He was on the siren as the Dauphin Kings came out onto the ice for game six of the MJHL final against the Steinbach Pistons and then he moved to his seat right by his dad for the game.
About 12 years after ending his junior career with his hometown team, Ryan Dreger is still a big-time Kings supporter and he’s thrilled that the team are champions and is Centennial Cup bound.
“The atmosphere in Credit Union Place for game six was amazing,” said Dreger. “Even the Steinbach fans came and made some noise, it was great to be in a packed arena again.”
Ryan says he was glued to the TV with his dad for game seven when the Kings won a 2-1 thrilling contest against the Pistons. Ryan is no stranger to competing in a national championship as he was on the Kings roster that played in the 2010 event. Prior to the nationals that year, Dreger scored 53 times and had 99 points and he followed that up by notching another 13 points in the playoffs.
Dreger continued with his offensive dominance in the Anavet Cup as he scored three times and had three assists in four games. Dauphin lost the first game in that series against La Ronge, they won the second in overtime and they never looked back as they won the trophy in five games.
Back home in Dauphin for the Royal Bank Cup, the Kings made the national final where they came up short against Vernon. Dreger would chalk up another goal and eight assists in the event.
“That was a special year, we had such a great team,” said Dreger. “I look back and think, we were brothers.”
As Dauphin prepares to hit the ice for this year’s Centennial Cup, Ryan offered some advice “just try and enjoy every second, playing in the nationals doesn’t happen often”.
Following his time with the Kings, Ryan went on and played for four years with Nuemann University. In his final year with the team, the former King scored 24 times and had 24 assists in 23 games.