Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Where are they now - DJ King

Kelowna Rockets General Manager Bruce Hamilton believed his team needed an enforcer to 'keep the flies off' his skilled players if they wanted to seriously challenge for a Memorial Cup championship in 2004.
Insert 19 year-old DJ King in a trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes that season.
'Kinger' could intimidate. The Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan product could fight and most importantly he could skate good enough to keep up with his line mates.
King would drop the gloves eight times in 28 regular season games with the Rockets, squaring off with Kamloops Blazers enforcer Cam McCaffrey three times. His most memorable scrap was a heavyweight tilt with Seattle's Zack Fitzgerald at the Key Arena in his Rockets debut on January 10, 2004. Oh ya, he also fought at the Memorial Cup. Remember this? 

The now 30 year-old would go on to play in 118 games at the NHL level with St. Louis and Washington. King was originally drafted in the 6th round in 2002 by the Blues.
What is King up to now? After retiring following the 2012-2013 season,  DJ tells me after taking a year off he is now the co-owner of Tawaw Cabins (Waterhen Lake) near Meadow Lake.
The older brother of Dwight King of the LA Kings, DJ will become a first time father in August when his wife Chantal gives birth.

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