The Prince George Spruce Kings have announced their 23-man roster for the start of the 2009/10 British Columbia Hockey League season.
This year’s Spruce Kings roster consists of 10 returning Spruce Kings and another three with Junior `A’ experience and is rounded out by 10 rookies. A few of the new players do have some Junior `A’ experience after being listed and brought up as Affiliated Players (AP) last year.
Three players are NCAA committed players with scholarships to Division I schools and there are a number of players looking for their chance to secure their educational pursuits. The roster consists of six 20-year olds, nine 19-year olds, six 18-year olds and two 17-year old players.
This year the Spruce Kings include five players from Prince George, thirteen players from other points around the province and five American-born players.
“We have a good team this year with size, speed and skill,” said Spruce Kings general manager and head coach Ed Dempsey. “We’re really looking forward to this season with a strong core of returning players led by Sam Muchalla, Andrew Pickering, Joe Morgan, Nick DeSousa and RJay Berra up front as well as Wes McLeod, Justin Fillion and Josh Pineiro on the back end.”
“There were also a couple of key off-season acquisitions in Brooks Robinson and Evan Smith that will help our team immensely. Combine that with the energy of our new players led by Jeff Earnest and Clayton McEwan and we feel we have a nice combination of experience and youth to develop into an excellent hockey club.”
The Prince George Spruce Kings start the regular season at home on Friday September 11th at 7:00pm against the Westside Warriors and then follow up their home opener on Saturday night when the Penticton Vees come calling.
