Battle of the 2 Kings: Top-seeded Spud Kings take on defending champ South Shore in the Dineen Cup championships
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IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls Spud Kings are the No. 1 seed in the Dineen Cup Championships which begin Friday in Wayne, N.J.
They’ll take on the South Shore Kings, the defending Dineen Cup champions, in the tournament opener.
How did the Spud Kings get here?
Perhaps no team has been as resilient as the Spud Kings, who had to rally to beat the Pueblo Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, and then lost the Mountain Division finals opener to the Ogden Mustangs before winning the next three games to advance to the Dineen Cup championship round.
The Mustangs were defending Mountain Division champion and reached the finals of the Dineen Cup last season.
The Spud Kings won the regular-season title with a 38-10-4-1 record and knocked out Pueblo and Ogden in the divisional playoffs.
The team thrives on depth and defense, bolstered by Charlie Durkin in goal, who led the NCDC with 28 wins and a 1.96 goals-against-average that was second in the league. After giving up three goals to Pueblo in Game 3 of the opening series, the Spud Kings have given up no more than two goals and held Ogden to just one goal in each of the final three games as Idaho Falls claimed the best-of-5 series.
Offensively, the Spud Kings have two of the playoffs top scorers with Easton Edwards scoring 63 points in the regular season and Andrew Schmidt adding 61 points. Ten other players have at least 20 points.
“I believe, like every team that’s here, everyone on your team has to be impactful at some point,” Spud Kings coach Anthony Bohn told NCDCHockey.com. “We have had guys across the board step up at different times through the playoffs so far, but those who have been leading the charge are Easton Edwards, Andrew Schmidt and Charlie Durkin.”
Battle of the two Kings
The South Shore Kings are the defending Dineen Cup champion but enter this year as the Wild Card after losing the New England Division series 3-1 to the Northern Cyclones.
“We are excited to play against a new opponent,” Kings GM/Head Coach Tyler Holske told NCDCHockey.com. “The Mountain Division is very strong and we saw that with the Ogden Mustangs last spring in the Dineen Cup Finals. We have started to dive into the Spud Kings. They are a well-coached team and very disciplined. They are sound defensively and quick in transition. For us, it’s about playing to our identity. Our group knows the way we need to play in order to be successful.”
The Kings have the balance to test the Spud Kings defense with Will Rassier accounting for 62 points, and the team finishing with 10 skaters with at least 30 points, and seven with at least 40 points.
Format
The four-team tournament is double-elimination and begins Friday with a potential if-necessary game set for Tuesday at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne N.J.
The second opening-round game is between the Mercer Chiefs and the Northern Cyclones at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
The Spud Kings vs. South Shore game is 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday and will be broadcast on 980 AM The Sports Zone and 98.7 FM.