Kole Lind was going about his business last week at the Vancouver Canucks’ development camp when a member of Hockey Canada’s staff delivered some unexpected but welcome news.
The Kelowna Rockets’ forward had been added to the list of invitees for the Canadian junior team’s summer development camp in Plymouth, MI.
“I was pretty surprised, it’s a bit different to be added late like that, but I’m really excited,” Lind said of his inclusion to the roster. “Now it’s time to try and prove myself and see if I can throw the Canadian flag on and represent my country.”
Lind will join two other Kelowna Rockets—Dillon Dube and Cal Foote—at the development camp which runs from July 29 to Aug. 5.
Dube played on last year’s silver-medal winning Canadian junior team, while Foote, like Lind, is making his first trip to camp.
“It’ll be cool to be there with those guys, I’ve shared a lot of cool experiences with Cal, and Dillon and I have a really good relationship,” Lind said Tuesday from his home in Saskatchewan. “Dillon’s been there before, so having someone with experience to talk to and bounce things off will be nice.”
Forty-three players have invitations to this summer’s development camp. Twenty-two of those will make Canada’s final roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship beginning Boxing Day in Buffalo, NY.
Lind had a breakout season with the Rockets in 2016-17, leading the club in scoring with 87 points (30 goals, 57 assists in 70 games)and finishing 15th in league scoring. He also added six goals and 12 points in 17 post season games.
Lind was selected last month in the second round—33rd overall—of the NHL entry draft by the Canucks.
He was one of 36 players to attend the club’s development camp last week in Vancouver, an experience Lind thoroughly enjoyed.
“It was really fun, we did a lot of cool things and got to learn about the team,” he said. “We still had to work hard, but they treated us awesome. It was a good week, my first pro camp, and nice to get the news about (Canadian junior camp).”
