Mike Vandekamp could be the sa国际传媒 Hockey League’s equivalent of the Al Pacino character in Godfather III. Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in. Or maybe he could be Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Vandekamp will return behind the bench of the Cowichan Valley Capitals as head coach and GM. Brian Passmore was relieved of those duties Wednesday with the Capitals mired in eighth place in the Coastal Conference at 5-11-1.
So, where were we? Vandekamp’s Capitals were about to play the Nanaimo Clippers in the 2020 Island Division playoff final in March of that year when the world suddenly shut down and the remainder of the BCHL playoffs were cancelled due to the pandemic.
“It was a great experience my first time with the Capitals and we had a good thing going,” said Vandekamp.
“It’s going to take a great deal of work but I know we can do it again.”
Vandekamp departed to coach and manage the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League after two seasons turning the fortunes of the Capitals. He put in seven seasons in Nanaimo at the helm of the Clippers in a 25-year junior-coaching career in the BCHL, Western Hockey League and Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Vandekamp’s last tenure in the Cowichan Valley was highlighted by a huge playoff upset by the 16th-seed Capitals over the top-seed Penticton Vees in the first round of the 2019 BCHL playoffs. That was followed by a 35-16-7 regular-season record and second place in the Island Division in 2019-20. The Caps then beat the Powell River Kings in the opening round of the playoffs before COVID ripped apart their dreams of a deeper run. The Caps were 52-51-13 in the two regular seasons under Vandekamp with noise made in the post-season both years.
Vankdekamp now inherits a Cowichan Valley club that has five NCAA Div. 1 commits with Jackson Morehouse (Dartmouth), Luke Lavery (Providence), Massimo Lombardi (Vermont), Luke Strickland (Long Island) and Aaron Brown (Quinnipiac).
“We are coming in with a clean slate and not dwelling on anything that has happened to this point if it doesn’t matter,” said Vandekamp.
“We want to make a run to the playoffs this season and then look to the future and build with stability.”
The Capitals swing through the Lower Mainland this week against the Chiefs in Chilliwack (6-9-1) on Friday night and versus the Rivermen in Langley (5-11-0-2) on Saturday. The next home game in Duncan is Nov. 25 against the Victoria Grizzlies (7-8-3).
