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Spruce Kings and Mills an age-old rivarly

Editor's note: Ahead of Saturday's BCHL Game of the Week between the Millionaires and Spruce Kings, Ron Gallo takes a look back at the decades-old rivarly between the league's two northern-most teams.

I haven't really spent much time this season discussing the teams based in the northern section of the British Columbia Hockey League, but have been given a chance to do that now. With the feature Game of the Week showcasing a rivalry that has spanned four decades and three leagues, spending a few minutes on the rivalry that exists between the Quesnel Millionaires and the Prince George Spruce Kings is the least I can do.

I personally have watched the Millionaires and Spruce Kings duke it out for the past 15 seasons. During that time there have been big wins, big losses, big fights and big controversies. Although the names and faces change every year, these two teams continue to play some of their best hockey against each other and the fans don't seem to tire of it.

Separated by a little over an hour, that short stretch of Highway 97 hardly seems enough of a deterrent to keep diehard fans out of the enemy's arena. A caravan of vehicles can be seen heading up and down the highway and, once in the opponent's building, fans are quick to announce their arrival with noise makers that are rarely left silent.

In their history, the Millionaires and the Spruce Kings have battled in the Peace Cariboo League, the Rocky Mountain Hockey League and now the British Columbia Hockey League. Over that time the two have engaged in some memorable battles and have given up very little to each other. Prior to the joining the BCHL, my memory tells me that these two teams used to play each other to pretty much even records with few exceptions on both sides.

Over the past 13 seasons in the BCHL, the Spruce Kings have the lead in the head-to-head meetings, but don't let that fool you into believing that those games have been easy wins for Prince George. It should come as no surprise that the Spruce Kings and the Millionaires have played the most games against a BCHL opponent against each other. In 117 games, Prince George currently enjoys nearly a 3-1 edge over Quesnel (77-29-1-9); but the more telling stat of just how tight and close these two teams play each other is seen in the goals for and against. Over the thirteen seasons, including the seven games leading up to this weekend's home-at-home series, the Spruce Kings have outscored the Millionaires 549-404, but that averages out to only a one goal a game difference.

Looking at the stats this season and over the past couple of seasons leaves many fans that don't know better to believe the Quesnel Millionaires have struggled in player development and haven't been able to recruit quality players. That isn't true at all; in fact the Millionaires have a long list of Alumni to brag about including two players currently in the NHL that have been the centre of attention over the last little while. Gilbert Brule was a Millionaire before becoming an Oil man and Carey Price first stole the show in the Quesnel Twin Arenas playing for the home team.

This season the Quesnel Millionaires opted to provide a talented young player with their organization to play for a National Championship when they traded their leading goal scorer to the Victoria Grizzlies. Just 19 years old and in his second season with the Millionaires, Trevor Hertz was playing on the top line where he picked up 30 goals and 23 assists in 46 games. Nine of those goals came against the Prince George Spruce Kings, including a hat trick the last time the two teams met in the Vault.

Player trades and moves between the Prince George Spruce Kings and the Quesnel Millionaires have done nothing to diminish the rivalry and in many cases fuelled renewed bad blood on the ice. Although there are no players that ended up on either team as a result of a player trade this season, there are two players that have some experience playing for the enemy. Rylan Stanyer suited up 24 times with the Spruce Kings in the 2007-08 season while Nick DeSousa was called up 3 times in an AP role for the Millionaires.

A Spruce Kings player and coaching alumni can be found behind the bench of the Millionaires. Tom Bohmer played for Prince George in the 1992-93 Peace Cariboo Junior Hockey League season and then returned to the team in 2003 as an assistant coach for two seasons including the 2004-05 run to the Interior Division finals. During those two years, Bohmer was the assistant to Ed Dempsey who is the current Spruce Kings head coach and general manager. The familiarity and competitiveness of these two bench bosses is another small reason the rivalry lives on.

One of the most notable player trades between Quesnel and Prince George had a huge impact on the RBC Royal Bank Cup in 2007. After being released by his major junior team, Jordan White was reassigned to the Quesnel Millionaires. In a trade deadline deal, the Spruce Kings were able to acquire White for their run in the National Junior A Championship. In the semi final game, White was peppered with 93 shots in the longest game ever played in the RBC Royal Bank Cup. The Spruce Kings went on to win that game and advance to the Championship game taking home the silver medal.

For as much as these two teams have battled each other, they have also worked together over the years to the benefit of each other. The initial bid to join the BCHL was largely successful because of the inclusion of both teams for the 1996-97 season. With the promise of playing multiple games on a road trip to Prince George, the original teams in the BCHL agreed to an expansion that saw the Royal City Outlaws franchise from New Westminster move north.

Good or bad set aside, this weekend is big for both teams with a potential of eight points on the line for the two teams battling for the last playoff spot in the Interior Division. The Spruce Kings have never been on the outside of the playoff race, but the Millionaires haven't given up hope of catching them either. With both teams having a dozen games remaining, the magic number is down to 10 points for the Spruce Kings to clinch that playoff spot. The Millionaires sit 15 points back and are looking very closely at the five games that remain with the Spruce Kings including this weekend's home-at-home and the BCHL Feature Game on Saturday night in Prince George.