When Dave Dupas begins his third season behind the Prince George Spruce Kings' bench next fall, he'll be the final holdover from the old regime.
Dupas took over as Spruce Kings head coach in January 2011 and has had veteran goaltender Kirk Thompson and captain Trevor Esau on his bench ever since. But the two 20-year-olds played their final B.C. Hockey League games Wednesday when the Spruce Kings were eliminated from the playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs.
"The fact that I've been around long enough to outlive the players here is a good thing for me," said Dupas. "It was nice having those guys around and if they could come back I don't mind giving up seniority because they were such good players and good kids for us."
Thompson was the Spruce Kings' MVP all season in the net while Esau, at six-foot-four, 220 pounds, was an almost immovable defenceman who sacrificed his body every night to block countless shots.
"There's 16 teams in the league and there's only going to be one or two that are going to have the top two or three goaltenders," said Dupas. "We had it this year and we were very lucky to have it.
"We don't have anybody exactly like Trevor coming back so somebody else is going to have to fill that role and pick up where he left off," he added. "But we have some guys that battle hard and are good."
In three seasons with the Spruce Kings, Esau had three goals and 42 points in 159 regular-season games and was second in team playoff scoring this season with two goals and three assists in five games.
Thompson joined the Spruce Kings at the same time as Esau and played in 122 games with a 46-62-3 record and a .904 save percentage.
The other graduating 20-year-old players for the Spruce Kings are forwards Coltyn Hansen and Shayne Morrissey. Both Hansen and Morrissey joined the team last season.
