Once a Spruce King, always a Spruce King.
For Sam Muchalla, a Prince George native who played all his minor hockey in the city before a prolific scoring centre in the BC Hockey League with the Spruce Kings, the chance to join his junior team’s staff proved irresistible.
Muchalla has been hired as the team’s skills and development coach for the 2005-26 season. He replaces Brandon Manning, promoted last spring to the role of assistant coach and director of hockey camps.
“First off, I want to thank Mike Hawes for the opportunity to join the Spruce Kings staff. From my playing days to now stepping into player development, Mike has always been incredibly supportive,” said Muchalla, in a team release.
“I’m excited to work closely with the coaching staff — Brad (head coach Tesink) has done a great job transitioning from assistant to head coach, and I’m looking forward to supporting his vision.
“Obviously, Brandon and I go way back — we’re close friends, he had a great pro career, and we still talk a lot of hockey. It’ll be great to bounce ideas off each other in a more formal setting. As a staff and as an organization, we’re committed to developing not just high-level players, but great people. That’s something I’m proud to be part of.”
Muchalla, 34, played three seasons with the Spruce Kings from 2007-10 and in 161 games he scored 64 goals and had 117 assists for 181 points. As the team captain and fan favourite he turned in his best season in 2009-10 when he led the team in scoring, finishing with 29 goals and 58 assists for 87 points in 58 games.
He went on to play in the NCAA at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., and at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
“Sam is a proud Spruce Kings alumni who is a former team captain and was a player who played the game hard and played it the right way,” said Hawes. “Sam brings an immense amount of expertise that he will pass along to our players. I'm thrilled to add him to our coaching staff.”
