Rookie scoring title? That's glamorous. Being a rookie? Not so much.
The definition by the Canadian Hockey League is a player with fewer than 20 games in any junior A or major-junior league in previous seasons, who must be 18 or younger as of December 31st of the current season. Currently the Spruce Kings have seven players on their roster who fit that position.
While on the road, the first-year players have a number of duties that keep them busy at the bus. To start, they need to get to the rink extra early as they're the ones responsible for loading all the gear out to the bus. That includes sticks, jerseys, training equipment, the skate sharpener and any food or drink for the trip. According to one of the rookies on the team, Connor Logan, the skate sharpener is the heaviest, but there are lots of sticks, and the container to carry them in is awkward which makes it the toughest to load in and out.
Once the team arrives at its destination, the rookies are required to make sure the bus is spotless. Luckily they don't need to get on their hands and knees with Mr. Clean erasers, but they walk through the bus and make sure the garbage is all out and that the cubbies above the seats are all cleared out.
"It's just proving their own, because everyone has had to do it, and it's not tradition, but it's just something to help out," said Stephen Penner, who is a third-year player on the team,
The Spruce Kings bus is pretty neat. In the back there are three sets of bunk beds, with four or five beds fitted on top of one another. That area is reserved for the veterans on the team, so the rookies once again draw the short straw, and have to settle for the general seats in the front. Some rookies have to share a pair of seats, so trying to sleep on the bus can get a little tricky. Then at the very rear, there's a bathroom, but Logan said the veterans don't always make it easy for the rookies to get back there. "Occasionally you have to rock/paper/scissors with a vet to be able to go to the bathroom, but they're good," he said.
The seasoned players all seem to give the rookies a tough time, but Penner says that while rooming with one another there is no vet/rookie mindset, it's just like you're staying with your buddy.
Even though it's been a while since being a rookie himself, Penner remembers his highlight of being in his first BCHL season.
"It's fun just messing around, and seeing how mad the vets can get," he said.
When it comes to fellow rookies who need to pick up their productivity? "Hate to throw this guy under the bus, but (Cavin) Tilsley needs to pick up his slack on the loading game," Logan said while laughing.
Ryan Lepper is the communications director/broadcaster for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
