Paul De Jersey was a man on a mission for the Prince George Spruce Kings on the weekend.
The 19 year old was determined to fend off Penticton Vees' Joey Benik and Mario Lucia to win the British Columbia Hockey League scoring title, while helping the Kings' end the Coliseum visitors' 42 consecutive game win streak. De Jersey and the Kings accomplished both tasks with Saturday's 5-2 win and also secured third place in the Interior Conference.
"It's incredible," said De Jersey, who finished the season with 98 points - two points ahead of Benik - after collecting three assists in the Kings' final regular season game. "It's a surreal feeling. I could never have imagined it.
"I gave everything I had tonight," he added. "Every shift I went as hard as I possibly could, just hoping for some goals and also some luck. Those guys I was playing against were unbelievable. I'm just really grateful."
With 41 goals De Jersey ended the season one short of Lucia, who tied his Vees' teammate Bryce Gervais with 42. Lucia ended the season with 93 points after notching a hat trick in Friday's 8-5 win over the Kings.
Kings' head coach Dave Dupas said it was nice to see De Jersey find success against a team he had difficulties against this season. The four-point weekend also saw De Jersey break out of an eight-game goal-scoring drought when he opened the scoring Friday with a shorthanded marker.
"He's been struggling lately but this weekend he's been playing like the Paul De Jersey of earlier in the season," said Dupas. "He was very hard to stop here tonight. We're all proud of him for doing it.
"He knew he had to outplay them this weekend if we wanted the title and that's what he did," he added. "He deserved it."
Michael Colantone finished the season third in Kings' scoring with 73 points, after scoring a pair of goals in the 5-2 win to give him 33 this season, while Jujhar Khaira added an assist, giving him 79 points.
When De Jersey isn't playing along side Colantone and Khaira he plays with rookie Tyson Witala, who has enjoyed the benefits of playing with such a prolific scorer.
"He's a real skilled player," said Witala. "I just have to get open for him. He does pretty much everything out there."
