Duncan Campbell has worked hard to build a name for himself in the hockey world and he feels it’s starting to pay off.
The 15-year-old Brandonite is one of 10 Westman players who were invited Friday to attend Team West’s under-17 summer camp. The team, comprised of players from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, will compete in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Quebec from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4.
“It’s a great honour to me, actually,” Campbell said. “It’s nice to see that I’m getting a lot of opportunities and being recognized in the hockey community.”
Campbell, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound forward who attends Vincent Massey High School, had a solid season for the Brandon Midget AAA Wheat Kings last season. He finished in a tie for fourth on the team with 16 goals and tied for fifth with 35 points in 39 games played. He helped the team post a 23-18-3 record and earn a trip to the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League semifinals.
However, his scoring touch isn’t what Campbell prides himself on and isn’t the most important thing he hopes to bring to the Team West camp.
“I can bring my size and my work ethic,” he said. “I’m a big guy and I like to work hard and give it my all out on the ice.”
Campbell won’t be alone at the summer camp, which runs from Aug. 9-13 in Wilcox, Sask. Two other members of the Midget AAA Wheat Kings — Tyler Coulter and Brett Kitt — were also invited to the camp along with Elkhorn’s Taylor and Travis Sanheim, Virden’s Tanner Lewis, Souris’s Michael Fortin, Wawanesa’s Jordan Thomson, Russell’s David Dunn and Roblin’s Jayce Hawryluk. Coulter, Kitt and Hawryluk are all draft picks of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, as are fellow Team West camp invitees Ryley Lindgren and Dallas Starodub.
Wheat Kings assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk will assist head coach Don MacGillivray on the Team West bench. While Gylywoychuk has never been on the coaching staff before, he did play for Team West back in 1989.
Campbell is glad that he’ll know some of the 68 players invited to the camp and he plans to work hard to prepare for it. Now that he feels his name is becoming better known in hockey circles, he wants to make a bigger impact by playing in the international event.
“That would be unreal (to play at the U-17 World Challenge),” he said. “It would a really great experience. It would be great for my hockey career and it really gets me going into hockey.”
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 9, 2012
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