It’s a major leap and a steep jump moving up from prep school hockey in the U.S. to the B.C. Hockey League and nobody has to convince Andrew Seaman.
The 19-year-old forward came to Prince George over the summer from his home in Winnetka, Ill., north of Chicago, already armed with an NCAA Division 1 scholarship at Union College, thinking he would refine his game to get ready for college with a season in the BCHL and he’d be the first to admit it hasn’t been a seamless transition.
It’s taken him a couple months to adjust to the pace but lately he’s making Kings fans take notice of him, for all the right reasons.
Slotted in as the Kings’ top-line right winger Saturday night at Rolling Mix Arena to take the place of injured 20-year-old Chong Min Lee, Seaman’s quick feet and smart stick made him a royal pain in the butt for the West Kelowna Warriors. They had a tough time dealing with Seaman’s forechecking prowess and lost 5-2 to the Kings in front of a Rolling Mix Concrete Arena crowd of 941.
Seaman came into Saturday’ game with two goals and seven points in 23 games and while he was held to one assist against the Warriors he easily could have been selected a game star the way he was moving the puck and creating room for his linemates, Nick Poisson and Nolan Welsh.
“It took a little bit to get used to junior hockey in the BCHL, it’s a lot faster than where came from last year (Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire), so I’ve just built confidence and keep getting better and better,” said Seaman.
“Obviously with Chong going down that’s not the way you want to move up the lineup but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Welsh and Poisson are great players so it’s easy playing with them and I really enjoyed it.”
The Warriors had tied it 1-1 with 13 minutes gone in the second period when Brandon Dent, in his return to his hometown, cashed in a 3-on-1 chance after defenceman Nick Bochen toe-picked and tripped himself. Dent got the puck in front of Jett Alexander and fanned on the original shot but got to the rebound on his backhand side for his 11th goal of the season.
Ryan McAllister and Nicholas Poisson answered with goals 66 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the second period, scoring twice in the final two minutes of the period to take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room.
The Warriors centre Max Bulawka got one of those back in the third period, batting in a behind-the-net feed from Lucas Cullen and the visitors from West Kelowna were threatening to add the tying goal, just missing on a couple great chances in the Kings’ end, when Seaman set up the insurance goal on a wraparound that left the puck unguarded in the crease for Poisson for a 4-2 lead.
Carter Cochrane came right back and scored his first career BCHL from a sharp angle into an empty Warrior net to complete the scoring, ending a five-game losing streak for the Kings.
“It was pretty much a one-goal game, it was tight,” said Kings head coach Alex Evin. “We played a lot of games this week and I was actually pretty impressed with our pace. Credit to our guys, who are in decent shape, and (strength and conditioning coach) Jonathan Gibson, who does a really good job with them. That was one thing I was concerned about with three games in four days but our speed was really good tonight.”
Jett Alexander improved his record to 9-10-0-0 while making 20 saves, including a penalty-shot save off Bulawka, 17:55 into the first period, which kept it a scoreless game until the Kings won a face-off in the Warriors’ end on a power play and Bochen scored from the point with less than a minute left in the period. Bochen was a questionable starter after getting slashed on the wrist in the Cowichan Valley game but an X-ray confirmed it was only bruised and the 18-year-old defenceman came back Saturday with a first-star performance.
Johnny Derrick took the loss in the Warriors’ nets. The Kings outshot the Warriors 31-22.
“It was great to get the win, we had two great home games before this but just couldn’t get the win so it was nice to get some goals in the net,” said Seaman. “I think it was a good sign we were able to close out the game, we’ve had our struggles with finishing the games and getting the result we want when we’re playing well so it was good to bury five, which we haven’t done too often this year.”
The win allowed the Kings (9-12-2-3) to move a point ahead of Langley for third place in the Mainland Division, while West Kelowna (4-16-3-2) remained sixth in the Interior.
“I really liked the way we came out in the third,” said Warriors head coach Brandon West. “We shot ourselves in the foot earlier in the game but the guys responded well. We’ve got to cash in our offensive opportunities in the game.
“(The Kings) played a well-structured game and I don’t think their record indicates their play right now and they obviously deserved two points tonight.”
Lee separated his shoulder when he collided with an opponent in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Nanaimo Clippers. The Kings were also with out injured defenceman Colton Cameron and centre Fin Williams.
Williams, a 16-year-old who was averaging better than a point per game before he got hurt in a game Oct. 12 against Salmon Arm, is still nursing an ankle sprain and might be able to rejoin the Kings’ lineup late in their five-game, nine-day roadtrip.
The Spruce Kings leave Monday morning for Parksville, where they’ll play the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Tuesday. The game has been moved to an alternate site due to an ammonia leak that was discovered in the Bulldogs’ home rink in Port Alberni. The Kings are also booked to play Wednesday in Nanaimo and Friday in Merritt before they head across the border to Wenatchee, Wash., where they play the Wild on Monday, Nov. 25, followed two days later by a road date with the Penticton Vees.
The Kings’ next game at home is not until Dec. 1, when they host Powell River.
