Olds native Spencer Dorowicz is enjoying his final season with his hometown Olds Grizzlys, leading the team in scoring through the first 19 games of the season, with 16 goals and 11 assists.
That total includes two hat tricks thus far in the 2013-14 Alberta Junior Hockey League season.
“It's a special year for me, for sure. I don't want to waste any days and just enjoy it. It's been an awesome time so far and I don't want it to end. I want us to go as far as we can this year and just have a great season,” he said.
Dorowicz, 20, has spent his entire five-year AJHL career with the Grizzlys, scoring 47 goals and 78 assists in 180 career games thus far. His most productive seasons were 43 points each in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He's added three goals and five assists in 20 playoff games, with his most productive playoff in 2011-12 when he scored two goals and four assists in 14 playoff games during the Grizzlys appearance in the league semifinals against the Brooks Bandits.
At the conclusion of this season, Dorowicz will be moving on to play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I hockey at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Dorowicz, promoted to team captain at the end of the 2012-13 season, said he tries to work hard at practice on various aspects of his game.
“A lot of the guys have been doing that. It's been working for me and hopefully we can all start getting some wins now and keep scoring goals,” he said.
Dorowicz said he hopes that the younger players on the team will follow his example and work just as hard on improving their skills. The results, hopefully, will lead to more victories.
Throughout his time on the team, Dorowicz said he always paid attention to how the team leaders conducted themselves and he has tried to model that leadership now that he is one of the older players.
“I came here as a young kid, not really knowing what to expect and the leaders kind of showed me the way and I just learned from them, picked up little things each year and that's how I got to where I am right now. I try to take what I learned from the past leaders and just do my best on and off the ice, hopefully for the betterment of everybody,” he said.
Dorowicz said he learned a lot from the 2011-12 season, in which the Grizzlys suffered through a 12-game losing streak before improving late in the season and going deep into the playoffs.
“We made a good run in January and February and carried that into playoffs, so I kind of learned to try and keep that going, and that's what we need to do (now) is get some momentum,” he said.
Brett Hopfe, the Grizzlys' head coach, said Dorowicz has always been a diligent worker and learned quickly how to become a better player.
“Throughout the years he's really come on to be a leader and an offensive threat for us. I think he really came out of his shell when he was 18 years old and we went on that playoff run. He works extremely hard and that's why he's having success,” he said.
Hopfe said at the end of the 2012-13 season when the players unanimously named Dorowicz as the captain for 2013-14, the coaching staff didn't have any objections to that choice.
“Spence is definitely a born leader and we'll continue to see that as he develops. It's pretty easy for guys to follow a player like that when he's willing to do anything he can to help the team win,” he said.
