An early start time did nothing to deter Powell River U18 Kings from being ready at puck drop in their first game at the Cloverdale U18 Memorial Tournament on November 11.
Within two minutes of the opening faceoff (just after 7:30 am), Braedyn Louie collected a bouncing puck off the end boards and banged it into the net to put Powell River up 1-0 over their opponents from Penticton. Ben Belyea knocked in a rebound 20 seconds later to double the lead.
Later in the period, and shortly after hitting the goal post, Evan Piniewski knocked the puck out of mid air from the slot and made it 3-0 one minute prior to intermission.
Kings continued to excel offensively in the second period. Noah Culos pounced on a loose puck at the 8:33 mark and beat the Penticton goaltender with a deke to the backhand.
A trio of goals followed before the period ended. Tristan Peake set up a wide open Griffin Padgett, who one-timed a shot into the back of the net, Cullen Wilson blasted a shot past the goalie from the blue line and Derek Kahn converted a pass from Dreydan Harris to make it 7-0.
In the middle of the barrage of goals, Josh McCormick stopped a breakaway attempt, one of his 17 saves en route to a shutout. Powell River sent 39 shots at his counterpart.
Three Kings found the back of the net in the final frame to make the final 10-0.
Reece Deeble pinched in from point and scored from the hash marks, Belyea notched his second of the morning on partial breakaway, and Peake rounded out the scoring at the tail end of a shift where he was thwarted on several previous chances.
Kings faced Whitehorse Mustangs in their second game of the day, and had an equally strong start.
Quinn Carlson opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the point following an offensive zone faceoff 39 seconds into the game, and Tyler Durant doubled the lead 56 seconds later with another goal coming through a shot from just inside the blue line.
Whitehorse responded before the game was three minutes old, but Liam Carroll restored the two-goal lead for Powell River after breaking up a pass deep in the Mustangs’ zone and snapping the puck past their goaltender late in the middle frame.
After the Kings failed to convert on an early second-period power play, Whitehorse cut the lead to one for a second time, but the comeback quest was short lived. Harris added an insurance goal for Powell River, collecting a rebound from a Belyea shot for a 4-2 lead.
There was no scoring in the third period. Goaltender Leo Brosseau earned the win; shot totals were not immediately available after the game.
Kings are scheduled to play two more games on Saturday, November 12, against Peninsula (Victoria) and the hosts from Cloverdale.
