By James Shewaga /

The Dauphin Kings aren’t satisfied with just serving as the host team for the 2010 RBC Cup. Come May 9, they are determined to be hoisting that trophy over their heads on home ice.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League club spent the off-season putting together the building blocks of a championship team that they hope will capture the Canadian Junior A hockey title next spring when Dauphin plays host to the tournament May 1-9 at Credit Union Place.

“We’re very committed to winning it and that is how we recruited,” said Kings head coach/assistant general manager Marlin Murray.

 “We recruited some key players throughout the course of the summer. We want to win it and obviously that’s our goal. And everything we do throughout the season, there is going to be a lot of pressure on our hockey club.

“We are going to be introduced as the host RBC team and the rest of the teams throughout the league are going to be gunning for us.”

The Kings graduated some key players, including leading scorer Cam McGeogh (33 goals, 92 points), top defenceman and captain Kevin Falloon (15 goals, 57 points) and No.1 netminder Adrian Rubeniuk. However, they have a strong returning nucleus, led by netminder Brett Willows, defenceman Steven Shamanski (13 goals, 54 points) and forward Shane Luke (40 goals, 86 points).

To that group, Dauphin added some top talent in the off-season, led by two 20-year-old former Western Hockey League players in centre Bryce Lamb (Prince Albert Raiders) and goaltender Joe Caligiuri (Brandon Wheat Kings and Prince George Cougars).

“They are two very good people in our dressing room and just their presence from having played at a higher level, everybody in the dressing room looks up to them, so they are going to be a key to our success as a hockey club and in the RBC Cup,” said Murray, who guided the Kings to a solid 42-16-2-2 record last season. “The biggest thing is they want to win ... They wanted to play in the national championship with the Dauphin Kings and we really like their attitude.”

The roster makeover didn’t end there as the Kings traded for 20-year-old forwards Brendan Baumgartner (35 goals, 70 points in Ontario Junior A), and Allias Kalinsky, a 6-foot-4, 229-pound power forward acquired from the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins, along with skilled 19-year-old American defenceman Mike Boese.

And despite winning four of their first five games, the Kings have continued to tinker with their lineup, acquiring 19-year-old former WHL forward Colton Graf from the SJHL’s Battlefords Stars and 20-year-old forward Jacob Verheyden from the Burnaby Express of the BCHL.

“The players that we have brought in here are quality individuals who want to finish their career off with a championship,” said Murray. “So we’ve done our homework ... and hopefully it will pay off for us this season.”