The Vancouver Canucks’ may not be holding their annual development camp at Shawnigan Lake School this summer, but there are still strong connections between the camp and the Cowichan Valley.
The NHL team held its development camp at Shawnigan in 2015 and 2016, giving Valley residents opportunities to see Canuck prospects like Brock Boeser and Olli Juolevi in action before they hit the big time, but the camp is being held at the University of British Columbia this season.
However, the camp is still of interest to Valley hockey fans as one current Cowichan Valley Capitals player and two former Caps are among the 36 names on the roster for sessions that started at UBC on Tuesday.
Defenceman Simon Chen, who played for the Caps last season and is expected to return for 2017-18, is among the invitees. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound product of Beijing got into 52 regular season games for Cowichan last year, scoring one goal and assisting on two others, and went without a point in four playoff appearances. He previously played high school and junior hockey in the U.S., and was on the Chinese national team for the World U18 Championships Div. II B in 2015, leading the tournament in penalty minutes. Chen is the son of Capitals owner Ray Zhang.
Former Cowichan forward Steven Iacobellis is also at the Canucks’ camp. The 23-year-old finished up his four-year NCAA career this past season as the capital of the UMass Amherst Minutemen. He played 61 games for the Caps in 2011-12, recording 40 points on 13 goals and 27 assists, then had three helpers in four games the next season before he was traded, eventually landing in Salmon Arm, where he finished his B.C. Hockey League career.
Goalie Francis Marotte is also in the mix. He played 10 games for the Caps in 2013-14, backing up workhorse starter Robin Gusse. Marotte then spent two years with the Nepean Raiders of the Central Canada Hockey League before moving to NCAA Div. I Robert Morris University last season, posting 17 wins and a 2.08 goals-against average in 29 games.
In other former Capitals news, goalie Derek Dun, who minded the Cowichan crease for 92 games between 2009 and 2013, has signed with Beijing-based Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League for 2017-18. Dun was the Caps’ starting goalie for two and a half seasons before being sent to the Nanaimo Clippers at the 2013 trade deadline. He played three years at Northern Michigan University before going to UBC for the 2016-17 campaign.
With Kunlun Red Star, Dun will join defenceman Geoff Kinrade, who played for the Caps from 2003 to 2005 and has spent the last three seasons in the KHL.