By James Shewaga /

Kevin Falloon doesn’t know what his hockey future holds, but he was determined to make his final season of junior last as long as possible.

The 20-year-old captain of the Dauphin Kings was soaking up every minute of his last playoff run in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a post-season that almost ended in Round 1.

The Kings fell behind 2-0 to the OCN Blizzard before battling back to win the quarter-final series 4-2, earning a date with the Selkirk Steelers in the MJHL semifinals.

For Falloon, it was the last chance to chase an MJHL championship after capping his career in style during the regular season.

“I’m 20 and who knows what’s going to happen next year,” said Falloon. “So I want to keep playing as long as I can and try to win in my last season.”

The 6-1, 190-pound defenceman helped lead the Kings to an impressive 42-16-2-2 record in the regular season, finishing second in the Sher-Wood Division.

Looked up to as a leader in the dressing room, Falloon also delivered on the ice, finishing as the top-scoring defenceman in the MJHL with 15 goals and 57 points in 
61 games.

“At the start of the year, it was a personal goal I had set for myself,” said Falloon, a second-team MJHL all-star this season. “I wanted to try to lead defencemen in scoring right from the start and I ended up doing that, so that was pretty good. And now the goal I have is to help lead the team to a championship.”

The native of Russell, Man., has been a key cog in Dauphin’s offence and arguably the player head coach Marlin Murray leans on the most.

“He’s been very, very good for us,” said Murray, whose team will host the 2010 Royal Bank Cup. “He’s a good skater and he can move the puck extremely well and he’s got one of the hardest shots in the league.

“He gives us that veteran presence on the ice where he plays anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes a game...He’s an elite defenceman in our league and we are very fortunate to have him. He’s our captain and he leads by example and he’s very good in the dressing room.”

While Falloon was focused on this year’s playoffs, he has already drawn some interest from colleges and universities for next season, but may try his luck in the minor pro 
ranks instead.

“I am going to try to play somewhere,” said Falloon, a cousin of former NHLer Pat Falloon. “I’m not sure if it is going to be at school or if I am going to try to play pro next year.”

NOTES:
OCN’s Doug Hedley was named MJHL coach of the year, Eric Delong of the Portage Terriers was the league’s MVP and Jordan DePape of the Winnipeg Saints was rookie of the year.