Friday night at the old barn known as Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, the Prince George Spruce Kings and their fans will get together to watch the team play the Vernon Vipers in the first of a two-game weekend BCHL set.
What makes Friday’s game unique is it marks the return of the scowling Christmas tree. For that game, as part of their 50th anniversary celebration, the Spruce Kings will be sporting jerseys the team used to wear in the 1990’s emblazoned with the crest that features the red-eyed, hockey stick-holding tree character.
As part of the ‘90s Night pre-game festivities, Spruce Kings players who were with the team from 1990-99 will be introduced to the crowd and will be the guests of a reunion gathering in the RMCA concourse meeting room during the game. Club president David Keough, one of Spruce Kings all-time best defencemen, has been spearheading the project to renew ties to the team’s former players and ultimately create a Spruce Kings alumni association.
“This year has been a good opportunity to reach out to our alumni and honour the teams we have each decade and we want to capitalize on that, because we do have a lot of alumni coming back and showing interest in the team again,” said Keough.
“We want to do something hopefully that continues on for the future. We want to build something back up again. We tried to start something when Len McNamara was part of the team’s business operations a few years ago and started posting stuff on an alumni Facebook page, but nothing in regards to starting a society. We want to get the alumni more involved in coming back to the rink as much as we can and do special events.”
Alumni activities such as an annual golf tournament would give players, especially those from out of town, a reason to get together again. Keough is also discussing the possibility of forming a group of players for pickup games amongst themselves during hockey season.
“We’re just in the infancy of it so nothing really major is on the horizon,” said the 42-year-old Keough, who works as a deputy assessor for BC Assessment, his employer for the past 14 years.
Keough is expecting a bunch of former players will be at the rink formerly known as the Prince George Coliseum to relive some of the highlights of their time as teenagers playing junior A hockey for the Spruce Kings.
“I know five or six are guaranteed for sure and I know there’s a bunch in town that will probably just show up at the rink on Friday and we’ll get them involved,” said Keough.
Keough, a Prince George native, is part of the all-decade Spruce Kings team for the ‘90s. He first wore the Kings’ crown as a 16-year-old defenceman in 1995-96, their last season in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League, and helped them beat the Fernie Ghostriders to win the Citizen Cup as RMJHL champions. They joined the B.C. Hockey League in 1996 and Keough played four more seasons from 1996-2000 and was a BCHL all-star on defence. He scored 28 goals and had 87 points in 56 games in his last junior season (1999-2000) before moving on to college hockey with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks.
“It was easy to get those individual goals when you’re playing with the people we got to play with, like the Brad Fasts, Mike Stutzels and Derek Dinelles, they made you look good sometimes,” said Keough.
Friday’s game is expected to be a complete sellout, with the rink limited to just 1,000 spectators (half-capacity) under the current provincial COVID health restrictions.
“The last two nights we did have it (for the ‘70s and ‘80s decade celebration) the crowd was big and enjoyed it,” said Keough. “It gives the kids (now with the team) a good glimpse of what’s is in that building when we’re typically playing at playing full capacity.”
Keough is encouraging former Spruce Kings players to join the Prince George Spruce Kings Alumni Association Facebook Group to try increase membership.
Spruce Kings All-Decade Team 1990s
GOALIES
Mark Thom and Jason Howse
DEFENCEMAN
Greg Harder, David Keough, Brad Fast, Mike Engbrecht, David Byers and Rick Kooses
FORWARDS
Troy Dalton, Mike Lalonde, Troy Johnson, Marc Girard, Bryan Adams, Mike Stutzel, David Kozier, Denis Ladouceur, Frank Crosina, Derek Dinelle, Davey Jones, Don Campbell and Gord Lennox.
