The 2012 schedule for the Terrace River Kings has been released, and general manager Ray Hallock says the team is looking forward to another good year.
Tryouts for the team will begin Sept. 8, but Hallock predicts a core group of returning players to be out practicing before that.
And while he is looking forward to working with a solid group of returning players, Hallock said there will plenty of room for new guys on the team.
“I have a lot of confidence this year in the core of guys we got, and some of the new prospects I know are in town,” Hallock explained.
Game one for the Kings will be an away game against the Smithers Steelheads.
The first game on home ice will be against last year’s Coy Cup winners, the Kitimat Ice Demons on Oct. 8.
Hallock says he likes the new schedule, explaining it offers more variety than last year, including the opportunity to play one of the Central Interior Hockey League’s (CIHL) new teams, the Quesnel Kangaroos, on Oct. 29.
The regular league season will end for the Kings with a home game against the Houston Luckies Jan. 14.
“I’m looking forward to the season,” Hallock says. “(The) Coy cup is in Kitimat this year, nice and close, and I can’t think of anybody better to beat than them to get it,” he continued.
Hallock will be returning to the River Kings as general manager of the team. He brings with him last year’s head coach, Roger Tooms, and says the team is continuing to look for an assistant coach.
This will be the second year of new management for the team, as it changed last year from private to community, non-profit ownership. Last season the River Kings finished third in the western standings of the CIHL.