Allan Bristowe Perspective

The Spruce Kings took a little time to get off the ice
to reflect on their season as it all came to an end

A day after the Spruce Kings season came to an end, Allan Bristowe of CKPG TV Sports aired a story to wrap up the season and look ahead to next year. What follows is a replication of that story that is available from the CKPG website.

Even though the season came to an end Tuesday night, it was a special year for the Spruce Kings. The team turned it around on the ice, getting back in the playoffs and creating a long lost buzz in the community about the team this season.

With the final buzzer on Tuesday March 20th an exciting season of Spruce Kings hockey came to an end. The Spruce Kings finished third in the Interior Conference, making it back to the playoffs for the first time in three years and they had the League's leading scorer in Paul De Jersey. But there were more than just on-ice successes this year at the Coliseum.

"The guys turned the City around," said Spruce Kings Head Coach, Dave Dupas. "We had packed houses here, people got behind us and they seemed invested in the team. Sometimes you would get crowds in here and they would come just to come, but these people were behind us all the way. They were cheering for us and they kind of took ownership of the team and the guys felt it."

"The community and everything was great this year," said Spruce Kings sophomore forward, Jujhar Khaira. "We're lucky to have a community like this to support us."

Even though the Spruce Kings were swept in their playoff series with the Merritt Centennials, they will try to build on that outcome.

"You know we've learned a few things from this series," stated Dupas. "We have to probably get a little bit grittier and get guys that are going to want to go to the net a little bit more. We built our team on speed and skill and it served us well. We have some very good players and we won a lot of games like that. In order to beat teams like (Merritt) we are probably going to have to change up a little bit."

The Spruce Kings will lose six players but are excited about the core of individuals who will be coming back.

"The Fitzgeralds are going to be point-a-game type guys and first line type guys in this League," added Dupas. "They will have big years, all three of them. We're excited to see those guys come back."

"I think we're going to be the go-to guys," said returning forward, Leo Fitzgerald. "We're going to have a lot of weight on our shoulders, but I think we can handle it."

The next step to keeping the Spruce Kings competitive will happen during the weekend of April 12th to 15th when the team will host its annual Spring Camp at the Coliseum.

Busy Week for Hockey Operations

It turned into a busy week for the Spruce Kings this week with an AGM, contract signings, the acquisition of three players and the release of the 2009-10 schedule. The AGM on Wednesday night was a chance for the community owned team to put a wrap on the 2008-09 season and start looking ahead to 2009-10 with the usual reports from the president, treasurer and a few other committees. I was unable to attend in person, but heard afterwards that it was a fairly constructive and positive AGM with yours truly getting recognized for putting out all those game day reports and other email newsletters.

Thank you is all I can say as it is important in this day of instant access to information to make sure the information is actually out there for everyone to access. Perhaps now is a good time for a shameless plug, if you are interested in receiving these newsletters just drop me an email with your name and email address so that I can add you to my distribution list.

The team also announced the signing of two year contracts for both Ed Dempsey and Mike Hawes. Over the past few seasons I have had the opportunity to see both of these guys work and can honestly tell you that they are driven by a desire to be competitive and a deep passion for the Spruce Kings as a whole. One thing that sometimes gets lost in the win loss column is the human side of it all.

The players that put on the crown and go out there to compete are equally passionate of winning as a team, but also of achieving their own personal goals of furthering their hockey careers. Ed and Mike have enlisted the help of some highly respected hockey minds as their scouts all over the western half of North American for the benefit of the team and the players. The list of scouts for Prince George isn't limited to just those listed on the Spruce Kings website either, they include scouts from NCAA, CIS and NHL teams all over North America.

In all the games I have attended on the road as a broadcaster, I have come to learn that when I need Ed for an interview I can find him in one corner of the rink or another talking about this player or that one to more scouts than I will ever be able to keep track of. They all know Ed and Ed knows each and every one of them and the teams that they scout for. He learns what they are looking for and is able to give them information on the Spruce Kings that would fill that order.

Allan Bristowe of CKPG television had an opportunity to speak with both Darcy Bury and Ed Dempsey about the contract signings and filed this story on the CKPG News that aired on Thursday June 25, 2009.



At the end of that story was the mention of the Spruce Kings acquiring three twenty year olds with Evan Smith and Matt Betker coming by way of the Nanaimo Clippers and Neil Chambers from the Powell River Kings. I haven't had a chance to speak directly with any of the players but am looking forward to doing so in the coming days.

The 2009-10 schedule was also released this week and I'm sure everybody will have their thoughts on the makeup of the regular season. A breakdown of the games can be found on the Spruce Kings main website with the article titled 2009-10 Schedule Highlights. I'm sure others will have their thoughts on the schedule and I encourage you to leave them with me here ... just click on the comments link on the next line.