By James Shewaga /

The Dauphin Kings know they will be facing a decidedly difficult decision in the coming months.

With a spot in the 2010 Royal Bank Cup already secured when Dauphin was named host city for the Canadian Junior A hockey championship, the Kings may look to sacrifice some of their elite 20-year-old talent this year in exchange for players who can help them next season.

The dilemma for Dauphin, however, is this Kings team just may be good enough to challenge for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League crown this season, a year in advance of playing in the RBC Cup.

“We have top-end 20-year-olds in our lineup, 20-year-olds that are legitimately likely the best in the league at their positions and we feel we owe it to them to be competitive,” said Kings head coach/assistant general manager Marlin Murray. “Now, I can’t predict the future, things are going well so far, but on January 10th, the deadline, we will have some decisions to make ... We feel if we’re right in the mix, there is likely a pretty good chance that we’re going to go for it this year.”

Through 23 games, the Kings were tied for second overall in the MJHL and sporting an impressive 15-6-1-1 record, just four points back of the Portage Terriers (18-3-0-0), who were ranked fourth in the country in the Canadian Junior A hockey rankings entering the second week of November.

While they are currently carrying seven 20-year-olds, the Kings also have 15 players on their roster who are eligible to return in 2009-2010. The Kings will also likely look to the Western Hockey League for some 20-year-old talent next season. With WHL clubs limited to three 20-year-olds on their rosters, the Kings are hoping players they hold the Junior A rights to, like Prince George Cougars netminder Joe Caligiuri, Brandon Wheat Kings forward Cale Jefferies, Portland Winter Hawks forward Nick Dietrich and Prince Albert Raiders centre Bryce Lamb, may become available next season.

“We think we have a good foundation for next season for our RBC year, but we feel that we have to definitely recruit over the summer,” said Murray. “We feel we have to come up with some good top-end players to replace what we’re going to be losing ... We’ve done our homework and we’ve talked to a few guys who are going to be 20-year-olds in the WHL and if things fall in place where the players that are on our list come to us, we are going to be fine. If those players stick in the WHL, we will have to get to work.”

KING OF KINGS
Dauphin native and former Kings head coach/GM Barry Trotz joined some elite company on Nov. 4 when he coached in his 750th career NHL game for the Nashville Predators. Trotz guided the Kings from 1985-87.