Mike Hawes can't remember a season like the one he's experiencing right now with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The general manager of the B.C. Hockey League franchise has been busy on the phone, trading and acquiring players to improve the team. It's his role.
But since July 15, the number of deals he's engineered stands at 13 due to key injuries on the club as the league's trade deadline looms this Saturday.
"It's definitely been a different season with all the player movement within our roster than the past 11 years I've been involved with the team," said Hawes on Tuesday. "It's an anomaly. Because of all the injuries [we've had] it's part of my job. I don't get down about it. I do the best I can."
This season, the Kings have been decimated by injuries.
Among them: their top defenceman Karan Toor, who's been on the disabled list since the 2013-14 campaign due to a lingering groin injury. He is officially out for the remainder of this season.
Captain and centre Chad Staley, forward Jarryd Leung and defenceman Adam Clements were out of the lineup with various ailments for six weeks prior to Christmas and returned last week.
Left-winger Justin Rai and forward Riley Hawes both suffered concussions in November. GM Hawes said he'll know more later this week if Rai is cleared to play by his doctor.
Despite all the injuries and new faces in and out of the lineup, the Kings are still competitive. They're third in the Mainland Division at 16-15-0-4, only six points back of the first-place Chilliwack Chiefs (22-12-1-1).
"This group and the bunch of kids we have, have battled hard," said Mike Hawes. "It's not easy for the players. I've been impressed with them."
After Saturday's trade deadline, all BCHL rosters are frozen and teams will move forward with the lineups they have toward the playoff stretch.
"Things are active across the league right now," said Hawes. "I'm always looking to improve the team whether it's on the back end or with the forwards."
The Kings have 21 games left in the regular season. They travel to the Okanagan later this week with stops in Vernon on Friday, Salmon Arm on Saturday and Penticton on Sunday. They return to the Coliseum on Jan. 15 for the start of a five-game homestand, when Salmon Arm visits.
