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Powell River Kings rise above adversity on the road

Team misses game due to bus breakdown, wins next two
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BEST BACKSTOP: Powell River Kings goalie Mitch Adamyk earned another win in his team’s 4-2 road victory in Penticton on November 4. Alicia Baas photo

As far as road trips go, Powell River Kings most recent one got off to a strange start. The story from the weekend was not the Kings picking up four points in two wins, taking back sole position of first place in the BC Hockey League Island Division. Kings doubled-up on Penticton Vees 4-2 on November 4. The next night Kings beat Salmon Arm Silverbacks 4-1.

The big story didn’t even happen on the ice. The Kings’ bus broke down, which meant missing the November 3 game in Wenatchee against the Wild.

The team planned to go through to Osoyoos on Thursday and base out of there for the three scheduled games. But because of highway closures due to weather, Kings took a route through the United States, according to head coach Kent Lewis. Less than an hour across the border, the bus was done.

“It wasn't your average road trip,” said Kings veteran goaltender Mitch Adamyk. “We sat there for about two hours before the tow truck came. He towed us about a mile to a rest stop and then we sat there for another hour. Then we got a state trooper, who escorted us to a mall so we could eat. We know our bus is old and we always joke about it. It has broken down before, but not this bad.”

The Wenatchee game will have to be rescheduled for later in the season.

Once off the road and onto the ice, the team was back to the winning ways it has had this season. 

“Our penalty kill was good when it had to be,” said Lewis about the win over the Vees. “Our game was good. We gave them a bit too much off of turnovers. We played a pretty good game and Mitch was good in net.”

Vees outshot the Kings 37 to 29, but Adamyk was up to the test. He is now the top goalie in the BCHL in goals against average and save percentage.   

The 6’3”, 183 pound native of East St. Paul, Manitoba, has been between the pipes in 12 of the Kings 18 games this season, putting up eight wins, three losses and a tie. His goals-against average is an impressive 1.96, but he has yet to record a shutout.

“I look at the stats, but I don't pay that much attention to them,” he said. “I just go out and play my game. This being my second year, I'm more comfortable in the league. I worked on a lot of stuff in the off season that I thought I could get better at positionally, being faster, stronger and better at tracking the puck.”

On Sunday against the Silverbacks, it was Matteo Paler-Chow who was in net in a game that saw the Kings rack up 25 minutes in penalties.

“We were one of the least penalized teams going into the last two games, so I don't know quite what's happened,” said Lewis. “We played a very undisciplined, dirty team. We knew that it was going to be greasy and gritty. I didn't expect it to be dirty.”

Kings opened the scoring in the first period with two goals 19 seconds apart and finished the game with two empty-netters.

Kings captain Gavin Rauser came away from the weekend with two goals and an assist. Jack Long tallied three assists in the two games.

Kings are back on the road this weekend with three games in Nanaimo, Victoria and Cowichan Valley.