By TED CLARK
Courtesy Prince George Citizen

Paul Dainton makes the decision to remove the crown for the last time

Paul Dainton has asked the Prince George Spruce Kings for a trade. The 19-year-old goaltender, one of the team’s highest-profile recruits over the summer, made up his mind to leave the team following practice Tuesday, citing his inconsistent play as the reason for wanting a change of scenery.

“Things aren’t working out here, I’ve been playing inconsistent all year,” said Dainton, who arranged Tuesday’s meeting with Spruce Kings head coach and general manager Ed Dempsey over the weekend.

“The guys are great and the atmosphere is good, it’s just something is missing, and I just thought it would be in my best interest and the team’s best interest if I left. I got treated really good on the team by my teammates, and the coaches treated me pretty good too, but something was missing, and I think this is the best decision.”

In 24 games with the Spruce Kings, Dainton complied a 3.25 goals against average and 89.9 save percentage with one shutout. Dainton was named player of the week in the B.C. Hockey League for his play two weeks ago in home ice wins over Quesnel  (a shutout) and Vernon (one goal allowed), but was not as sharp in a one-goal loss in Williams Lake last Friday. Dainton started Saturday’s game in Salmon Arm but was pulled after one period with the Kings down 2-0. Joe Rodwell came into the game in the second period and backed the Spruce Kings to a 5-2 win.

“That’s the inconsistency I’m talking about, we can play and compete with the top teams, but then we play some of the weaker teams like Williams Lake and they outplay us, and those are the killers for us,” Dainton said. Joe Rodwell, an 18-year-old, becomes the Spruce Kings starting goalie.

“Joe is a great goalie and he’s worked hard all season and he deserves it,” Dainton said. “I have full confidence he could easily be the starter on this team or any other team in this league.” Dainton said he left the meeting in the Spruce Kings office on good terms with Dempsey.

The Kings have already dealt forwards Erick Ruud and Scott McNaughton this season when their relationships soured with the Kings coach, but Dainton said there weren’t any hard feelings between himself and Dempsey which prompted the decision.

“You’re not going to see eye-to-eye, 100 per cent of the time, and a lot of people have had problems with him in the past, like McNaughton, but Eddie knows what he’s talking about. I just think some people have a hard time relating to him,” Dainton said. “But I had a good relationship with him and everything was out in the open.” Dempsey could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Spruce Kings assistant captain Ryan deVries said the move took the team by surprise.

“It was a shock for us when we found out Tuesday and it’s too bad because he’s a great goalie,” deVries said. “I guess he just wanted to move on and felt he could perform better elsewhere.”

Dainton, a native of Sudbury, Ont., who turns 20 on Dec. 9, was part of a three-way off-season trade involving the Quesnel Millionaires which also brought 20-year-old defenceman Bobby Hineman to Prince George.

Last season, playing for the Port Hope Predators of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, Dainton racked up six shutouts, a 2.13 goals against average, and 92.2 save percentage. He hopes to be sent to a team in Ontario and will remain in Prince George for the next few days hoping a deal will be made shortly. If not, he’ll return to his parents’ home in Genelle, near Trail.

The Spruce Kings are hosting the RBC Royal Bank Cup Junior A National Championship in May and Dainton said the necessary ingredients are there for the team to take a serious run at the title.

“I definitely think they are a Royal Bank Cup contender, they have the right group of guys in there. Look at Burnaby last year, they just started making a run at it in the last 15 games of the season and everything started clicking,” Dainton said. “They have the right system down and it’s only a mater of time, really.”

Dainton called it the toughest decision he’s ever made in his hockey career.

“We have a guarantee into the national championship and there are so many players out there who would die just to sit on the bench just to say they were part of it,” Dainton said. “It was a tough decision for me, but I think it’s best for everybody.”

This article originally appeared in the November 30, 2006 edition of the Prince George Citizen and was reproduced here with the permission of the newspaper.