Brenden Vulcano is going from one winning organization to another.
The Revelstoke Grizzlies defenceman will join the University of Jamestown Jimmies in the American Collegiate Hockey Association next fall. He will also be joining some former Grizzlies teammates already there and they compare it to being in Revelstoke.
“Just that familiarity and the same kind of systems and the style of play,” says Vulcano, 20, who joined the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League with the Grizzlies when he was 18. “Talking with Dean Stork, he just seems like he is a really great coach.”
Attending a private school with a high job placement rate, as well as a program that helps players move on to professional hockey made the Jimmies a top option for the Nelson native. Vulcano is considering studying business, his family has operated a furniture store for 60-plus years, but he also likes the possibility of potentially playing pro hockey.
Vulcano looks forward to joining the Jimmies program which strives to win championships.
A defensive defenceman during his KIJHL career in which he played in 115 regular season and playoff games, Vulcano likes to get involved offensively. This season he had three points in two games and last season put up 24 points in 47 regular season games. Strong on the penalty kill, Vulcano was also counted on in the final minutes to prevent opponents from scoring.
Vulcano improved his puck-moving ability and became more patient with the puck improving his hockey sense with the help of the Grizzlies coaching staff.
“He is going to be a massive piece to our D-core,” says Stork, also the Jimmies director of hockey operations. “He has character through the roof and is a hard competitor. He is going to fit my identity and he is going to fit Jimmy hockey. We don’t have a ton of skill, but we’re going to compete and we are going to outwork teams.”
