After their first-round exit against the Surrey Eagles, the Powell River Kings have started preparing for the 2023-24 season.
Forwards Carter Lundie, Jace Harder, defender Benjamin Ramsey, and goaltender Owen Crudale are among the new players who will become Kings next season. Lundie is a 2006-born player from North Vancouver, B.C. and Ramsey is a 2005-born skater from Lake Country, B.C.
Related: Powell River Kings: Graduating players and eligible returnees
Lundie and Ramsey have several similarities. They both played at B.C. hockey academies, in fact, they were teammates at West Van Academy. Meanwhile, Harder is a B.C.-born player from the Okanagan and Crudale is an American player from California.
Officially, the Kings finished seventh in the Coastal Conference with a final regular season record of 20-26-5-3. In a previous article, I thought the Kings would be a dark horse team in the playoffs but instead, the Eagles eliminated Powell River in five games.
The Kings can retain several players from their 2022-23 roster, including goaltender Liam Vanderkooi, who has one more season of junior hockey left.
Lundie’s path to Powell River
For the 2019-20 season, Lundie played for the West Van Academy U15 Varsity team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Lundie was a prolific goal scorer on the varsity team, tallying 32 goals and 29 assists in 30 games.
During the 2020-21 season, Lundie played on the Burnaby Winter Club U15 Prep squad but because of COVID-19 restrictions, he only played six games. Even then, he was a dizzying point-getting with two goals and ten assists.
In 2021-22, Lundie went back to West Van Academy and played 36 games for the U18 Prep team. This past season, he returned to the Burnaby Winter Club, this time with the U18 team.
In 32 games at BWC, Lundie scored 19 goals and 13 assists. He also got into six games for Powell River as an affiliate player and potted two goals.
Harder, Ramsey, and Crudale’s paths to Powell River
Harder’s first stats of record are with the Winfield Bruins minor hockey program in 2019-20. In 16 games with the Bruins U15 team, the 2006-born Harder posted 15 goals and 23 assists.
The following season, Harder joined the Okanagan Rockets U15 AAA team in the B.C. Elite Hockey League. Like many players his age, Harder didn’t play any games in 2020-21 because of COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns.
For the last three seasons, Harder played at RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., spending time with the under-16, under-17, and under-18 teams. In 2022-23, Harder played for the RINK Academy’s U18 squad, notching 32 goals and 26 assists.
During the 2019-20 season, Ramsey played at the Okanagan Hockey Academy with its U15 Prep team.
For 2020-21, COVID-19 restrictions also limited Ramsey’s playing time, only getting into 10 games for the OHA White U17 Prep team. After leaving Okanagan Hockey Academy in 2021, Ramsey joined the West Van Academy. It’s there that he was teammates with Lundie for the 2021-22 season.
After one season in West Vancouver, Ramsey moved to Kamloops, B.C. to play with the Thompson Blazers U18 AAA team in the BCEHL. In 34 games for the Blazers, Ramsey scored two goals and 24 assists. Like Lundie, Ramsey played three games for Powell River as an affiliate player.
As for Crudale, he began his hockey career of record in San Diego, California. From 2018 to 2020, Crudale played for the San Diego Saints hockey program as part of the 14U team.
After his time in San Diego, Crudale left for Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. During the 2020-21 season, Crudale played for the 15U AAA team and posted an outstanding 1.33 goals-against average. The following season, Crudale played 32 games for the 16U AAA team, again posting a sub-3.00 goals-against average.
For the 2022-23 season, Crudale returned to Southern California to play for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks hockey program. While playing for the Jr. Ducks 18U AAA team, Crudale saw action in 33 regular season games and finished with a goals-against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .931.
What each player brings to Powell River
Lundie and Harder are offensive forwards and it looks like each can provide much-needed scoring depth for the Kings. As for Ramsey, he’s a critical support player who was second in scoring on the Thompson Blazers U18 team last season. He also had more assists than any player on the Blazers roster.
As for Crudale, he posted impressive stats at the under-18 level. He reminds me a bit of Victoria Grizzlies star goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton as both netminders had impressive stats with their U18 teams.
As 17-year-olds this upcoming season, the Kings could have Lundie and Harder for four seasons. Ramsey and Crudale could play in Powell River for the next three seasons.
All four players are long-term recruits for the Kings unless they commit to NCAA schools before they age out. But in the world of junior hockey, having too many players advance their careers before their 20-year-old season is a good problem to have.
