A few weeks ago, Alex Hall was a 20-year-old trying out for his first shot at junior hockey in his last year of eligibility.

Now he's the captain of Kimberley Dynamiters.

“It never crossed my mind,” he said, on the eve of the 2010-11 KIJHL season. “I was going into tryouts, not having played competitive hockey for a while. I actually was kind of questioning my ability to be on the team, let alone be captain. It's really good for that to have happened.”

Hall and his mates open the season tonight at home, hosting the Creston Valley Thundercats at 7:30. Tomorrow, they're off to visit the Columbia Valley Rockies.

Those will be the first two games of Hall's junior B career, and Kimberley head coach Garry Jacklin anticipates it will be the start of something special.

“These last two weeks, he's been thrown to the wolves and I thought he's been exceptional for a kid who hasn't played for two or three years,” he said.

Hall won a South Central Alberta league championship on the Jacklin-coached bantam Cranbrook Ice several years ago. Last year, he played Cranbrook Commercial League.

“I had a lot of fun last year and I felt like it's my last year of (junior) hockey, I might as well give it one last shot. It was just something I had to do just to see what happens,” said the forward.

Seeing that his old coach (he first played under Jacklin as a novice) had taken over in Kimberley solidified his desire.

The Nitros also named their assistant captains this week: fellow 20-year-old Brock Leavins will wear an A, along with Trevor Grier and rookie Olli Dickson.

Hall hasn't worn a C since atoms, when each player took a turn with the letter. He's taking this chance very seriously.

“It kind of caught me off guard, but it's a privilege and it makes me happy to be looked up to and to have the coach looking at me as one of the guys to be a leader. It feels great knowing he has that much belief in me.”

Hall has made a name for himself locally as a boxer. That sport encourages athletes to maintain a lower weight while in hockey, that's not necessarily a good thing

“Depending on your role, you usually want to be heavier to be able to stay on your feet and get into corners,” said Hall. “They kind of contradict each other there, but other than that, like all sports, you want to have the best conditioning you can have. You want to be able to go as hard as you can go for as long as you can.”

The rarest of beasts — a 20-year-old rookie in a junior league — Hall said he feels like he'd have to prove himself whether or not he was captain, and he's looking forward to living up to that.

“There are a lot of guys on the team from last year, and they all seem to be clicking because they've played together before,” he said. “Even with the newer guys — me being one of them — the team seems to be really good. Everyone seems to be clicking and getting along. It's going to be a good year that way, and I'm sure we're going to be putting up lots of points as a team…

“Mr. Jacklin is a great coach and he knows what he's doing. With a bit of effort, it will be a good year for sure.”

Outside of goaltender Tory Caldwell, the Nitros' other 1990s weren't playing junior hockey last year.

Leavins played senior hockey back home in Brooks, Alta. while Soren Hills's last junior campaign was in 2008 with the Grand Forks Border Bruins.

“Looking at it on paper, you'd think it would be a little iffy but out there — at least the last few exhibitions — we've been banging bodies and skating hard,” said Hall.

“The younger guys on our team need people to look up to. We've got to keep rolling with what we're doing by going out there and giving it 110, skating hard.

“Basically, we're going to have to play the roles of 20-year-olds, being enforcers and being the hardest workers out there and the foundation of the team.”

NOTE — The Dynamiters have added another player out of junior A Trail Smoke Eaters camp. Westside's Ben Greenaway is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound power forward, and should be in the lineup this weekend.