Success has given Mike Hawes a new lease on life with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
After two consecutive seasons of finding the players to propel the Spruce Kings into the B.C. Hockey League playoffs, the team's general manager had his contract extended until the end of the 2014-15 season.
"It feels good that they have the confidence in me and want me to stick around a little bit longer," said Hawes. "As a Prince George kid through and through, I've been here most of my life, and I only want what's best for this city, so I take a lot of pride in the results of our organization has been able to achieve."
Hawes was born in Montreal but spent the last 33 years of his life in Prince George, working his way through the minor hockey system as a coach and spending six years as a scout for the WHL Cougars before joining the Spruce Kings organization in 2005-06 as an assistant general manager. He was promoted to full-time general manager during the 2010-11 season and with the two-year extension, granted in January but announced Thursday, Hawes will be at the helm of the junior A team for five total seasons.
Under Hawes' watch, the Spruce Kings have gone from a last-place team at 13-46-1 when he first took over the GM seat to consecutive playoff berths, finishing with a 33-21-2-4 record during the 2011-12 season in the Interior conference and compiling a 25-22-1-8 record last season in the Mainland division.
"We're heading in the right direction but we definitely haven't hit expectations yet," said Hawes. "I'm happy with the progression with every aspect of the organization, there's still a lot of work to do but we're going to get there."
After getting swept in four straight games by Merritt the year before the Spruce Kings forced a fifth and deciding game with Chilliwack during the 2013 playoffs.
Off the ice, Hawes said his top priorities have been generating the revenue the Spruce Kings need to be competitive within the 16-team BCHL loop, most of which comes from the annual Show Home lottery, and continuing to build the fan base.
"Our attendance is rapidly increasing year by year here," said Hawes. "We finished the year sixth overall in league attendance out of 16 teams which is excellent. Those are the off ice things that are important to all of us and I think we're doing a good job there and moving in the right direction."
The Spruce Kings had 34,086 fans pass through the gates for 29 regular season home games last season, an average of 1,175 per game. The BCHL average was 1,167 fans.
A key factor in attracting fans is familiarity between fans and players and with 17 of the 21 players from last season eligible to return to the Spruce Kings for the 2013-14 season it'll give fans an instant comfort level with many players.
"Obviously all 17 of them won't be back, some have some options to attend school next year or possibly come back, those are decisions that we'll have to sit down with those players and figure out more into the summer," said Hawes. "There will be some acquisitions and some trades made to improve the areas that need improving, but the core group of kids that are coming back for sure are definitely the type of players that we want to be Spruce Kings."
In the last three seasons, Hawes said the Spruce Kings have built a solid reputation among players and NCAA schools that makes for a good base for the future of the club.
"[Prince George] is absolutely a destination of choice for many players in North America now," said Hawes. "It's taken a lot of work to get to that but they want to come here because they know that they can move to the next level by coming here. We're glad that we're at a state now where we can effectively move players onto the NCAA through scholarships."
Hawes will have the opportunity to start constructing the 2013-14 Spruce Kings team April 12-14 when the team hosts its annual spring camp at the Coliseum.
"I really like building the team and bringing in the players that I think are going to be good Spruce Kings on and off the ice and then actually watching them have individual and team success," said Hawes. "That's where I get my glory."
