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| Dave King is a coaching legend in hockey. |
On Wednesday at a media conference at the Gordie Howe Sports
Complex, King was announced as a member of the 2019 class that will head to the
Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame as a builder. The 34th annual
induction ceremonies will be held Nov. 2 at TCU Place.
King heads a class that includes five builders, four
athletes and two teams, while the 1989 Jeux Canada Games Foundation is honoured
as the Sports Organization of the Year.
King has built a legendary career as a hockey head coach that
has spanned decades. He has already been inducted to a number of sports hall of
fames.
Still, King always get humbled by these types of accolades,
and it was special to learn he would be going into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of
Fame.
“I’ve been a citizen of Saskatoon for a long time, although
I haven’t lived here for a long time,” said King. “It is a real honour.
“When I was given the word that this was going to happen, my
first thoughts were for all the minor coaches when I was playing minor football
and hockey and basketball and baseball, all those guys that created that
interest in sport. I’m a pretty lucky guy.”
The 71-year-old got his start in coaching way back in the
1960s, when he helped his father, Robert, coach the Greystone Heights community
hockey team.
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| Dana Kidd, left, shakes hands with Dave King. |
Most recently, he was one of the co-chairs of the Home Ice Campaign that raised funds to get the new Merlis Belsher Place twin pad hockey rink built on the U of Saskatchewan campus. The 2018-19 hockey campaign marked the first season Merlis Belsher Place was in operation.
Overall in Saskatoon, King is best remembered for his work from two
specific seasons. The first was the 1981-82 campaign, when he took on the role
of head coach of Canada’s national junior team along with his duties as head
coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.
That season marked the first campaign of Hockey Canada’s
program of excellence, where the national junior team would be made up a junior
aged all-star players from across the country.
Before that, the defending Memorial Cup championship team
represented Canada at world juniors.
Guiding a team that included a star centre from the WHL’s
Saskatoon Blades named Marc Habscheid, King oversaw Canada’s first gold medal
victory at the tournament.
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| The Huskies 1982-83 national championship team picture. |
At that time, U Sports was known as the Canadian
Interuniversity Athletic Union.
Before winning the national title in 1983, the Huskies fell
in the University Cup title game in 1981 and 1982.
During King’s time as Huskies head coach from 1979 to 1983,
the terms “Hustlin’ Huskie” and “no one outworks the Dogs” became synonymous
with the program.
“That team, the majority of those guys I would say over 90
per cent of those guys played together for three years or four years, and we
got to the national finals three times in a row,” said King. “Finally, the
third time we won it.
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| A Dave King picture on display at Merlis Belsher Place. |
King said the bonds have never faded that everyone has from
those Huskies years. When the 1982-83 national championship team had a reunion in
the mid to late 2000s, almost everyone made it back.
“When we had our reunion, we all showed up all but a couple
of guys,” said King. “It was wonderful.
“That team won, and when I look at the team picture, they
won because they were a group of high achieves. What those guys have done with
their careers since that time has been amazing.”
A number of Kings former players from his time with the
Huskies have gone on to successful coaching careers.
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| Dave King has a few pictures displayed at Merlis Belsher Place. |
Desjardins was the captain of the 1982-83 championship team.
On the international level, King guided Canada’s senior
national team for a number of years, and Habscheid played for him on a number
of those teams. Habscheid went on to an extremely successful coaching career, and
he guided the Prince Albert Raiders to their second WHL championship this past
season.
“When you coach guys that go on to coach, that is the
biggest compliment you will get out of coaching,” said King. “You might win a championship
and you might not.
“When the guys you coach, your athletes go back in and coach
themselves, that is a terrific thing, and they are all such great coaches. I’ve
been lucky Mike Babcock and Willie Desjardins, guys like that who played for us
at the university, they’ve all gone into coaching and been very successful.”
Also going into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in the
builders category is Gordie Howe Sports Complex operations manager Johnny Marciniuk.
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| Dave King, right, meets an Optimist Twirling Connection member. |
Marciniuk has been a consultant and co-ordinator with
elementary and high school sports for more than 30 years, and he has had a hand
in many sport endeavors.
In recent years, he is best known for being one of the
founding members of the Friends of the Bowl Foundation, which formed with the
goal to raise funds to refurbish what is now known as Saskatoon Minor Football
Field.
Once that football stadium was refurbished, that initial
project expanded to refurbishing on the sports facilities in what was formerly
known as the Holiday Park sports park to become what is now known as the Gordie
Howe Sports Complex.
Being inducted to the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame didn’t
cross Marciniuk’s mind as he has overseen the ongoing construction at the
Gordie Howe Sports Complex.
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| Dana Kidd, left, shakes Johnny Marciniuk’s hand. |
“To be a part of that is breathtaking for me. I always say
that I am a grunt, and I like to make things happen behind the scenes and those
type of things. To be even considered with that group is an honour for me.”
While construction is still ongoing, Marciniuk marvels at
what has already been completed.
“It has been a labour of love here for us and whole Friends
of the Bowl committee,” said Marciniuk. “We’re a little over halfway there, and
there is lots more to come.
“I am very proud of what the community has provided here for
us. All the people of the community own this facility, so we’re very proud to
be a part of it.”
Also entering the hall in the builders category are Lawrence
Beatty in softball, Dale Clancy in wrestling and Al Mitchell in football.
The athletes being inducted in the Fiona Cribb in triathlon,
Terry Lehne in football, Donna Saworski in fencing and Jake Wetzel in rowing.
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| Johnny Marciniuk, left, and Al Mitchell left marks as sports builders. |
The teams heading to the hall include the 2012 and 2014
Merle Kopach masters women’s curling teams and the 2005 Optimist Twirling
Connection baton twirling team.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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