Alex Wright has already had a chance to stretch his legs with the Spruce Kings in Wednesday night's 4-1 loss to the Quesnel Millionaires. Alex was not impressed with his play or the end result for the team and has mentioned a few times how much he wants a win right away. With the arrival of Kyle Nielsen, the Spruce Kings find themselves with a pair of 19 year goaltenders, both of which could start any game this season.
The arrival of Wright inevitably pushed out Tim Zweirs who was reassigned to the Kamloops Storm of the KIJHL. The return of Wright also created some competition for the starting position between the 19 year old Alex Wright and 20 year old Evan Smith. After a pair of tough outings on the opening weekend, the Spruce Kings struck a deal with the Humboltd Broncos that gave the SJHL team Evan's rights in exchange for future considerations.
That cleared up a roster spot for Kyle and also provided a hole for an overager that turned into Zac Rasmussen. The addition of Zac is one that has the potential to reap rewards immediately and throughout the season. The Spruce Kings are in need of some offensive punch with Sam Muchalla and Jeff Earnest still out of the lineup as they serve the second of two game suspensions. The two forwards and defenceman Josh Pineiro picked up two game suspensions each as a result of a multiple fight situation against the Penticton Vees Saturday night.
Zac is looking forward to stepping in and filling that hole offensively with his fierce competitive play. Once the team has its full compliment of horses in the stable, the Spruce Kings could end up with two or even three lines that have agitators with a scoring touch causing containment concerns for the opposition.
The recent roster changes will be put to the test against an otherwise unknown squad in the Merritt Centennials. The Interior Division rivals knocked off the Trail Smoke Eaters in their one and only game played so far this season. After cutting Nielsen, the Centennials have opted to go with two rookie goaltenders between the pipes (UPDATE - and just today added a third goaltender with no previous experience). The rest of the Cents is your usual mix of returning and new players. Check below to see the starting rosters for both clubs.
Rosters
Merritt Centennials
2 Matt Mazzarolo (D 6'03" 200 2/5/1990)
3 Jeff Zmurchyk (D 6'00" 175 1/6/1990)
4 Steve Tresierra (D 5'11" 180 4/17/1990)
7 Derek Hills (D 6'02" 205 12/5/1990)
8 Ryne Bodger (D 6'00" 180 11/2/1989)
10 Brad Bourke (D 6'01" 165 4/21/1991)
11 Jeff Jones (F 5'09" 175 12/29/1991)
12 Jordan Soquila (F 6'00" 194 10/14/1989)
15 Daniel Chang (F 5'11" 180 5/19/1991)
16 Alex Valenti (F 5'11" 185 8/29/1989)
17 David Sabey (F 6'03" 205 1/1/1991)
18 Kevin Philp (F 6'06" 230 2/4/1990)
19 Gary Rai (F 6'03" 190 2/7/1990)
21 Joey McEwan (F 5'11" 185 6/7/1989)
22 Stephen Wall (F 6'01" 190 5/31/1991)
24 Thomas Hardy (F 6'01" 175 12/21/1991)
26 Silvan Harper (F 5'10" 185 3/25/1992)
27 Jake Baker (D 6'03" 200 7/18/1991)
31 Spencer Bacon (G 6'04" 170 1/15/92)
35 Cole Holowenko (G 6'02" 190 1/5/1993)
Prince George Spruce Kings
1 Alex Wright (G 6'01" 185 4/20/1990)
3 Wes McLeod (D 6'02" 185 9/30/1990)
4 Clayton McEwan (D 6'00" 180 11/26/1991)
5 Justin Fillion (D 5'11" 175 4/23/1990)
7 Jesse Scrimbit (D 6'01" 180 12/19/1990)
8 Jonathan Gibson (D 6'01" 205 2/1/1990)
9 Nick DeSousa (F 6'00" 180 11/13/1990)
10 Andrew Pickering (F 5'10" 175 6/2/1989)
11 Kyle Manlow (F 5'10" 165 6/28/1991)
12 Joe Becker (F 5'10" 180 1/29/1990)
15 Luke Hannas (F 6'02" 185 9/9/1991)
17 Brooks Robinson (F 5'11" 180 8/18/1989)
18 Colten Derickson (F 6'00" 200 11/15/1989)
19 Joe Morgan (F 5'08" 180 4/7/1989)
20 Jeff Datoff (D 5'10" 160 5/26/1992)
21 Stewart Lambert (F 6'00" 175 4/5/1990)
22 Jeremy Wiebe (F 6'00" 180 7/20/1991)
23 RJay Berra (F 6'00" 180 7/26/1990)
25 Zac Rasmussen (F 5'09" 178 5/8/1989)
35 Kyle Nielsen (G 5'10" 170 7/21/1990)
Officials
R -
L -
L -
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