Eleven former Cowichan Valley Capitals players, including five who finished their B.C. Hockey League careers with the Caps, are among 272 BCHL alumni currently playing NCAA Div. 1 hockey.
BCHL grads are skating for 54 of the 60 Div. 1 programs this season. Among the group are a pair of former Cowichan captains: Chris Harpur (2016-17), now with Niagara University, and Kyle Horsman (2013-14 and 2014-15), now with Robert Morris.
Two players from last year’s Capitals team moved on to Div. 1: Ty Pochipinski with Colorado College, and Simon Chen with Alabama-Huntsville. Rounding out the group of Caps grads is Max Newton (2016-17) with Alaska-Fairbanks.
Other former BCHLers who spent some time with the Caps and are now in Div. 1 include Rhett Kingston (2016-17) with Western Michigan, Luke Santerno (2014-16) with Bentley, Brayden Gelsinger (2013-14) with Lake Superior State, Mitch Meek (2011-12 and 2015-16) with Michigan Tech, Darien Craighead (2014-15) with Northern Michigan, and Brett Stapley (AP 2014-15) with the University of Denver.
Three current Caps have NCAA deals for next season: Jordan Robert has committed to Clarkson, Niko Esposito-Selivanov to Lake Superior State, and Adam Conquest to Bowling Green. Ben Berard, a Duncan product and former Capitals AP now with the Powell River Kings, is committed to Cornell for next season.
