by PAUL RAYNER

Although the hope is it will only be for one season, no one involved is happy there will be no Boissevain Border Kings for the first time in more than a half century.

“What I know is that we’re out,” said Ken Pringle, a team organizer and former long time coach. “We had to make the decision yesterday (October 5). We requested and received a one-year leave of absence from the Tiger Hills Hockey League. We were supposed to do it before the weekend, but we were granted extra time to find a way through this. We looked at this a lot of ways and lost a lot of sleep, but there was no real way to do it.”

The problem for the Kings was a lack of bodies. As Pringle said, they were looking at starting a season with only eleven committed players.

“There were a few odd scenarios, some that just came up where they were committed and had to pull out. It cut into the core of players. It was just a bad situation.”

Included in the losses were Paul Mandziuk, who hurt his shoulder and might be able to soldier through, but was questionable at best. Derek Kempthorne is involved in more Hydro training which would be jeopardized if something happened to him on the ice. Kyle Winters has been accepted at school in Winnipeg. The list goes on.

“We never dreamed all of this would happen,” Pringle said.

On top of this, there is a coaching problem. Jason Billaney, who coached the squad last year, is stepping down due to family commitments, an announcement he made at the end of last year’s championship. Two other coaches who helped in the 2008/09 campaign, Phil Kroeker and Dave Kempthorne, could not make the level of commitment needed for various good reasons.

“We tried to get some outside guys,” Pringle explained, “both players and coaches, people who had the ability but there were work commitments or family commitments and they couldn’t do it.”

He is sympathetic to those who could not commit.

“Everyone is busy. I know I did it for years, but I just couldn’t do it now. I put the time in, but I can’t put the time in now. It’s the way it is.”

The whole situation is a difficult one. Pringle said they could possibly “bully” a few people into playing, but without strong coaching, it would be difficult to pull a team together. Now in the Tiger Hills League, it could be hard at any rate. There would be a few long trips and players miss games at the best of times.

“There are more games and a lot of travel. It’s great we got in the league, but this year it would make it tough. What do you do come January when you get a call and there are only seven guys who can go?”

As well, it is a tough and competitive league. It is something some do not like to discuss in small town hockey, but being competitive is important for survival. As Pringle said, the Tiger Hills situation was such that five teams did not make the playoffs. Without a post season, it is difficult to make hockey ends meet financially. The fact THHL does not have an import rule and that some teams have several players who have spent time at a very high level of the sport, does not help the situation.

“There are five that don’t make the playoffs,” he explained. “In order to make any money, you need to make the playoffs and make a good run in the playoffs. If we tried to struggle through and lost $3-5,000, then we’d really be in trouble. It is better to restructure and reorganize before we go in.”

The problem is not a new one. When he coached, Pringle often wondered if and when the ax would fall on the squad. The BK’s always found an answer and always iced a competitive side, as often as not champions. But sometimes the luck runs out.

“Unfortunately, we’ll be the fall guys,” he said, “and I understand it. I hope people will take the time to look at it and appreciate the time people put in to keep everything going as long as it did. I feel awful. It was a part of people’s social calendar. But at the end of the day, we couldn’t find enough people who would say ‘I’ll be there’.”

He adds that there may be a need for a few new faces, people with time and enthusiasm. Pringle was through this situation before with the Centennials, a top-notch baseball club that fell apart due to a lack of committed people. It was resurrected, with the players and coaches making sure everything worked, and won the league title in 2008. Perhaps this is a situation that needs to occur with the Border Kings.

“What I love about the Centennials is that there is a group of core guys, players who do everything. It took a core of guys to get things going again. You need those people who have the desire and can commit the time.”

At the same time, the Border Kings will not disappear altogether. For example, they will be holding their traditional hockey school this fall. Pringle said they have enough people to do the extracurriculars they usually do. It is important to give back to the community, as well as raise money for a return to the ice. A good example is Glenboro, who took time off and came back to the THHL this year, with enough money to get going again.

Taking a leave of absence was not an easy choice, but Pringle feels it was the only one reasonably available.

“This is a harder decision because it ends it,” he explained. “In some ways it would be easier to go and see if it works. But it could be a disaster. Pierson tried that and they folded at Christmas. If we tried it and had a disaster year, you wouldn’t be able to get it going again.”

“Stepping aside is tough, but unfortunately we hit a wall, short of players and volunteers. It’s a tough pill to swallow. We have the right to go in next year and I hope we will.