The Bulldogs are on the road to the Interior for the first time since October as they?ll play three games in three days all against teams they haven?t seen yet this season. Game #1 is Friday night in Prince George, Saturday the Dogs visit Williams Lake, and Sunday afternoon the trip finishes with an afternoon date in Quesnel against the Millionaires.
The Dogs enter the weekend with a record of 22-10-1 and 2, good for 47 points and a first place tie with the Surrey Eagles atop the Coastal Conference. After the Dogs missed a chance to take first by themselves with a 2-1 loss to Victoria on Tuesday, the Eagles missed a chance of their own with a 3-1 loss to Powell River on Wednesday. So once again the Dogs have a game in hand.
The Spruce Kings have a record of 12-19-1 and 2, good for 27 points and sixth place in the Interior. They are just a point back of the Quesnel Millionaires for fifth, with a game in hand. There is a considerable gap from the top four to the bottom six in the Conference, as the 4th place Silverbacks lead the 5th placed Millionaires by 13 points.
The Spruce Kings were last in action Sunday afternoon at home where they pulled off a 6-5 double overtime win over the Merritt Centennials to snap a four game losing streak. Trailing 1-0 after one, the Spruce Kings came out in the second like they were shot out of a cannon, tying the game just 18 seconds into the period on a Sam Muchalla goal. Newly acquired former Langley Chief Marcus Watson would then put the Kings up 2-1 before the period was eight minutes old. With just over five minutes left in the frame Brooks Robinson gave the Kings a 3-1 lead, and just three minutes later it was 4-1 as Nick DeSousa found the net. The Centennials didn?t go away quietly, as less than 10 seconds later they were awarded a penalty shot that they made good on to make it 4-2. Less than 30 seconds later they found the net again to make it 4-3 and it was a whole new hockey game. The Centennials completed the comeback to find the net again to tie it at 4-4 before the third was three minutes old, but this time the Spruce Kings answered quickly with Sam Muchalla scoring just three minutes later for a 5-4 lead for the Sprucies. The Centennials would tie the game with less than two minutes to go in regulation to force OT, where the Kings prevailed two minutes into double OT on a Justin Fillion goal.
Shots favoured the Spruce Kings 53-32 with Kyle Nielsen picking up the win in net. Both teams went 0 for 4 on the power play.
The Broadcast begins with the pregame show live from the Prince George Coliseum on 93.3 The Peak FM at 6:45 with the puck dropping at 7:00pm. Listen live on 93.3 The Peak or www.933thepeak.com
For the first time in several years the Dogs are in Williams Lake Saturday to take on the Timberwolves. For those that aren?t aware or have forgotten, The T-Wolves took a two year leave of absence from the BCHL for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons. Starting once again from scratch as an expansion team certainly hasn?t been easy but the Timberwolves are still in the playoff fight, entering this week with a record of 8-21-1-0 for 17 points. While they are five points behind the 7th placed Centennials and six points behind the 6th placed Smoke Eaters, they have four and five games in hand on them both.
They were last in action Wednesday night, when they lost 5-2 in Quesnel against the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon opponents. After beating Merritt to open the month, it was the second loss in a row for the TWolves. Quesnel got the jump in this one early, taking a 1-0 lead before the game was four minutes old on a Taylor Holst goal. It would be 2-0 for the MoneyMen after one when Darick Ste-Marie found the net with just over two minutes to go in the frame. The Timberwolves made a game of it when they trimmed the gap to 2-1 with seven minutes to go in the second on a Justin Hogan goal, but the Millionaires snuffed their momentum out very quickly as just 14 seconds later it was a two goal game again as Brett Howe scored for a 3-1 Mills lead after two. Just short of the halfway mark of the third the Millionaires got the insurance they needed with Taylor Holst?s second of the game making it 4-1. The TWolves didn?t quit though as they made it 4-2 with seven minutes to play on a Danny Merth power play marker. That would be as close as they would get as Holst completed the hat trick into the empty net for the 5-2 final.
The Timberwolves outshot the Millionaires 31-30 with Sean Donnelly taking the loss in playing just ten minutes and giving up one goal on eight shots. Richie Virtanen went the rest of the way kicking away 18 of 22 shots. Luke Siemens picked up the win in net for Quesnel. The Timberwolves were 1 for 5 on the power play while the Mills were 0 for 4.
Get it all on 93.3 The Peak FM with the pregame show at 7:15 and the play-by-play at 7:30 from the Cariboo Memorial Complex.
Things will no doubt happen quite fast Sunday afternoon when the Dogs visit the Millionaires to wrap up their trip. Not only is the ice surface in the Quesnel Twin Rinks (more affectionately known as the ?vault?) smaller than regulation size, the Millionaires will also have Saturday night off so you can expect them to try and jump on the Bulldogs early to make it seem even smaller.
Quesnel enters Friday holding down 5th spot in the Conference with a record of 12-19-0 and 4 for 28 points. Things are very tight from 5th place to 8th with only six points separating the four teams. After their aforementioned win over Williams Lake above (their second in a row) the Millionaires host the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Friday night.
Game time is 2:00 so that means the broadcast begins with the pregame show on 93.3 The Peak FM at 1:45. Listen live on 93.3 The Peak or www.933thepeak.com
This weekend the AVB have three games in three days all against teams lower than them in the standings, but they certainly shouldn?t be thinking of it that way as these are all tough buildings to play in. With all three teams fighting for position you can expect them all to be a little desperate. Ed Dempsey in Prince George and Glen Watson in Quesnel will both have hard working and gritty teams, and you can expect the same out of the Timberwolves. If the Dogs expect to return home with points in their pocket they had best lace up their work boots and prepare for some tough, hard working efforts.
