The sight of watching the Wenatchee Wild claim the Fred Page Cup last year is still in the back of the mind of Prince George Spruce Kings captain Ben Poisson.
During last year’s magical playoff run, the Spruce Kings went all the to the finals only to fall to the Wild in five games falling short of a chance to head to the Doyle Cup.
Flip forward a year later, the 19-year-old from Vancouver BC isn’t leaving anything on the table this time around as Prince George is set to embark on its second consecutive Fred Page Cup appearance against the Vernon Vipers on Friday from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
Poisson has been a man on a mission for the Spruce Kings recording 16 points in 13 playoff games in 2019 including the overtime winner in Game Four of the Coastal Conference Final against the Victoria Grizzlies sending his squad back to the big dance.
.@SpruceKings captain Ben Poisson with @mypgnow ahead of Fred Page Cup Final Series against @VernonVipers @GoBCHL #cityofpg #sports# pic.twitter.com/ZvqonmR1RH
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) April 11, 2019
For him, it’s partially making up for lost time as Poisson wasn’t available to play in the playoffs last season until Game Four of the 2018 Final against Wenatchee after suffering a ruptured spleen during a game against the Coquitlam Express.
“Obviously being out of the lineup and not taking part in it wasn’t as much fun and this getting to play in front of full crowds is pretty awesome.”
Poisson is committed to the NCAA’s University of Maine for next season, along with many of his teammates who will be college-bound in 2019-20, leading to a higher sense of urgency to get the job done against a Vipers team that is playing its best hockey of the season at the right time of year.
“We have a lot of guys that still have last year in the back of their heads so nobody wants to do that again and I am pretty confident in the group we have and everyone knows what we need to do here.”
It’s been a much easier path to the big dance for the Spruce Kings this time around playing no more than five games in their previous first three series, sweeping Chilliwack and Victoria back to back respectively.
Poisson believes the team’s experience level is showing after going through a much more grueling run in 2018 where they played seven-game sets against the Chiefs and Surrey Eagles.
“We had a lot of the same guys we did last year so we kind of knew what to expect and we’ve done a lot more prep for teams this year so we have matched up well.”
The 19-year-old finished the season with 46 points in 53 games this season, playing alongside his brother Nicholas.
Puck drop for Friday and Saturday is 7 pm from the RMCA.