Shades of 2005

This post was written and submitted by Aaron Dubois, Spruce Kings junior broadcaster.

September 11th is just around the corner. This week ahead has the management staff scratching their heads. The Spruce Kings currently have 28 players left over from the main camp, that's five too many for anybody counting. Unless your name is Sam Muchalla, I don't think anybody is actually 'safe.'

Throughout the camp I have seen players play themselves into a spot on the exhibition roster. I also saw players play themselves out of one of those spots unfortunately. There was a tremendous amount of young talent on display down at the Coliseum over the last two weeks. The obvious battles are for the two 16 year old spots, the six 20 year old spots and the backup goaltending job.

I'm not writing this article to speculate who is going to make the team and who is going home. I’m doing this to let everybody know this will be a different Spruce Kings team then the previous seasons. The last couple seasons, the Northern Kings have been more of a finesse style of team. This year look for a similar style that saw the team finish second in the Interior Division back in 2005.

That team, lead by gritty captain Tyler Loney, was a force to be reckoned with. They weren’t a team that was easily pushed around. They stood as one and fought as one. Battling for 60 minutes every game, win or lose; the opposition probably thought they were in a Michael Vick dogfight. That '05 team could beat you up in so many ways - along the boards, defensive zone, neutral ice and deep into enemy territory.

Although they were a physical team, they still had no problem putting the puck into the net thanks to the likes of Leath Gare and Chris Stevens. That season also gave birth to the junior careers of one time captain Ryan deVries and local products Vinny Muchalla and Curt Morrison. All three went on to produce great junior careers and saw their names on the greatest stage of Junior ‘A’ hockey in Canada - the Royal Bank Cup in 2007, where the Spruce Kings took second place.

I'd be really putting my neck out there if I said this 2009-2010 Spruce Kings squad will equal that '05 team, but I will say this team seems to be made to almost mirror that successful bunch from four seasons ago. Once again, I believe the Coliseum won’t be viewed as a building that visiting teams can come in and take away two points. I believe whole-heartedly, when that final buzzer sounds, the opposition won’t be able to leave the arena fast enough.

Aaron Dubois will be contributing posts throughout the season as he continues to follow the team and broadcast their home games.