If last weekend’s results are any indication, this year’s Powell River Kings team is for real. The challenge entering an unusual three-in-three weekend that saw Powell River host a pair of games, before travelling Sunday, was straightforward: sweep Victoria Grizzlies, beat Alberni Valley Bulldogs and finish the weekend as the new BC Hockey League Island Division leader.
That challenge began Friday, January 18, as Powell River hosted Victoria at Hap Parker Arena. It was the first game between the teams in 90 days thanks to a rescheduled contest on December 30. Victoria reportedly had an arduous trip to Powell River, suffering a bus breakdown and rocky ferry ride thanks to inclement weather.
Capitalizing on the visiting team’s hardship, Kings seized control by scoring on its first two chances. Just over three minutes in, Levi Glasman retrieved the puck behind the goal and fed it in front for Josh Coblenz to bunt in out of midair, beating Grizzlies netminder Kurtis Chapman. On the next shift, Ethan Kimball converted a two-on-one break for a 2-0 lead.
Neal Samanski scored the eventual game winner 38 seconds into the second period before Rowan Miller and Glasman scored to give the Kings a 5-0 lead late in the middle frame.
Victoria got on the board late in the second, adding another in the third period as Powell River skated away with a 5-2 win. Mitch Adamyk was solid in net, stopping 25 Victoria shots for his 20th win of the season.
“We approached this weekend like a playoff series,” said Kimball after the win. “We wanted to come out flying, get off to a good start, which has been a struggle for us at points this season, and set up the whole game.”
The challenge was only one-third completed, however. Powell River players knew their opponents would come out better in the second leg of the doubleheader on Saturday, January 19, following a full night’s rest and no travel. Victoria responded by taking the game to the home team early, but Adamyk made several highlight reel saves early in the first period to keep the game scoreless. Only a cross-ice pass tipped home by upcoming NHL entry draft prospect Alex Newhook beat Adamyk late in the first period.
Kings responded less than two minutes later through Ryan Brushett’s 32nd of the season to tie the game. The game remained close in the second period, however, a familiar story began to develop. Kings scored on several of their scoring chances while Adamyk and team defence did enough to keep Victoria at bay.
Brushett added his second of the game midway through the second before Glasman added a fortunate tally when a Victoria defender put the puck into his own net while attempting to clear a rebound. Kings scored three more times in the third period, including a pair by Glasman to complete his first hat-trick as a King. Coblenz added another as Powell River ran away 6-1 winners.
Adamyk earned first star honours, kicking out 36 shots for his 21st win of the season.
“He’s been a rock for us all season; it’s great to have a guy in the crease you can rely on every night,” said defender Ryan Pouliot. “All the guys knew that going into these two games, it was do or die if we wanted to catch Victoria in the standings and every guy top to bottom played well, and we got the two wins.”
With a sweep of Victoria, Powell River earned an opportunity to move into first place on Sunday, January 20, during a road game against Alberni Valley. A low scoring affair saw Alberni score first, only for Miller to convert on a breakaway a few minutes later to tie the game at one.
It stayed that way until early in the third period when Brushett found the puck at the near post for an open net tap-in, his league-leading 33rd goal of the season and a 2-1 Powell River lead.
Goaltender Matteo Paler-Chow shut the door for his third win of the season, rebounding from a tough outing last weekend in Vernon.
“Today was a battle, a hard-fought game,” said assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “To come off two very emotional, gritty wins against Victoria where the score didn’t really reflect the way the games were played, to come off those and have a good start and grind out a win is really satisfying.”
While there are still six weeks of BCHL action remaining in the regular season, the first-place positioning and Powell River’s ability to reel in Victoria over recent games is vindication for the work put in to date.
“It shows the work we’ve put in has been paying off; we are at the top now and the challenge is to keep it going and try to get first place in the league,” said Miller.
Powell River finished the weekend one point clear of Victoria in the Island Division standings, but the Grizzlies have one game in hand.
Kings return home for another busy weekend with three games in five days beginning Friday, January 25, against Penticton. Powell River entertains Surrey the following night before Nanaimo completes the set on Tuesday, January 29.
