By Darren Zary via The StarPhoenix

It’s a mantra of playoff hockey: Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Dustin Tokarski knows all about desperation.

In the fall of 2005, he found himself practically begging for a chance to play in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.

Spurned by more than half the clubs, he persevered and finally found a spot with the Prince Albert Mintos.

After turning aside more rejections than shots, he saved his career.

He went on to win a 2006 Telus Cup national title with the Mintos. Two years later, he’s back in the spotlight as the starting goalie for the Western Hockey League champion Spokane Chiefs as they head into the Memorial Cup tournament at Kitchener, Ont. Spokane will open up against Bellville on Saturday.

Again, becoming the Chiefs’ No. 1 guy was more by chance than design, yet Tokarski has made the most of the opportunity.

“What can I say? It’s worked out for the best,” says Tokarski, an 18-year-old product of Watson.

“That was the pick of the draw. I’m happy to be with a great organization like Spokane. They noticed that I was a small-town kid who just wouldn’t quit. I didn’t make any AAA teams at first. I tried out for a bunch of them. Finally, P.A. gave me a chance. (Later that same season) I was having a good Mac’s tournament in Calgary. Spokane saw me there. Two days after that, they called me and listed me.

“They took a chance on me and I appreciate the fact they did.”

Tokarski — who is eligible for the National Hockey League entry draft this June at Ottawa — is winding up his second season with the Chiefs.

Tokarski posted a 30-10-0-3 record, 2.05 goals-against-average and .922 save percentage during the regular season. Through the playoffs, he was 16-2-3 with an impressive 1.38 G.A.A. and .944 save-percentage.

After splitting duties with teammate Kevin Armstrong, Tokarski has emerged as the Chiefs’ go-to guy.

“For me, he’s rounded himself into a very good goaltender on a lot of fronts,” says Spokane general manager Tim Speltz. “He’s aggressive. He challenges. He’s got good rebound control.

“For me, he’s everything you want in a starting goaltender.”

Last season, Armstrong was the undisputed No. 1 goalie in Spokane until illness sidelined him.

“It’s interesting,” recalls Speltz. “Kevin came down with a virus and couldn’t play in the playoffs. Dustin played all six playoff games for us. He gave us everything that a starting goaltender could give you. He won a game by himself, he gave us a chance every night to win and really took a step. This year was no different. (Tokarski) and Kevin, for the most part, split the duties for the year. We started playing Dustin a little more at the end. We had a 50-win season and Dustin won 30 and Kevin 20 games. When it came to playoffs, we felt with Dustin’s experience from last year, we were going to give him the ball and he’s been excellent.”

Chiefs’ goalie coach Dennis Sproxton has been impressed by “his innate ability to compete, battle and make saves at key times... knowing his personality, he’s right on track.”

Today, Tokarski is in Kitchener, but he hasn’t forgotten the many roads — along with detours, roadblocks and forks — he had to travel. He went through most of the 12-team Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League before landing on his feet in P.A. He knows what it’s like to feel unwanted.

“There were like six or seven (failed tryouts),” recalls Tokarski. “Both Saskatoon teams, the Blazers and Contacts, Beardy’s, Tisdale, North Battleford, Swift Current...”
In the WHL, he was let go by both Swift Current and Calgary before Spokane came along.

Mike Mazurak, general manager of the P.A. Mintos, remembers the fateful email he received from Tokarski’s mother, Darlene.

“Me and his mother still joke about it,” Mazurak says. “She sent me an email and she asked me if we were in need of a goaltender. I emailed her back and said, ‘Yeah, for sure, come and try out.’ The rest is history. She sends me that same email every year just to remind me.

“We gave him a shot. It’s funny because it was all over that one email. I get a lot of those emails, but that one sticks out. Because of where he’s made it to, where he is right now, it just seems so ironic.

“I’m rooting for him, anyway. He’s been to a national championship before. He can handle the pressure.”

MEMORIAL CUP RUN ‘CRAZY’

As far as Tokarski is concerned, the Memorial Cup run is hockey gone wild.

“It’s crazy,” he says. “You would never have thought it at the beginning of the season, but it’s a blast and we’re looking to keep it going.

“Once we got a group going in the playoffs, you knew there was a possibility. It’s a great character team and we all get along well. We’re probably one of the hardest-working teams in the whole league, for sure, if not the hardest. We have a lot of speed. We just never quit.

“And we’re really consistent.”

His Telus Cup experience, he feels, can only help him from 2006.

“We ended up winning the whole thing that year,” Tokarski fondly recalls. “It (Memorial Cup) is definitely a bigger scale, but being in a situation like that really helped me and hopefully it will help me here, too.”

Tokarski’s mom and dad, Mark and Darlene, and his younger sister, Sierra, 16, are making the trip to Kitchener from Watson.

After the Memorial Cup, Tokarski will turn his attention to the NHL draft. The Central Scouting Bureau’s final rankings have him rated No. 9 among North American goalies eligible for the draft.

“There are rankings and stuff and I’m on them, but you just never know,” Tokarski says. “Of course, I would love the chance to get picked. By anyone, anywhere, I’d be ecstatic.”