It’s not a cornfield in Iowa, but an ice sheet on the Island.
Call it the Rink of Dreams.
Shawnigan Lake School built it. And yes, they are coming.
The Vancouver Canucks will host their 2015 prospects development camp July 3-9 at Shawnigan Lake’s new $8-million ice hockey rink that opened in February.
“This is a bonding opportunity for the Canucks’ young prospects,” said Rudy Massimo, director of external relations for Shawnigan Lake School.
“They can take care of everything here, from [dorm] accommodations to chefs and meals, gyms and weightroom. When the Canucks saw what we had, they were blown away. We’ve done it before — having hosted national rugby and rowing camps — and so are quite comfortable doing it.”
The on-ice sessions will be open to the public. Fans can expect to see the likes of 2014 first-round draft picks Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann in a camp roster expected to number about 30.
The prospects camp will feature players selected by the Canucks in recent NHL drafts, including the 2015 version, which will take place June 26-27 in Sunrise, Florida, and also just-graduated but undrafted free agents out of junior hockey and the U.S. collegiate NCAA.
The camp roster and schedule will be announced at a later date.
Shawnigan Lake’s new ice hockey program, which began in September, operates at the bantam and midget levels, with the varsity team playing in the Canadian Sport Schools Hockey League against school hockey academies in B.C., Alberta and Idaho. Shawnigan also takes part in annual tours to eastern Canada and the U.S.
“Ice hockey has become one of our flagship sports with rowing, rugby, field hockey and squash,” noted Massimo.
“We want our hockey players to take part in the whole Shawnigan Lake School experience. For instance, several also play rugby and 70 per cent of our hockey players took part in our school musical Shrek this year.”
The Shawnigan Lake School director of hockey is Kevin Cooper, a three-time NCAA All-American at Middlebury College in Vermont and eight-season minor-pro in the ECHL, UHL and Central League before embarking on a hockey administrative and coaching career.
