After living in limbo the past three months as interim head coach Prince George Spruce Kings, Dave Dupas can start making plans to put down some roots in the city.
Dupas has been hired to serve the next three seasons as head coach of the BCHL team.
The 48-year-old native of Burnaby said Thursday at the Coliseum he's thrilled with his opportunity to take over the Spruce Kings bench on a permanent basis but he's got some convincing to do before his two teenaged sons warm to the idea of the family's pending move from Kelowna to Prince George.
"It feels great [to get the job], and when the word finally came down it was a great day for me," Dupas said. "It was difficult going through last season as the interim ... but with the strides the team made I thought I had a decent opportunity to come back here."
While it's been easier for Dupas to convince his wife Theresa to follow him to Prince George, their boys, who turn 15 and 16 this year, are dead-set against it.
"They both play baseball year-round in West Kelowna on a regional team, and they don't have that here, so they don't want to move," Dupas said. "We're going to have to figure that out."
Dupas also has a tough figuring on his hands trying to transform the Spruce Kings into a winning team as they head into the club's 40th season. They've missed the playoffs the past two years and finished the 2010-11 season dead-last in the BCHL.
"We have to find an identity, we want to be able to compete game-in, game-out with all those top teams in Vancouver and the Okanagan and in order for us to do that we have to find specific types of players," Dupas said. "We have to structure a team as opposed to just a collection of talented guys. We have to find those guys who are going to play northern-type hockey and work hard.
"We have to get a good scouting network out there and start bringing in players in and identifying players early in the season, as opposed to waiting until the season's over and going out and chasing guys who have been pursued all year.
"A lot of people down on the Coast and the Okanagan just think Prince George is so far away and they don't want to come here. But once they get here they'll realize it's a good place and they come and have a career and get a scholarship too, then we can turn the corner here and start making some huge strides."
Dupas is a former BCHL forward who coached briefly in the BCHL two seasons ago in Williams Lake, and also headed major midget and minor hockey rep teams in the Okanagan. He was picked from a group of at least 40 applicants. None of the other coaches who sent resumes were formally interviewed.
Dupas took over a Kings team with a 6-22-0-2 record in late November to replace the fired Ed Dempsey. Despite the fact t most of the team's talented scorers were traded for future considerations in January, Dupas and the Kings came within two points of making the playoffs, compiling a 7-18-1-4 record.
"Dave came in to a difficult situation and through his hard work, with the rest of the hockey operations staff, had the team gaining momentum," said Kings president Darcy Buryn. "The work that Dave has done in his short stint as interim head coach was recognized by everyone. The players were vocal in their support of Dave and that was a determining factor. From the hockey operations staff to the players, it was clear there was one unanimous choice."
The Kings also announced Thursday that Mike Hawes has signed a two-year contract as general manager. Hawes, 41, was the Kings' assistant GM and director of player personnel the past three seasons.
"I've had the opportunity to learn quite a bit and get a good feel for the league and the other leagues and how things operate and from that standpoint it won't be a transition for me, it's more of a continuation," Hawes said.
Kings assistant coaches Tom Bohmer and Jason Garneau have been asked to remain with the team but have not yet signed new contracts. The team plans to hire new scouts to help recruit more competitive teams.
