BCHL’s Powell River Kings take barges and buses to make their match against Trail
It takes more than a ferry strike to stop Canada’s game. A Junior A team from Powell River proved that Thursday.
Tonight in Trail, the Powell River Kings are due to play the Smoke Eaters at the Cominco Arena.
It ought to be a tough B.C. Hockey League contest, but after everything the team went through on Thursday, it’ll seem easy. The hard part was getting there at all.
Normally the Kings would have made the journey via their team bus and a couple of government ferries. It’s a long way, but the team is used to it.
But due to a strike by the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, Thursday’s journey proved to be a more remarkable odyssey.
First the bus had to go. It was put on a private barge — along with its driver — first thing Thursday morning so it could get to Richmond by 6 p.m.
The barge travels daily from Powell River to Richmond and it was a way to get the bus from Powell River to the Lower Mainland.
Because of restrictions imposed by the company that owns the barge, team members were not allowed to travel on it as well.
So they had to find alternative transport. They somehow had to get to Earl’s Cove on the Sechelt Peninsula, but without a ferry running, it was time to call in a favour or two.
One of the Kings’ sponsors, AGG Logging, had a crew boat available so it was volunteered. Trouble was, it only seats 12 people, so the 20 players and four adults travelling with them had to go in two shifts.
“It turns out [the logging company] were on strike too, so [the boat] was available,” said Kings’ head coach Terry Perkins.
Then a hired bus drove them to Gibsons, where another sponsor, Goatlake Forest Products, talked a company that manufactures crew boats into offering them a ride to Horseshoe Bay.
Great, but once again, it had be done in two shifts.
Then the team hired a second bus, which drove them all the way to Langley.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, they were still waiting to rendezvous with their own team bus, said Perkins. It wasn’t expected for another hour.
When it did arrive, he said, it would take them to Penticton for an overnight stop. He expected that to take until 2 a.m.
“Yes,” he said, sounding a little exhausted, “it’s going to be a long day.”
About 17 hours long.
They were due to leave Penticton today at 11:30 a.m. in time to reach Trail at 5:30 for a 7 p.m. faceoff.
But tiring as Thursday’s adventure was, Perkins said the team of 16-to-20-year-olds enjoyed it.
“It’s something they’ll never forget,” he said.
And does he expect to win tonight in Trail? “I hope so. I think our guys will be excited about getting on the ice at last.”
