Sput
10-29-2006, 03:17 PM
From: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com
I concidered NOT posting this, but this is too good not to put up. If anyone remembers Ed Dempsey, and knows his coaching 'style' you'll probably know where this young man is coming from.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Forward quits Spruce Kings
by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
One of the top scorers for the Prince George Spruce Kings has quit the team.
Centre Scott McNaughton, 19, left the Kings on Oct. 13, upset over a lack of icetime and what he felt was a lack of respect from the Kings’ coaches. He’s now back at his home in Agassiz awaiting a trade.
“I just asked to be traded, I don’t like Ed (Kings head coach and general manager Dempsey),” said McNaughton. “I didn’t get along with him. I wasn’t getting the icetime and I wasn’t getting treated the way I should be treated.
“I know I can play, but I want more icetime. At the start of the year I was getting the icetime I got last year. But the last 2 1/2 weeks I was playing I was probably getting 10 minutes a game.”
McNaughton said there were personal issues that soured his relationship with the Kings coaches and convinced him he didn’t want to finish the last two seasons of his junior career in Prince George. The final straw for McNaughton came during a meeting with Dempsey and assistant coach Mike Hawes, minutes before the Kings were to leave on the bus to Williams Lake.
“I wasn’t going in with the intention of asking for a trade, but at the end of it, I did ask for a trade,” McNaughton said. “I didn’t want to play for those guys again.
“During the last game (Oct. 12 against Langley), I came off the ice and Ed said, ‘McNaughton, you’re a (expletive) joke.’ So that (ticked) me off and that’s why I went in to talk to him originally.
“They told me I was a bottom-line player on the team. I asked why I wasn’t getting icetime and they pretty much told me I sucked at hockey. They told me I was horrendous on the power play and I wasn’t playing power-play, yet I had four goals, all on the power play. I think I’m a 35- or 40-goal scorer in the league but Ed didn’t see that. There’s so much talent on that team going to waste.”
McNaughton had four goals and seven assists in 12 games this season. In 44 games last year, as a rookie, he finished third in team scoring with 18 goals and 40 points.
When told what McNaughton said about the details that led to his decision to quit the Kings, Dempsey declined comment. The Kings’ coach said he has given McNaughton as much icetime as any of the other six top forwards on the team.
“I know what happened and so does everybody else,” Dempsey said. “The guy played on the top-six, he played power play and he killed penalties, so he can say what he wants.
“He wasn’t happy and wanted more icetime and if not, he was heading home. That was a guy who averaged 18 minutes a game. That’s a lot of icetime.”
McNaughton’s departure from the team comes weeks after the Kings dealt forward Erick Ruud to Langley and defenceman Jesse Felske to Surrey. According to McNaughton, both asked to be traded.
“I’m the third guy to ask out now — after Ruud and Felske,” McNaughton said. “For a Royal Bank Cup team, it’s not a happy team. I love the guys on the team, it’s just I didn’t like the coaching staff, and that goes for Hawesy (assistant coach Hawes) too.
“I know when you put this in the paper, Ed is going to come out and take shots at me, which is fine. He’s already told guys on the team I was putting them down in that interview I had with him, and that’s not true. Those guys are my friends and I’d never do that.
“Ed’s an old-school coach, not my type of coach, and we’ve barely seen eye-to-eye since I got there.”
McNaughton wants to resume playing but said Dempsey has delayed the process by not listing his name on the trade wire until this past Monday.
“Langley’s been after me and he hasn’t been returning their phone calls,” McNaughton said. “He’s going to wait it out as long as he can. It’s not a pretty situation.
“I’ve got two years of junior left and I don’t want to go through that. I want to go to a team that wants me, and wants me to play. I’m 19, I’m an adult too, I should be treated like one.”
Dempsey said he has had inquiries about McNaughton and when the right deal comes along, he’ll make the trade happen.
“There has been some interest, but there has to be a lot more,” Dempsey said.
I concidered NOT posting this, but this is too good not to put up. If anyone remembers Ed Dempsey, and knows his coaching 'style' you'll probably know where this young man is coming from.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Forward quits Spruce Kings
by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
One of the top scorers for the Prince George Spruce Kings has quit the team.
Centre Scott McNaughton, 19, left the Kings on Oct. 13, upset over a lack of icetime and what he felt was a lack of respect from the Kings’ coaches. He’s now back at his home in Agassiz awaiting a trade.
“I just asked to be traded, I don’t like Ed (Kings head coach and general manager Dempsey),” said McNaughton. “I didn’t get along with him. I wasn’t getting the icetime and I wasn’t getting treated the way I should be treated.
“I know I can play, but I want more icetime. At the start of the year I was getting the icetime I got last year. But the last 2 1/2 weeks I was playing I was probably getting 10 minutes a game.”
McNaughton said there were personal issues that soured his relationship with the Kings coaches and convinced him he didn’t want to finish the last two seasons of his junior career in Prince George. The final straw for McNaughton came during a meeting with Dempsey and assistant coach Mike Hawes, minutes before the Kings were to leave on the bus to Williams Lake.
“I wasn’t going in with the intention of asking for a trade, but at the end of it, I did ask for a trade,” McNaughton said. “I didn’t want to play for those guys again.
“During the last game (Oct. 12 against Langley), I came off the ice and Ed said, ‘McNaughton, you’re a (expletive) joke.’ So that (ticked) me off and that’s why I went in to talk to him originally.
“They told me I was a bottom-line player on the team. I asked why I wasn’t getting icetime and they pretty much told me I sucked at hockey. They told me I was horrendous on the power play and I wasn’t playing power-play, yet I had four goals, all on the power play. I think I’m a 35- or 40-goal scorer in the league but Ed didn’t see that. There’s so much talent on that team going to waste.”
McNaughton had four goals and seven assists in 12 games this season. In 44 games last year, as a rookie, he finished third in team scoring with 18 goals and 40 points.
When told what McNaughton said about the details that led to his decision to quit the Kings, Dempsey declined comment. The Kings’ coach said he has given McNaughton as much icetime as any of the other six top forwards on the team.
“I know what happened and so does everybody else,” Dempsey said. “The guy played on the top-six, he played power play and he killed penalties, so he can say what he wants.
“He wasn’t happy and wanted more icetime and if not, he was heading home. That was a guy who averaged 18 minutes a game. That’s a lot of icetime.”
McNaughton’s departure from the team comes weeks after the Kings dealt forward Erick Ruud to Langley and defenceman Jesse Felske to Surrey. According to McNaughton, both asked to be traded.
“I’m the third guy to ask out now — after Ruud and Felske,” McNaughton said. “For a Royal Bank Cup team, it’s not a happy team. I love the guys on the team, it’s just I didn’t like the coaching staff, and that goes for Hawesy (assistant coach Hawes) too.
“I know when you put this in the paper, Ed is going to come out and take shots at me, which is fine. He’s already told guys on the team I was putting them down in that interview I had with him, and that’s not true. Those guys are my friends and I’d never do that.
“Ed’s an old-school coach, not my type of coach, and we’ve barely seen eye-to-eye since I got there.”
McNaughton wants to resume playing but said Dempsey has delayed the process by not listing his name on the trade wire until this past Monday.
“Langley’s been after me and he hasn’t been returning their phone calls,” McNaughton said. “He’s going to wait it out as long as he can. It’s not a pretty situation.
“I’ve got two years of junior left and I don’t want to go through that. I want to go to a team that wants me, and wants me to play. I’m 19, I’m an adult too, I should be treated like one.”
Dempsey said he has had inquiries about McNaughton and when the right deal comes along, he’ll make the trade happen.
“There has been some interest, but there has to be a lot more,” Dempsey said.