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Photo Credit: EverythingGP
By Shane Clausing
JDA Kings

JDA Kings finding success before Christmas break

Dec 12, 2019 | 7:06 AM

Two weeks ago, things weren’t looking good for the JDA Kings.

Through the team’s first 17 games of the NWJHL season, the team had a record of 4-11-2 and was struggling to find any consistency.

Well, flip the page forward to present day and the Kings are the hottest team in the NWJHL. They have won five straight games, including wins against some of the top teams in the league.

They have been led by some fresh faces. Darby Berg, Keaton Mercredi, and Geoff Dyck were all acquired in transactions and have seemingly gelled right away.

Berg has eight points in his first five games with the squad. Mercredi, a rookie, has recorded six points in seven games, and Dyck has three points in his first three games.

Kings Head coach Kyle Chapple has really taken notice of their contributions.

“We’ve been able to get huge contributions offensively from all three guys since they’ve arrived. They are all high-end players with high-end skill, and they brought a lot to the team here that has helped us win some games,” said Chapple. “When we weren’t playing (well), we had to make some changes, and they’ve been really good to have here in the line-up and obviously our record shows.”

Chapple adds that the winning streak and success as been from finding more confidence.

“We’ve turned things around playing a little more consistent, getting a better effort night in and night out and we’ve started to capitalize on our chances. I think the biggest thing is that we’ve found a little more confidence in our game and the ability to take advantage of some mistakes by the other teams and capitalize and put some more pucks in the net.”

The team has three games remaining before the Christmas break and Chapple adds that the team can’t look too far ahead.

“We still got work to do moving forward here and play right through into the break and not lose focus. We still got work to do after not getting off to a great start and try to move our way up the standings. With three games left before the break, I think we’ll just take one game at a time and keep our foot on the pedal and keep winning these games that are crucial to us before Christmas.”

The team will look to add to their winning streak this coming weekend as they will play two games at the Crosslink County Sportsplex. On Saturday, they’ll see the Dawson Creek Junior Canucks come to town. Puck drop for that game is at 8:00 p.m. While on Sunday, the Fairview Flyers will take on the Kings at 3:00 p.m.

by Shane Clausing