The Prince George Spruce Kings have rolled the dice and come up winners when dictating the terms of their post-season BCHL schedule.
Because they had more points than each of their first three playoff opponents, the Spruce Kings were able to decide whether the format be the traditional 2-2-1-1-1 or, to reduce travel, go with a 2-3-2.
Chilliwack, Surrey, and Powell River would have liked the 2-3-2, but Prince George felt it was to its advantage to go with the 2-2-1-1-1.
A team works all season for any extra advantage and the Spruce Kings weren’t willing to gamble on having a best-of-seven go five games, with three of them in the other team’s building.
Although it’s an eight-hour bus ride between the Lower Mainland and Prince George, and 14 hours between Powell River and the Northern capital, why should the Spruce Kings have agreed to a 2-3-2 when the lower-seed potentially has to make an extra trip?
“Being the northern most team in the BCHL, our players are accustomed to the long travel where as other teams (especially in the Lower Mainland) are not as accustomed to it,” said Spruce Kings General Manager Mike Hawes.
“We have a bus that is designed for our long trips as it is equipped with 12 bunks for sleeping. Making other teams travel more often in the playoffs gives us the advantage. Without question it would have provided us with a slight edge in a seven game series as we saw in rounds one and two.”
In the first two rounds, the Spruce Kings also insisted that a Game Six on a Saturday night in Chilliwack or Surrey be followed the very next night with a Game Seven in Prince George.
Sure, the Spruce Kings could have waited until Monday to play a seventh game, but the thought process from a Prince George standpoint, was the Lower Mainland teams would have more difficulty playing at home one night and then traveling 450 miles right after to play on a Sunday.
The decision worked as the Spruce Kings won Game Seven against Chilliwack 3-1 and a seventh game against Surrey 4-0.
Also to consider in the Powell River-Prince George match-up, as an example, if Game Five was in Powell River and PG won to end the series, the gate would not be as great.
Then, in overtime….mayhem pic.twitter.com/MSFV5xHBcS
— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) April 6, 2018
Yes, the Spruce Kings would have received the revenue, but there likely would have been only just over 1,000 fans at the game, compared to the 2,032 that attended the Spruce Kings 2-1 series clinching overtime victory Thursday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA).
At $15 a ticket (some at $12) times 1000, that’s roughly an extra $15,000 in your pocket.
The Spruce Kings have advanced to the BCHL Fred Page Cup Final for the first time in the best-of-seven series
to begin in a week.
Prince George will not have home-ice advantage against the Wenatchee Wild but would get the extra home game against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Wild enjoys a 3-1 series lead over the Smoke Eaters.
“If we end up playing Wenatchee, then they will have the option to choose the playoff format based on having more points during the regular season,” stated Hawes.
“Although I would prefer a 2-2-1-1-1 series, I will be okay if Wenatchee opts for a 2-3-2 format as it is solely their decision based on the BCHL regulations.”
The Spruce Kings have had a full building for each of their last four home games.
They have been averaging 1,550 fans thru 11 home playoff dates, close to double from the regular season average of 888.
Would the Spruce Kings consider a move to the larger CN Centre for their league final?
“The Rolling Mix Concrete Arena has been home to the Spruce Kings for over 45 years (minus a couple of seasons in Kin 1) and it is the only arena in Prince George that we would want to play our home games in. The CN Centre is a beautiful facility, however, the home ice advantage we have at the RMCA is too valuable to consider a switch. We earned the second most amount of points at home in the BCHL season and that has a lot to do with our facility and our tremendous fans who I know love attending our games and being right on top of the action,” said Hawes.
There are times when home-ice advantage is significant.
The first round of the WHL playoffs ended with the home teams a perfect 4-0 in game seven.
Through two rounds of the BCHL playoffs, the home team is 3-1 in game seven (Trail won on the road in Penticton in a seventh and deciding game).
Overall, the Spruce Kings are 9-2 at home in this year’s playoffs and 3-5 on the road.
Not only did the Spruce Kings win their division in the regular season for the first time, but they have carried the momentum to a memorable playoff run, thanks to the perks of home ice advantage.
Here’s a point-of-view of walking along the RMCA concourse during @SpruceKings’ 1st Intermission of Game 7; an estimated more than 2,100 people in the facility | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/TIHfyTOGE7
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 26, 2018
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
Villanova beat Michigan to win the men’s college basketball tournament. We had about 75 people in our office pool and one of our producers, Gina, won it. She beat everybody. So I asked her today, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you follow college basketball?” She said, “Zero.” That’s how it goes. You know nothing and you win. Like being president in a way.
*Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Cleveland Cavaliers suspended guard J.R. Smith for one game because he reportedly threw a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones. Guess you could say he made himself bowl-ineligible.
*Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/author/dwight-perry/
A study concluded that 76 percent of sports sponsorships promote junk food. The other 24 percent are for beer to wash it all down with.
*Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va., http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.ca/
The final spring training game between the Angels and Dodgers ended in the fifth inning because of a foul-smelling sewage leak onto the field. Some punchlines just write themselves.
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
The Yankees had to postpone their home opener because of a snowstorm. You can tell it was cold because the foot-long hot dogs were only five inches.
*Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Five terms from the Kansas City Royals anti-pornography seminar:
5. Foul tips;
4. Caught looking;
3. Squeezes;
2. Switch hitter;
1. Scoring positions.
*Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
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Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT.
He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.
Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @Hartley_Miller