A win, a win! My kingdom for a win. King Richard’s desperate plea, or words to that affect, never rang truer than for Kings head coach Kent Lewis and former assistant coach Chad van Diemen, who now coaches in Prince George.
There can only be one victor, however, and Powell River came away with a slump-busting 6-2 win over the Prince George visitors.
Both teams desperately needed to reverse their losing ways, but added drama came with the return of van Diemen.
His first head coaching assignment with the Spruce Kings has been a challenging one so far, but he remains positive and optimistic.
“We’re getting settled in our new house,” said van Diemen of his family’s move to the Spruce Capital, “and it’s been good and I’ve really enjoyed it.”
The Prince George coach said his team has gotten off to a slow start, but he has seen improvement in recent games.
“I would have liked a better record but guys are coming around and we’ve been playing a lot better hockey lately,” he said, “and hopefully we can get some wins from it.”
Every coach enjoys the chance to beat his old boss, but van Diemen downplayed the matchup against Lewis and the Kings.
“For us, it’s a big game and the start of a three-game trip, so we need to start with a win. Obviously, though, coming back after six years here, to win would be satisfying,” said van Diemen.
A crowd of 870 was on hand for the royal contest and, with just the one game scheduled over the weekend, Powell River poured it on for most of the 60 minutes.
Kings controlled the play early and were rewarded late in the first period with goals from Carter Turnbull at 14:55 and Nick Halagian at 16:49.
Prince George charged out of the gate with a couple of goals in the second period to tie the game 2-2 but the Kings, on goals from forwards Gavin Rauser and Jonny Evans 37 seconds apart, restored the two-goal advantage after two periods.
The third period was controlled again by Powell River with hardworking forward Nick Halagian adding two more goals for his hat trick and a huge five-point night to lead the Kings to a 6-2 win.
The game reminded Kings players of the team that was so successful earlier in the schedule, and they felt the turnaround coming in their last loss in Duncan, according to Rauser.
“We really got it last game in Cowichan,” said Rauser, “but we just couldn’t get our bounces. But that was a good start and everyone in the room is hungry for a win.”
Slumps are a reality at every level of sport and a challenge in the growth of a club, something coach Lewis has seen many times in his career.
“There are times in the season when you don’t think you’ll lose, and times when you don’t think you’ll win,” said Lewis, “and I told the guys that when we were six games above 500. That’s the reality of a regular season and how you’ve got to be dialed in, but they looked at me like I had four eyes.”
Trends are difficult to reverse, but Lewis sticks to hard work and belief.
“It’s been tough because there’s been a lot of self-infliction over the past six games, where the mental and the physical weren’t there,” he explained. “Credit to the kids who had a good week of practice and we got some key people back, and tonight we had some good energy and kept them down to 20 shots.”
Kings will need the same effort when they host the Victoria Grizzlies Tuesday, November 10, and Langley Rivermen on Friday, November 13, at 7:15 pm.
