In three-and-a-half seasons as head coach of the Prince George Spruce Kings, Dave Dupas has never taken his team beyond the first round of playoffs.
But on the eve of his fourth training camp at the helm, Dupas has reason to believe this season will be different for the Spruce Kings.
With 12 returning players from a team that finished tied for fifth overall in the 2013-14 B.C. Hockey League regular season and some big-bodied recruits to fill in the holes, the Spruce Kings appear to have a legitimate shot at an extended run in the playoffs next spring.
Training camp opens today at the Coliseum with practices at noon and 1:30 p.m., followed by the intrasquad game tonight at 7.
Among that crew of 40 players are nine returning forwards, including 20-year-old Chad Staley (an Alaska-Fairbanks recruit for 2015-16 who led the team 29 goals and 62 points); Justin Rai, 20; Brent Lashuk, 20; Jake LeBrun, 19; Brogan O'Brien, 17; Cole Todd, 19; Riley Hawes, 19; Braiden Epp, 18; and Marco Ballarin, 19.
The returning defencemen are Stephen Penner, 19, and Karan Toor, 20, while 19-year-old goalie Jesse Jenks is back in goal.
"There are some opportunities for some of these guys to come in and make the team but we have a lot of returning vets who are kind of in those spots and it's going to be tough," said Dupas. "In our division Langley is always a big team and Chilliwack is always a big team and playing in our small building, us getting bigger is just going to help us. We can lean on teams, play pucks down a bit more below the ringette line and just tire teams out. It's a long season with lots of travel and I think the big bodies hold up better."
For starters there's forward Michael Buonincontri, 20, a St. Cloud State University recruit who stands six-foot-two and weighs 205 pounds. He played last season for the Smiths Falls Bears of the Central Junior Hockey League. The other newcomer who has his college future mapped out is defenceman Jake McCarthy (UMass), 18, a six-foot-one, 195-pound American who played last year for Portland of the U.S. Premier League.
Other new players to watch are defenceman Valik Chichkin, 20, (six-foot-three, 205 pounds, acquired in the Skylar Pacheco trade with Cowichan Valley), forward Taylor Allan, 19, (six-foot, 185 pounds, traded from Cowichan Valley), forward Frankie Spellman, 19, (six-foot-one, 200 pounds, played in Alaska last year for Kenai River of NAHL), and Prince George minor hockey defender Jordan Low, 18, (played junior B last year in 100 Mile House).
Alex Brooks-Potts, another 19-year-old, is the only other goalie in camp. Brooks-Potts was with the Kingston Voyageurs. He was runner-up for the goalie of the year award last season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Staley, Allan, O'Brien, and Todd will be the Kings' centres.
"There are a lot of good players coming back and if they all live up to the expectations that we have for them and they have for themselves, we should be pretty good," said Dupas. "We have some real good recruits who will probably make a big impact on the team this year. We're real deep up front, our goaltending should be good. We have a young D but really skilled."
One glaring absence for the Spruce Kings is winger Jeremiah Luedtke, who left the Kings to join Bloomington of the USHL. Luedtke ranked second in team scoring with 13 goals and 55 points in 58 games. He and Staley had played together since minor hockey in Washington state and were a lethal combination on the ice the past two seasons.
"That's a big hit for us," said Dupas. "He was set to be a top-five scorer in the league this year. But guys come and go and we'll just have to deal with it."
The Kings also had hoped to add to the roster defenceman Bryan Allbee, 17, a former Cariboo Cougar midget from Prince George, but he appears to have earned himself a spot with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL.
The two training camp teams, White and Blue, will practice on Saturday, then the players will undergo fitness testing. Intrasquad games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Following the first round of cuts the Kings will get a day off Monday, then travel to Salmon Arm for their first exhibition game Tuesday against the Silverbacks. The same teams meet again Tuesday, Sept. 9 in 100 Mile House, followed by a Kings-Vernon Vipers pre-season clash Friday, Sept. 12 in Vernon. The Vipers travel to Prince George to play the Kings at the Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 13. The Kings open the season Sept. 20 against Nanaimo at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.
