Prince Rupert Hockey scores in the last minute of play

It went down to the wire, but Prince Rupert will be joining the Central Interior Hockey League for the 2008-09 season. Come this fall if all goes according to plan, Rupertites will be able to sing along with that old Stompin' Tom Connors Classic, the Good Old Hockey Game..

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Granted a conditional franchise earlier this year, local organizers only firmed up their funding and the required 1500 dollar entry fee on the deadline day of June 1.

Thanks to a loan from the Prince Rupert Recreational Hockey League, the Rupert organizers were able to secure their place in the provincial Senior league and can now make plans to put a team on the ice this fall. Prince Rupert has not had an entry in Senior hockey in the province since the 1970’s and the legendary Prince Rupert Kings.

There was a brief but unsuccessful revival of senior hockey in the early 1990’s with the Chiefs but the time it seemed wasn’t quite right for that team to survive.

Prince Rupert will play in the Western Division of the CIHL, which will feature such soon to be local rivalries with Terrace, Kitimat and the Hazeltons. The remainder of the eight team loop features teams in Vanderhoof, Mackenzie and Houston joining Smithers in the eastern division.

The Northern View and Daily News both featured the details of the late scramble and where the organization plans to go through the summer, as they prepare to drop the puck on a new era of hockey for Prince Rupert.

Puck is set to drop on a new era of local hockey action
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Pages one and six

The hockey that was king in the 1970s is making a return to Prince Rupert.

After being awarded a conditional franchise earlier this year, it took local organizers until the final second of the June 1 deadline to come up with the money needed to ensure there will be a Rupert team in the Central Interior Hockey League (senior men's) for the 2008-09 season.

"It's good for everybody," said new CIHL president Stan Irvine, who is based in Vanderhoof.

"As far as the league's concerned, it's a real plus."

Even as late as last week, it looked as though local organizers might not be able to come up with the required $1,500 start-up cost needed to make the team a reality, but at the last minute, the Prince Rupert Recreational Hockey League came through, and loaned organizers the money they needed.

“We did find the money,” said team spokesperson Bruce Tessier, who has been involved with Prince Rupert minor hockey for a long time. “The next big hurdle is sponsorship.”
Tessier added that he is hoping to talk to Kitimat ownership to find out what kind of costs they had to endure to get their team started.

The other thing on the agenda is to get the team registered with B. C. Hockey.

“It’s about getting B. C. Hockey to recognize that we have a (senior men’s) team,” Said Tessier.

The next important deadline will come in August when Prince Rupert will have to submit its choice of team colours, logo, and jerseys to the league.

Tessier said the plan is to hold a contest in regards to naming the team, and coming up with a logo.

Prince Rupert originally had a senior men’s hockey team during the heyday of the 1970’s – the Kings were one of the best teams in northern B. C. But the league died out in the early 1980’s, and the Kings folded in 1984.

Rupert also briefly had a senior men’s team that went by the nickname “Chiefs” in the 1990’s.
Tessier is confident that the saying “third times’ the charm” will be the mantra as soon as the puck drops this fall.

“Hopefully the community will realize it’s their team, and not ours,” he said. “And that if we don’t’ get the support, it can’t survive.

“We’ll have our trials and tribulations, but as long as we have a good product on the ice, we’ll draw the people.”

Having Rupert in the CIHL also benefits the league. Even though 100 Mile House folded this past season, getting Rupert on-board allows the CIHL to keep an eight division league, with two area specific divisions that will cut down on road travel.

Rupert will draw in with the Kitimat Ice Demons, the Terrace River Kings, and the Hazelton Wolverines. The Smithers Steelheads, meanwhile, will slide into the east division and will join Houston, Vanderhoof and Mackenzie.

“With the rivalry between Terrace and Kitimat already there, (with the addition of Rupert) it’ll just build even further,” said Irvine.

Tessier added: “They’re pumped out in the east about this… it balances out the league.”

The main goal now is to get local sponsorship on-board, and now that the team is basically a go, Tessier believes that the business community will now get behind the team.

“We might see a few more businesses coming online,” he said.

Naturally, finding a certified coach and players is also on the agenda, and the local group has already set up an application process.

Finally, the team will also be looking for volunteers as the season foes forward.

“The main thing is sponsorship, and (ensure) volunteers get involved to keep the team going for many years to come,” said Irvine.

As for the hockey, Tessier saw first hand the crow support of the local midget A team when they hosted the zones, so he knows there are enough people in town that crave good live hockey.

“It’s another venue of entertainment for this town, especially in the winter,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it will work.”

Organizers moving ahead with plans for Rupert CIHL team
By Shaun Thomas

- The Northern View

- June 03, 2008

Prince Rupert will look to throw its hat in the Central Interior Hockey League ring this fall as organizers have met the June 1 deadline to come up with $1,500 in order to proceed with the application.

“We have been loaned the money from the rec league in Prince Rupert, and I’ve gotten a hold of the president of the Kitimat Ice Demons team to contact the CIHL president and treasurer,” explained Bruce Tessier, one of the proponents of the team.

“We are now on to the next step, which is to seek sponsors and contact B.C. Hockey to become an associate so we can be under their insurance, and it is a requirement of the CIHL to be a member of B.C. Hockey...The key then is to find enough players and a certified coach.”

While the league also requires the team to have their own jerseys by the time play starts in the 2008/2009 season, Tessier said he and other organizers still want to get the community involved in naming the team and creating a logo, as he says the team would be Prince Rupert’s team.

“This is not just a couple of people owning the team, this is the whole community owning the team,” he said.

“This is not just our team, it is Prince Rupert’s team. We hope to have the support of the community and that they will back us by filling the arena for each of the home games because that is the only way we are going to be successful.”

In terms of scheduling, Prince Rupert would be put in the Western division along with Kitimat, Terrace and Hazelton, while Smithers, Houston Vanderhoof and Williams Lake would make up the Eastern division. While the schedule is yet to be done and there is still an August 1 deadline in place to have a team name, roster, executive and jerseys, Tessier said the plan would be to host games on Saturday evenings as well as Fridays or Sundays as determined by the league. He also said that the organizers have made a decision on whether or not to allow alcohol at the games.

“There isn’t going to be a beer gardens for the games....We’re trying to look at this as a family thing and keeping the focus on the game,” he said, noting that the size of the arena would also make blocking off a section of the arena for beer gardens difficult.

“We want to bring another form of entertainment to the people of Prince Rupert.”

Tessier said he hopes to have an e-mail address set up shortly for people who are interested in getting the team off the ground, noting that the more people who help out the better chance the team has at success in the league, but he knows there is still much work to be done.

“It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be a lot of work....For the first year or two we expect some hard times as we get the team up and going, but talking with other teams they say that is not uncommon.”

Entering the CIHL will also put Prince Rupert in the running for the Coy Cup, the provincial championship for senior men’s hockey in B.C.