Young Vancouver Canucks hopefuls will be under the microscope starting this Friday as the NHL team holds its annual prospects development camp at Shawnigan Lake School.
Prospects ranging from recent draft picks to undrafted college free agents will take the ice at Shawnigan's new arena from July 3-9. On July 10, the players will return to the Mainland to do the traditional Grouse Grind hike.
All on-ice practices are open to the public. The roster for the camp had not been released at press time, but last year's camp featured all seven 2014 draft picks, including first-rounders Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann, as well as other prospects like Cole Cassels, Brendan Gaunce, Bo Horvat and Hunter Shinkaruk.
Among the highlights of the week at Shawnigan are a three-on-three tournament and barbecue at the school on Tuesday evening. The tournament, which is open to the public, begins at 5 p.m., and tickets are not required. That will be followed by dinner at 7 p.m. A limited number of tickets to the dinner are available at $100 apiece,with proceeds going to the school, the Canucks Autism Network and the Canucks for Kids Fund. Guests must be at least 19. To purchase tickets, visit shawnigan.ca/canucksdinner or call 250-743-6235.