Morning Star Staff
The Vancouver Canucks will have a few first-round draft picks at their Prospects Training Camp and the Young Stars Classic Tournament in Penticton.
A total of 24 players are scheduled to report to the Canucks Prospects Training Camp which begins Thursday, Sept. 10 with a 2 p.m. practice on the Main rink at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC). All on-ice practice sessions will be open to the public and are free.
Forward Jake Virtanen, selected sixth overall in the 2014 entry draft, heads the list of snipers. Virtanen compiled 21 goals and 52 points with the Calgary Hitmen in just 50 games last WHL season.
Forward Hunter Shinkaruk, taken 23rd overall from the Medicine Hat Tigers two years ago, will also turn some heads. He amassed 16 goals and 31 points in 74 games with the AHL Utica Comets last year.
Cole Cassells, who rang up 30 goals and 81 points with the Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals, was a round three pick in 2014.
Also confirmed as one of Vancouver’s 14 forwards is former Vernon Viper Mike Zalewski, who earned 3-9-12 in 55 games with Utica last year.
Zalewski. 23, amassed 104 points with Vernon from 2010-12. The New Yorker was signed two years ago as a free agent out of college.
Mackenzie Stewart, drafted as a defenceman 186th overall in 2014, is listed as a forward, something most expected would happen, given his skill set.
Stewart, a 6-foot-4, 216-pound Calgary native who turned 20 in August, was born deaf and needed several surgeries as a child to restore his hearing. As a result, he did not start playing hockey until he was 12-years-old.
Jackson Whistle had a strong season for the Kelowna Rockets and was at the Canucks’ summer development camp in Shawnigan Lake. He’s undrafted. He’ll split duties with NCAA goalie Clay Witt, most recently of Northeastern.
All Canucks games during the Young Stars Classic Tournament will be streamed live on Canucks.com beginning Friday, Sept. 11 when the Canucks prospects take on the Edmonton Oilers prospects at 7:30p.m.
Vancouver takes on the Winnipeg Jets in a Sunday, Sept. 13 matinee at 3 p.m. and finish the tourney Monday 3:30 p.m. against the Calgary Flames.
Limited inventory of single game tickets for the Young Stars Classic Tournament are still available for purchase at www.ValleyFirstTIX.com, by phone at 1-877-763-2849 or in person at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC or Wine Country Visitor Centre.
Single-game tickets are $15 and doubleheader tickets are $25. Full details on the Young Stars Classic Tournament can be found at canucks.com/youngstars.
