't find the offense on that night (like this game) then we can still win.”
“We're happy with that and if we can find a few more goals then we'll be in good shape.”
Ron Armitage Mens Wear Three Stars:
1. Kiefer Smiley
2. Chad Niddery
3. Michael Garteig
