Jake LeBrun knows the Prince George Spruce Kings lack the firepower they had the past few seasons.
Snipers Justin Rai, Chad Staley, Jeremiah Luedtke and Michael Buonincontri have left for college hockey and that means goals will be tougher to come by this season.
Scoring by committee will be a more common theme around the Spruce Kings and LeBrun, the team's 20-year-old captain, is OK with that, knowing his team will have to rely more on its work ethic to put wins on the board.
"I think it's going to be exciting to watch, obviously we're not as skilled as we were last year when we had offensively-talented guys like Staley, Luedtke and Rai, who are natural scorers and we're going to have to work harder for our goals and grind a lot more," said LeBrun.
"We'll be bigger on our defence with three guys who are over six-three or six-four but are also good puck-moving defencemen and they will be fun to watch. Last year we got away with just outscoring our opponents, this year we'll have to outwork them every game."
LeBrun will almost certainly be one of the guys setting that example, wearing the 'C' on his jersey. He hasn't done that since he was a second-year bantam.
"Being a captain of any team is a pretty special honour but being captain of your hometown team is something else, it's a bit more on top of that," said LeBrun. "Our fans are diehard fans, you always see the same people at the games sitting in the same spots and it's cool to see. Out of the 1,200 or 1,300 we get a game, probably 1,000 of them are always at every game."
LeBrun, defenceman Stephen Penner and winger Braiden Epp are the only Kings veterans who played minor hockey in the city.
In 42 games last season, LeBrun collected 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points and he was especially effective in the playoffs. His physical play while staying within the rules of hockey was a deciding factor in the Kings' opening series win over Langley. In Game 3 of the six-game series he leveled two of the Rivermen's leading scorers with clean hits on Marcus Vela and Gage Torre which sidelined them for the rest of the series. LeBrun is always willing to sacrifice his own body to take out an opponent and that has earned him the respect of his teammates.
"I try to play both ends of the rink - my dad always said he was a player who would score goals but was also physical and it's definitely a good attribute just to be able to play the body," said LeBrun. "If people are scared of you they don't want to go near you and that gives you more space and time. I've never been suspended for a hit."
LeBrun inherited a pro hockey pedigree. His father and minor hockey coach, Sean, blossomed in the Prince George minor system and racked up 52 goals and 125 points in his final season of junior hockey playing left wing for the Tri-City Americans, after he had been drafted in the second round, 37th overall in 1988 by the New York Islanders. He went on to play four seasons as a pro in the AHL and ECHL.
Jake's grandfather, Al LeBrun, grew up as a defenceman in Timmins, Ont., and played six games over two seasons for the New York Rangers in the early 1960s and ended up with a 12-year minor pro career. Al, now 70, lives in Prince George with his wife Lynne and continues to share tips with his grandson.
"He has a lot of things to tell me, more old-school stuff, but it's still good stuff like, 'Keep your stick on the ice,' or 'Keep your head up,'" said Jake. "My dad coached me right up until midget, so that was a big help too."
LeBrun is one of five 20-year-olds in the Kings camp. The others are Penner, Cole Todd, Alex Brooks-Potts and Adam Brubacher. LeBrun will likely play this season on a line with Epp and Corey Hoffman, a 19-year-old centre from New York who signed with Cornell University for next year.
The Kings scrimmaged Thursday night and will now prepare to open the preseason tonight at the Coliseum against the Merritt Centennials. Game time is 7 p.m.
