The Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines lost cause as a hopeless undertaking. Suddenly, a picture of the Quesnel Millionaires flashes through my mind. Alright, this last line was a stretch, but you get the idea.

Like no other junior hockey team, the Millionaires have mastered the art of consistent losing. The club reached a new low this past season with eight wins in 60 games. In the last 10 years, in the BCHL, where just about everybody earns a playoff berth, Quesnel has qualified twice.

In the coaching department, the Millionaires witnessed a revolving door.  Brian Kozak is the latest to leave resulting in the appointment of Tom Bohmer. Yes, this is the same Tom Bohmer, who was unceremoniously dumped as an assistant by the Prince George Spruce Kings, just one year ago.

As the Millionaire’s Coach, and General Manager, Bohmer has inherited the near impossible task of trying to change Quesnel’s fortunes. Bohmer, who signed a two year contract, is realistic in his approach, and realizes changing the culture and instilling a winning attitude is a massive undertaking.   “My first goal is to create a hard working environment with a passion to defend. Obviously we make no secret of the fact that it hasn't been successful. No one is going to come in there and wave a magic wand and change things overnight. It's going to be a ton of hard work.  Everyone's going to say, yes it's been said before and your just kind of reiterating what the last person said, but I think it's just a matter of instilling enough confidence in our personnel and the belief in our (defense first) system that we have a chance to win every night”.

After spending two seasons with the Spruce Kings, Bohmer was told he was being dismissed to “cut costs”. He found this puzzling, especially considering the paltry salary the Kings were paying him. However, it didn't take the 31-year-old long to find a similar assistant job with the Penticton Vees, who advanced to this year's BCHL final.

Now, he's licking his chops in anticipation of trying to sock it to his former team. “Well, I'd be lying if I said games with Prince George didn't have a special meaning. Not only for myself but also for players like Joel Leonard and Steven Little, players that have been in Prince George”.

Since leaving, Bohmer has been monitoring developments in PG: “Obviously, with the turmoil in the Spruce Kings organization it is not a very positive situation right now for whatever reason and I just hope after my tenure in Quesnel it can be a situation where it's been stable, it's been an environment that enables kids to develop and enables players and coaches to move on and have success”. Bohmer also adds, “From an outsider looking in, it's kind of been the same old Prince George story that's been written arguably since the late 80's or early 90's. You know, things go really well for a couple of years and then for whatever reason, turmoil sets in. You know, some bad situations happen or someone gets mad at another person and it turns into almost like survivor”.

Did he say “survivor”? Considering the Millionaires history, how long will Bohmer “survive” in Quesnel? 

The clock is now ticking....................

From the quote rack:

"Final Four sophomore sensation Joakim Noah should stay at Florida another year and improve his midrange jump shot. "Noah needs more work on his arc."

"His hometown is Santa Claus, Ind."
Chick Ludwig of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, on why Christmas came early for the Denver Broncos who selected Vanderbilt Quarterback Jay Cutler 11^th overall in the 2006 NFL draft.

"Bud Selig says that Major League Baseball will not celebrate Barry Bonds' passing of Babe Ruth. It will, however, celebrate the first decision that Selig has made in recent memory".

"Thank God sponsorship talks broke off with Preparation H."

"Z.Z. Stops!"

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press.