It's been more than 10 years since Jarrett Deuling hoisted the Memorial Cup as captain of the Kamloops Blazers, but last month, he stood back at centre ice in front of the Blazers faithful for the first time since his departure and relived all of the memoriess.

Deuling, arguably the most successful hockey player to hail from Whitehorse, donned his old WHL (Western Hockey League) jersey as the Blazers paid tribute to the forward as part of their Legends program.

'It was a thrill, obviously,' said Deuling, in an interview from Lexington, Kentucky, where he now lives with his wife, Carmella, and baby, Logan. 'What was really neat was I was able to go back to Kamloops. I haven't been back since I quit playing there.'

The Blazers' Legends program honours both players and builders who have made significant contributions to the hockey club and who have gone on to accomplish great things either in or outside of hockey, following their time with the Blazers.

Blazers Community Liaison and Alumni Coordinator, Spike Wallace, was asked to submit a list of possible names for this year's Legends ceremony to the alumni board. The board then selected Deuling from the list, which Wallace said didn't surprise him.

'Jarrett was certainly at the top of my list because of his hard work and the amount of time he spent in Kamloops,' said Wallace, who met Deuling the first day he attended the Blazers' hockey school. 'He only played 15 NHL games, but he had a tremendous (AHL) career.

'He's a hard worker, very respected, quiet and unassuming. He played hard. Winning was everything.'

In his four years with the Blazers, Deuling won two Memorial Cups one in his second season and one in his final season, as captain. His point totals grew every year, displaying his constant determination and improvement. In 1990-91, he had 16 points in 48 games as a rookie and by 1993-94, he had collected 44 goals and 59 assists for a total of 103 points in 70 games.

Still, Deuling was modest in receiving the acknowledgment from the Blazers, insisting his success had more to do with the team that surrounded him.

His teammates over the four years included the likes of NHL stars Shane Doan, Darcy Tucker, Scott Niedermayer and Jarome Iginla. He had coaches such as former Calgary Flames bench boss Don Hay and current New York Rangers head honcho, Tom Renney.

'It's a huge honour, but it's somewhat embarrassing too, seeing those other names up on the banner,' said Deuling, who's name was etched beside theirs.

'I couldn't help but think, What the heck is my name doing up there with those guys?' Some of them are the best players in the world now. These guys are Olympians.'

However, Wallace said the work Deuling put in every shift didn't go unnoticed, either by his teammates or the thousands of fans who watched him.

'The Blazers faithful will never forget Dueler', a junkyard dog' if there ever was one,' wrote Wallace in an article on Deuling, featured in the hockey club's program. 'He worked every shift, crashing and banging in front of the net, in the corners, the neutral zone and the defensive end it didn't matter to him.

'Whatever he had to do, he did it. All that mattered was winning and everything else, including goal scoring, took care of itself.'

It also didn't hurt that Deuling began his Blazer career in Ol Memorial,' said Wallace. Other teams hated playing in the arena because they new it was going to hurt at the end. During the Brown, Renney and Hay era, the players were warned that 'no nonsense and no sugar coating would take place' and 'the crest on the front was more important than the name on the back,' but they would come out of there as winners with respect for life.

'I was pretty fortunate with my timing of playing there,' agreed Deuling. 'I had great teammates and great coaches. Two Memorial Cups ... it just doesn't get any better than that. The second one, in my last season, that was a really nice way to end my junior career.'

Asked if he remembered himself like everyone else does, as one of the hardest working Blazers of all time, Deuling said he always had to work harder than other players because he didn't have as much skill.

'That was my ticket to being at that level. I had to work that much harder than the other guys. Guys like Bobby (fellow Yukoner Bobby House), he had the skill.'

From Kamloops, Deuling would head onto the Worcester IceCats of the AHL, a farm team of the New York Islanders, who drafted Deuling 56th overall in 1992. He stayed there for two seasons before finally getting a shot at the NHL in 1995-96, where he played 14 games. He spent most of the following season with the AHL's Kentucky Thoroughblades, although he did get one more game in on Long Island.

'I did get to play in the NHL and that's the pinnacle,' he stated. 'No matter what, they can't take that away from me.'

After one season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL, Deuling signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent, but returned to the Thoroughblades for the final three years of his pro hockey career. He played with future NHLers such as Zdeno Chara and Miikka Kiprusoff as captain before retiring at the end of the 2000-2001 season. He was just 27 years old when he called it quits.

'The last two years, I had a lot of injuries,' he recalled. 'It was just not fun anymore. The writing was on the wall. I wasn't going to get called up the NHL anymore. That time had passed.

'I wanted to make sure my body was still capable of hiking hills in the Yukon in the summers. There are other things in life I would like to enjoy.'

Such as his new son, who is just 10 weeks old, as well as working with horses at a friend's stable in Kentucky and guiding outdoor tours in the Yukon during the summers.

'Family is number one, of course,' said Deuling, who recently moved into a new house he and Carmella had built. 'We're going to raise our little boy here.

'He's not going to be able to go hiking and hunting with me just yet, but I'm counting the seconds until he can.'

Logan made his first trip to Canada for his dad's induction ceremony in Kamloops last month. Just six-weeks old at the time, Deuling said the family got doctor approval to take Logan along for the ride, and 'he was just unbelievable on the plane.'

Deuling's mother Micki, who still lives in Whitehorse, also attended the ceremony, but his father and two brothers were unable to make it. He's hoping to have the entire family together when he comes back to the Yukon in July for a few weeks.

'(The Yukon) is always home and it will continue to be,' he stated. 'I would move back there in a heartbeat if I could.'