The Powell River Kings may have had a two week break from game play but coach Kent Lewis said that it's worked out well.
The team earned themselves top spot in their playoff division and a bye into the second round of playoffs.
Lewis has experience with long breaks between regular season and important games. He was the coach of the Nanaimo Clippers when they hosted the RBC Cup in 1998, which ment a six week period without games.
Lewis says the only things that have changed about practice are the times. “We're not going to try and re-invent the wheel here just before playoffs.”
And though the Kings don't know who they will be up against when it comes time to start their playoff run Lewis says it doesn't matter, they know how both teams play and how to play against them.
“We've played both teams 12 times,” he said. “Our preference is we need to focus on what we need to do.”
“This is a focused group, they know the chemistry they have and that they'll go to bat for each other.”
Last season the Kings placed 6th in the coastal division but with a more seasoned team this year, Lewis says they are in great shape for the games to come.
“Bringing a vet crew together with some great 1990-born players helped,” he adds.
And league points leader Darcy Oakes agrees. “We have a lot of vets to help us stay focused and thats big in the dressing room.”
Oakes and centreman Mark McKamey both think that the rest and practicing that have taken place in the last few weeks will benefit the team come playoffs.
“It's been great for us, it's something that we worked toward all season,” says McKamey. “We're itching to play again and get that hunger back, getting back that winning feeling.”
Aside from veteran players Lewis also gave much of the teams winning credit to goaltender Carsen Chubak, who has a save percentage of 90.66 and goals against average of 1.90.
Lewis says the team has “been on an upward trend for awhile and don't expect anything thing different next year.” As for how ready the players are for their shot at playoffs, Lewis said “We do this to the best we can. We ask a lot of them and they're mentally and physically ready.”
