Kyle Tschampa’s knowledge of sports ran deep and he created a job for himself in junior hockey as a volunteer statistician with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
That started in 2002 and from then on it didn’t matter if it was scrimmage or a league game, he was there to watch the players closely and report back to the coaching staff with his take on what they were doing on the ice, and he was a good judge of talent. More often than not, the players who made the final cut were the ones Kyle thought deserved roster spots.
Eventually he found other ways to contribute on Spruce Kings’ game nights, volunteering as an usher who loved to strike up a conversation. Positive and upbeat, he was always curious about what you thought of certain player or how the boys on the ice were playing.
Never shy about joining a discussion with the fans, decked out in his blue and red Kings jersey, he never missed a game. Kyle loved the Spruce Kings, Vancouver Canucks and BC Lions and once he found out I was Calgary guy, he could never resist taking shots at the Flames or Stampeders, especially when his teams were trouncing them on the scoreboard. If there was a Lions’ game on TV he always looked forward to inviting the family over for Chinese food.
Kyle came from a solid upbringing in Prince George that taught him merits of being polite, respectful and courteous, lessons he learned well from his mom Carol, father Joe, sister Kristin and brother Brett. Kyle got on well with his younger siblings and never held back showing his love for his nieces and nephews. He was the best uncle.
At age 10 he was diagnosed with a rare mental syndrome that he refused to let hold him back. He remained high functioning and went to regular classes with the other school kids at Vanway Elementary and College Heights Secondary and graduated in 2002.
“We never raised him as if he had any issues,” said Joe. “He was brought up about as normally as you could, and I think that really helped him in later years. He made us pretty proud.”
Said Carol: “We never let him make excuses for anything, he had the same consequences as our other kids; they just had to be accountable for their actions.”
Kyle outweighed and outreached most of his minor hockey opponents by large margins. As an adult, his six-foot-six, 320-pound frame packed strength that came in awful handy when he was hauling fresh meat on a big-game hunt or reeling in a whopper on his fishing line.
His dad was a rep team hockey coach and the kids got started early in life balancing on blades and playing soccer.
“For a big guy that was clumsy he had a pretty good set of hands,” said Joe. “He would just stand in front and bury them. He kind of reminded me of Phil Esposito because nobody could move him.”
Participating in sports gave Kyle a sense of belonging and responsibility and the social aspect of working towards a common goal. He served as a goal judge behind the net and opened the gate at the penalty box and was part of the Spruce Kings’ team for more than 20 years.
“He started doing stats (in 2002) when he was in high school and Kyle volunteered for us for decades, and did a great job, he was here for every game, always a smiling face, always happy to see everyone and greet everyone,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
“He used to come to every spring camp, every training camp and he’d assess the players and he was really invested in the organization. He’d always give me his list of guys after every spring camp scrimmage and main camp scrimmage and I always appreciated his input. It just shows he really cared about the organization. He was an avid sports fan and we’re certainly going to miss him. He contributed in many ways.”
Kyle was just two years old when he went off hunting with his dad on their first trip. Hawes says he always looked forward to hearing about Kyle’s hunting experiences and he was always willing to share the bounty, leaving the Spruce Kings office well-stocked with pepperoni they had made.
“He really loved the outdoors, he was the best hunting partner because there was never a complaint, all he’d do is get out there and have a good time, it was pretty fun,” said Joe.
On Sept. 28, Kyle lost his battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of bone marrow cancer, and he died at Prince George Rotary Hospice House, a month after his 40th birthday.
A November 2023 physical exam detected cancer in his blood and his terminal condition was confirmed by a specialist in Vancouver. It just so happened that night there was a Canucks-Oilers game at Rogers Arena and Kyle of course knew about it.
“I got tickets that day and didn’t tell Kyle and after we had the chat with the doctor we were all pretty bummed out - that’s an understatement - and Kyle goes, “It would be pretty nice to go to the hockey game.”
“I said I’ve already got tickets and that changed the mood in the room, because it was pretty doomy and gloomy. They gave him a year, plus or minus and he made it 10 months.”
In August, Joe decided to take Kyle to the Lions-Bombers game in Vancouver. At that time Kyle’s energy levels were low and he was getting blood transfusions at the cancer clinic in Prince George. The nurses took a shine to him and when one of them found out he was going to the game they arranged with the doctor to have his transfusion schedule changed so he would receive one unit of blood on Monday and two on Friday, just before he left for Vancouver.
Unsure how steady Kyle would be on his feet, Joe phoned the Lions to ask if they had wheelchair available and at one point in the conversation broke down with emotion speaking about his son. The man he was talking to, Massimo Possolo, told him not to worry, the Lions would take care of them and he comped them game tickets. Former Prince George Cougar captain Nick Drazenovic knew somebody on the team and they arranged for Kyle to go down to field level during the game.
“The whole experience there was incredibly good,” said Joe.
“We went sockeye fishing at Babine Lake for his 40th birthday (Aug. 29) and that was a pretty special time for all of us. Of course Kyle caught the biggest one, it was probably eight pounds.”
The capper of that trip was Joe’s niece got in touch with outdoorsman Jim Shockey, whose popular big-game hunting TV shows were gold to Kyle. Shockey found out Kyle didn’t have long to live and sent him a personal birthday video message that Kyle cherished the rest of his life.
A celebration of Kyle’s life was held Sunday at the Hartt Pioneer Centre. The family has asked that any donations be given to the BC Cancer Centre for the North.
