Among the 62 B.C. Hockey League alumni playing in the 16-team NCAA men’s hockey tournament are three former Cowichan Valley Capitals and one former Kerry Park Islander.
The NCAA men’s tournament begins this Friday and Saturday with regional semifinals as the teams start the march to the Frozen Four.
The most notable former Capital in the field is forward Ryan Burton, now skating for Union College. Burton spent his entire career BCHL career with the Caps, playing 104 games between 2014 and 2016, and compiling 23 goals, 57 assists and 80 points. The freshman has a goal and five helpers in 26 games with Union so far this season.
Goalie Connor LaCouvee, who played 20 games for the Caps in 2012-13 before moving on to Merritt and Alberni Valley the next season is playing in the NCAA tournament for Boston University. Now in his third year with BU, LaCouvee had a 2.70 goals-against average in five games this season after getting into 19 contests last season.
Defenceman Josh Monk, who had a brief stint with the Caps in 2011-12, is now serving as captain for the West Kelowna Warriors. Monk put up 11 points in 12 games at the start of the 2011-12 campaign before being traded to the Westside Warriors, where be played until the end of the 2012-13 season.
Forward Evan Campbell of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell played for the Kerry Park Islanders in 2010-11, putting up 36 points on 14 goals and 22 assists in 41 games, also getting into one contest with the Caps as an affiliate. He moved to the BCHL with the Coquitlam Express the next season, and was traded to the Langley Rivermen, where he finished his junior career, getting drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2013.