With the Prince George Spruce Kings set to embark on their journey towards a National Junior A Championship, a longtime resident and local politician is still coming to grips with the magical season the BCHL Club has had.
The Spruce Kings breezed through the 2019 playoffs with a sparkling 16-1 record including three consecutive series sweeps securing the franchise’s first ever Fred Page Cup over the Vernon Vipers.
From there, Prince George took down the NJAC hosts and top-ranked Brooks Bandits who went an impressive 57-3 during the regular season only to fall to Prince George in six games at the Doyle Cup with the lasting memory being a raucous sold-out crowd of 2,112 at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena last Saturday.
Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty remembers the state of euphoria everyone was in when the final buzzer sounded.
“It was a very special moment knowing the sacrifice that went in getting where we are today, you know, I think about the volunteers that have been there every year and every season. I think about the sponsors along with the many people that got us to this point, it’s amazing.”
“The fans never left the building we saw tears on the player’s faces, the parents faces, the volunteers and even I shed a tear but the fans were unbelievable.”
Doherty is one of many passionate supporters of the community-owned Junior A Hockey Club who plays its first game at nationals on Sunday against the Oakville Blades.
He has been a part of this organization since before the turn of the new millennium serving a variety of capacities enjoying every moment along the way.
“I have been part of this hockey club since 1999. I have been a scout, a coach an on-ice assistant, longtime sponsor and I was also on the board of directors for a long time and was even president.”
The local politician has many memories of the crown logo growing up, even spending some time competing against the Spruce Kings while based in Williams Lake.
“When I think about the Spruce Kings I think about the RBC Cup we hosted a while back and I coached in the league in the early nineties when I was in Williams Lake coaching the Mustangs in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League and the Spruce Kings were always kind of the powerhouse at that time. Mark Thom was the goaltender and they won the league a few times and this was a team where I always wanted to wear their crest, I wanted to be part of this organization.”
“I remember the Mohawks and the Spruce Kings as a kid and getting to the old barn and literally peering through the adults in a standing room only crowd. To me, that was the NHL.”
As for the current version of the Spruce Kings, Doherty couldn’t be any more impressed with the way the players carry themselves on and off the ice.
“They are a fun team to watch, they don’t seem to panic, they are there for one another and they believe in each other – it’s an amazing experience and the neat thing is that we have a whole another series to get through. We weren’t number one in the country, we were not number one in our league we just know what we need to do and we don’t care about anything else.”
“Hopefully, I can catch a game or two in Brooks as it’s going to be special.”
Here is a full list of the Spruce Kings Round Robin schedule at the National Junior A Challenge.
PG SPRUCE KINGS NATIONAL SCHEDULE:
Sunday, May 12th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Oakville Blades (1:00 PT)
Monday, May 13th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Ottawa Jr. Senators (6:00 PT)
Wednesday, May15th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Portage Terriers (6:00 PT)
Thursday, May 16th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Brooks Bandits (6:00 PT)
The tournament semi-finals are Saturday, May 18th at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT and the final goes Sunday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. PT.
MyPGNow Reporter Brendan Pawliw is down in Brooks, Alberta following the Spruce Kings and will be providing daily wall-to-wall coverage of the event.
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